Need advice on finding students

[ReubenCainer]

Hi all,

I was just wondering if there are any teachers out there with some good advice on finding bass students?

I'm a recent music college grad, looking to teach privately in Brooklyn, NY. I made a website and I've been posting on craigslist around 2-3 times a week trying to find students. I have been putting up flyers in coffee shops around my local area also with no luck. I have also approached local music schools but no one is hiring, I feel like no one wants to learn bass!

Any good online resources to reach out to people?

I'll happily take any student but if possible I want to teach people who want to learn funk and jazz and are interested in theory as I feel I have the most to offer in that area. Anyone know how I can target that kind of student?

I could always go with one of those companies that find students for you, but I want to avoid having any company taking half my pay check if I can...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Here are some videos of my playing for reference (and shamless self promotion ).

YouTube - Reuben Cainer - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough

YouTube - Reuben Cainer - Funky Drummer

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by ReubenCainer

Hi all,

I was just wondering if there are any teachers out there with some good advice on finding bass students?

I'm a recent music college grad, looking to teach privately in Brooklyn, NY. I made a website and I've been posting on craigslist around 2-3 times a week trying to find students. I have been putting up flyers in coffee shops around my local area also with no luck. I have also approached local music schools but no one is hiring, I feel like no one wants to learn bass!

Any good online resources to reach out to people?

I'll happily take any student but if possible I want to teach people who want to learn funk and jazz and are interested in theory as I feel I have the most to offer in that area. Anyone know how I can target that kind of student?

I could always go with one of those companies that find students for you, but I want to avoid having any company taking half my pay check if I can...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Here are some videos of my playing for reference (and shamless self promotion ).

YouTube - Reuben Cainer - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough

YouTube - Reuben Cainer - Funky Drummer

lesson 1.....whether or not you are a good player is immaterial to you being a good teacher......lesson 2....you may have to go to work for the local music school temporarily until you have enough connections and buzz to branch off on your own.....lesson 3...while you are doing that you may want to spend some time hunkered down to develop a teaching style of your own,compose a lesson plan or three,scour the planet for the best materials(books,vids,tutorials etc)....lesson 4....the best teachers never stop learning....

[mpdd]

go to shows, talk to people, that's how i found all of my teachers

[Rockingbird]

Tryu posting ads in local music shops. When a kid goes to pick out his first bass, his parents might also notice your ad and go "Hmmmmm...". I know GC and SamAsh allow people to do so, and smaler shops will too if they dont host lessons on their own.

[Stumbo]

Originally Posted by ReubenCainer

I'll happily take any student but if possible I want to teach people who want to learn funk and jazz and are interested in theory as I feel I have the most to offer in that area. Anyone know how I can target that kind of student?

It seems you're looking for an intermediate player who wants to expand his/her repertoire? Seems to me that you'll have a difficult time finding many of those type of players.

Maybe hitting the clubs in your area. Anywhere where there are gigging bassists. No downside to putting your name out there as an advanced bass teacher.

IMO, you'll need to have advanced type lessons in your lesson plan to keep their interest.

A lot of music teachers are on the web: Dmanlamius, MarlowDK and others. How will you be better than them? What more will you offer?

How about lessons via Skype? check out this thread Looking for bass teacher

Here are a few links on teaching that I came across that may interest you.

How much to charge?
Find a teacher
1 Teaching ideas
2
Becoming a teacher
Carol Kay's bass learning/playing advice

[Russell L]

What I did several years ago was to drop in at the biggest local music store, Pecknel Music, the one that also sells a lot of band instruments to schools and talked to the manager. Of course, it helped that I had been a patron for many, many years. But, I told him I was interested in teaching only on Saturdays since I have a regular job during the week, and they weren't open after 6pm. Well, it worked for him, because no one else taught on Saturdays and he said I didn't have to pay him any cut from my profits, but that he would be glad to just have the traffic. I put some adds out and he put up a flyer in the store, and before you know it I had about fifteen students.

Goodness, but I got tired of it all. Students would come and go so much. Sometimes I'd only have a handful for awhile, then more, then less again. For messing up all my Saturdays and having to play gigs on many of them, too, it became too much. But, gee, it was really nice of him to allow me that time. I did it for over a couple of years.

[MalcolmAmos]

Yes for the intermediate student it's word of mouth, and with out students that can recommend you it's a catch 22 thing.

Who said teaching was going to be easy? When I retired I wanted to teach at the Community College level, only offers I could get were late at night and scattered all over the Houston area. No way I could even get to them in time and taking just one was not worth the trouble.

Hope it works out.

[ReubenCainer]

Cheers for the help guys, and thanks for those links Stumbo, a lot of useful stuff about lesson plans there...

Definitely making me realise I could have been doing more, I had posted a flyer in one music store but I should post some flyers in more of them and maybe approach an owner/manager, hadn't thought of that.

And yeah I guess I can't really expect to be getting intermediate students til I've been teaching for a while.

Thanks again all.

[puddin tame]

have you tried asking just normal schools if they want to set something up?

I remember back in primary(elementary) school, there was a guitar and a bass teacher that came in after school some days and tought at the school. My highschool did the same thing, had a teacher that came in for the students that were interested (I remember directly paying him).

It's a cool thing schools like to offer to the kids

[markth30]

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