Qualifications to become a drum teacher?

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Being 15 and having to choose my career path within the next few years I'm curious as to the required qualifications to become a successful drum teacher.

Here in Australia after completing high school we have Tafe's and then a step up is universities. There are some courses witch I can do on drumming/music at a Tafe and some at a university but I'm wondering if in the end it really matters what level of qualifications you have or if its more dependent on you self-marketing strategies or how good of a drummer you are.

Because a course at a Tafe costs almost half the amount of a university.So, my thoughts are that would be the way to go unless there is a there is a real good reason I should attend a university instead?
 
Might be worthwhile doing something different education-wise and just have the teaching as a side line. Then you've got 2 strings to your bow. A source of income to fall back on and a possible alternative career path.

Finally, for a drum tutor you don't need any quals, but you need to be personable, patient, professional, on-time, make folk pay up front etc. It's always good to have a decent drumming CV and so gigging and other activities are important to demonstrate you're a serious player.

Peace
Davo
 
Finally, for a drum tutor you don't need any quals, but you need to be personable, patient, professional, on-time, make folk pay up front etc. It's always good to have a decent drumming CV and so gigging and other activities are important to demonstrate you're a serious player.

Peace
Davo[/QUOTE]

I agree with this totally. I know that as a student, I want to be taking lessons from someone who has proven themselves in the field and I can feel confident that they know what they are teaching and that I am receiving instruction in the proper techniques, etc. It seems to me that teaching drumming is more than just teaching the rudiments and beats, I also want someone I can go to when I have questions about gigging and fitting into a band, etc...so I need someone who has experienced all of that so they can answer my questions.

Having said that, I admire your curiosity and willingness to set a goal and find out more about it at such a young age. It's nice to see a young person invested in their future. Good luck!

Mary
 
Might be worthwhile doing something different education-wise and just have the teaching as a side line. Then you've got 2 strings to your bow. A source of income to fall back on and a possible alternative career path.

Thanks for the advice so far guys. My dream is basically to make my house my own drum teaching den. I want to have a stage room an acoustic teaching room and an electric teaching room and also recording equipment. I'm thinking if I can manage to achieve all this and organize performance nights for my students, perhaps even teaming up with a guitar teachers students. Along with some product to sell eg. shirts/drumkits/mics then I should be able to support myself with that as my job.

I do tend to think to far ahead but I always like to know what I have coming ^_^
 
If you truly want to make a living as a teacher you need a degree. Here's something to think about.

What type of students do you want to teach?
Serious students who actually practice, show up on time, listen to what you say and actually pay you when they show up.

If the answer to those questions are yes then you need to become educated, get real gigs and be able to charge a premium for your services. You want to be the teacher students seek out instead of having to scrounge or advertise for students.

As a parent I pay good money to the top teachers in my area. They are as much as double or triple what the guy in the music store would pay. They do not advertise. I went and found them. I would never pay to have my son take lessons in a music store or from someone who hasn't got an advanced degree and playing professionally. Because I feel the way I do and have chosen to pay the top instructors in my area my son is in a good place to attend a conservatory and become a professional player or a professional teacher.
 
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As a parent I pay good money to the top teachers in my area. They are as much as double or triple what the guy in the music store would pay.

So basically I have to make the choice between being a ghetto drum teacher or gold class. I certainly don't care as much for money as I do happiness so I would probably rather get somewhere right in between.

So my current conclusion is that drum teachers who have 0 qualifications are destined to get the less enthusiastic students, someone who has a few qualifications such as a tafe course and a few big..ish gigs behind them are inbetweeners and finally the people who spend 40 grand to get a proper university qualification will be the ones who make the most money and get the most keen students, please correct me if I'm wrong :D
 
if you want to be a drum teacher then play drums, you don't need to do any courses, you just need to play and play. you also need to have a good teacher yourself so they can keep you on the right path.
having a good teacher is like providing a reference too " i have studied with X, Y and Z"

if you are patient and have good charisma then i would recommend working with younger kids (13 and under)
parents will pay a lot of money especially if they know its going to be a safe environment (you need to get CRB/police checks etc)

basically be real serious and stay humble
 
Teaching shouldn't be viewed strictly as a way to make money, you've really got to want to teach. And teaching is much more than just being (at least) a few steps ahead of your students, you've got to be able to communicate drumming ideas well to a variety of people with varying comprehension levels and temperaments.

A quick story, not exactly drum-related but relevant. I failed algebra in high school, and took it again in summer school. Went from an F, to an A. Did I suddenly get smarter? No. Did the lesson plan change? No. What happened was, I had a better teacher who explained concepts in a way that were more understandable than the previous teacher. Same subject, same lessons, same student, different teacher, and drastically different results.

The same applies to drum teachers - you need to be that teacher who turns out A students. You need to be the one who can make difficult concepts easier for beginners. You need to keep the students motivated. Believe it or not, they're not always taking lessons because they want to. And you need to know when and how to cut those students loose. You need to know how to develope a lesson plan for each student so they can make measurable progress. And you need to be able to keep up with those over-achievers who keep you on your toes each week by doing what you ask for, and more! etc etc etc

There's much more to it than just being a better drummer and wanting to make money.

Bermuda
 
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Go here http://www.etilive.net/home/ and contact Pete Barter, He was my drum teacher and Is doing exactly what you want to do, He started teaching at the age of 15 and he's come along way since.

Im sure he will be more then happy to help you achieve what you want in your career as a drum teacher :D
 
YES bermuda. spot on mate
the worst thing to do is to teach just because you feel you need to do something (to make money), that's terrible because you'll be wasting everyones time

not to be harsh but you might not even be the right sort of person to teach, it takes a certain style of person to be a good teacher
but you're 15 man, just carry on playing drums
 
Most musicians teach because they can make steady money, and the income from gigs is much more likely to fluctuate. Heck, to be a gigging musician usually takes having several things going on at once.

To directly answer your question, yes, from where you get your qualifications matters -- maybe not to you, and maybe not to your musician friends and colleagues -- but it will definitely matter to parents, especially ones like Bigd (although reputation and community standing are equally as important). If you can't afford a university program, see what's available in scholarships and financial aid (and be prepared to kick serious butt at your auditions!). Most parents want to know you've studied music seriously, because it usually means you have more expertise than their neighbor or uncle. If you're young, you will be forgiven for not having played many high-profile gigs or toured professionally, but you had better be in a working band!

It's great that you're interested in grouping students together to play in ensembles! Having to learn songs for a band is a great motivator for students! This aspect of music education is a new frontier, especially since schools are very narrowly focused on classical and marching band music. There are places that do this all over the world, so you should attend one and see how they run things. Maybe it will be more challenging than your high school programs, maybe it will just be different. Or maybe you can intern there during the summer break. At this point in your life the best thing you can do is get experience!
 
YES bermuda. spot on mate
the worst thing to do is to teach just because you feel you need to do something (to make money), that's terrible because you'll be wasting everyones time

not to be harsh but you might not even be the right sort of person to teach, it takes a certain style of person to be a good teacher
but you're 15 man, just carry on playing drums

absolutely ...just play drums for now.....enjoy your youth .....gain some of lifes experience and all that comes with being a musician

study with as many people as you can to get different flavors

learn to play authentic versions of multiple styles of music

practice like its your job......and make sacrifices doing so

travel to different parts of the world and play.......

I have always thought a musician should approach his/her craft the way chefs do.....traveling to the places of origin of the cuisine and studying with the masters

if when all that is said and done you still want to teach .....then start thinking about how to go about that


there is an old saying that says

those who can...do ...and those who can't ... teach

which could not be farther from the truth

there are a lot of us here who ...DO.......and when we are not DOING.....we teach

but for now my man just play drums and be a sponge
 
not to be harsh but you might not even be the right sort of person to teach, it takes a certain style of person to be a good teacher
but you're 15 man, just carry on playing drums

That's true as well, at 15 he's really not the person he'll be at 20, or 25, or 30.

I used to teach when I was about 18-22, and looking back, I did a few things wrong. The worst was continuing to teach students that I knew weren't really interested in drumming. It wasn't fun for them, it wasn't fun for me, and it wasn't fair to the parents who were paying me. But I also had a couple of star students who challenged my ability to stay ahead of them. They were always exploring beyond what I was teaching, and they were quite good at the time. I dare say I didn't challenge them hard enough.

Could I teach better now? Oh yeah! It's even something I've considered in the downtime between tours. I could teach a beginning or intermediate player exactly what he or she needs to be a working drummer. Unfortunately, I don't think I can teach what the kids want to learn, all that fancy double-bass stuff. Yeah, lots of fun and flash, but not what most students need from a teacher.

Bermuda
 
yeah man i know what you mean. people always used to ask me for lessons when i was 17-18 but i always turned them down because i really had no clue what i was doing (i still don't have much more of an idea now)

my old drum teacher has the same sort of attitude as you, basically if the student doesn't want to learn then he won't teach him at all
and he does no double kick etc

i might teach for a bit of fun once i can put a deposit on my new studio, but i'd rather just go around some schools and give free talks/displays really for a bit of fun
 
So basically I have to make the choice between being a ghetto drum teacher or gold class. I certainly don't care as much for money as I do happiness so I would probably rather get somewhere right in between.

So my current conclusion is that drum teachers who have 0 qualifications are destined to get the less enthusiastic students, someone who has a few qualifications such as a tafe course and a few big..ish gigs behind them are inbetweeners and finally the people who spend 40 grand to get a proper university qualification will be the ones who make the most money and get the most keen students, please correct me if I'm wrong :D

I don't agree with this. Any 15+ year old student will know after a couple of lessons whether the teacher is up to muster or not and whether it will be of value. I'm not interested if the tutor has a degree. I want to know that they have a lot of playing and teaching experience, that they have good methods, that they communicate well, that they are able to encourage and push without being annoying, etc etc

Peace
Davo
 
mate i didn't go to university and i'm further ahead (currently) than any of my mates that went to study music (even those that went to drumtech/ACM/BIMM)
going to uni is a waste unless you going to learn rather than drink and ____ (cos you can do that down the pub any night of the week)

the only subject i would have gone to uni for would have been a science, or maths

p.s. mason your ideas are nice, but you need to focus a bit more on the current
 
I'm strate emplyed so my paygrade is was initially determined by my university credits and that my education includes teaching.

Now being a good teacher is sometimes completely unrelated. Being a good teacher comes from experience and general passion and interest for teaching and self improvement in that area. So with that said, I recommend you start giving lessons to gain experience and get an idea of the type of teaching job you'd prefer.
 
mate i didn't go to university and i'm further ahead (currently) than any of my mates that went to study music (even those that went to drumtech/ACM/BIMM)
going to uni is a waste unless you going to learn rather than drink and ____ (cos you can do that down the pub any night of the week)

Until you find out that out in the gigging world, guys like to hire their mates: i.e. the guys they played and drank with at university...

Or you go out into the gigging world and realise that - for instance - your mallet and tuned percussion playing isn't up to snuff because you didn't have access to a room full of instruments to work on it.

Or you go to get a teaching job at a prestigious school like one of the ones above....

University might not be your preferred route, but take it from someone who didn't go to university for music, but has had a successful-ish music career, there is nothing wrong with spending your money to learn/practice/focus entirely on music and make connections with other musicians. I'm of the mind that if you're talented and are prepared to work your butt off you can be successful going either route, but I think you're wrong to say going to university can't help open doors or help prepare you for gigging. I know a lot of great players who went that route.
 
Until you find out that out in the gigging world, guys like to hire their mates: i.e. the guys they played and drank with at university...

Or you go out into the gigging world and realise that - for instance - your mallet and tuned percussion playing isn't up to snuff because you didn't have access to a room full of instruments to work on it.

Or you go to get a teaching job at a prestigious school like one of the ones above....

University might not be your preferred route, but take it from someone who didn't go to university for music, but has had a successful-ish music career, there is nothing wrong with spending your money to learn/practice/focus entirely on music and make connections with other musicians. I'm of the mind that if you're talented and are prepared to work your butt off you can be successful going either route, but I think you're wrong to say going to university can't help open doors or help prepare you for gigging. I know a lot of great players who went that route.


Preach on! :) Man, what I wouldn't have given to have heard this advice when I was 15...
 
Unfortunately there are no qualifications to be a drum teacher, so anyone can teach (and unfortunately quite often "anyone" does).

A degree in music or reputable playing resume surely do help assure that someone is at least somewhat qualified, but still there are no guarantees. Plus, teaching is a gift and there are many great players who don't have the gift. There are conversely "not so great" players who have the gift of teaching, but then there's the problem of how much they have to offer if they themselves haven't gotten to a certain level. It's a tricky question...

A large percentage of my students are teachers who want to get better and serve their students better, an admiral pursuit for sure.
 
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