Just finished a gig...

And it got me thinking. How is it that potential students get in touch with private teachers? I know in some cases it's a classified ad, in some cases it's word of mouth, and sometimes it's just being in the right place at the right time. But I suppose what I'd really like to know is how we private teachers can best make ourselves available to potential students.

Case in point: Tonight at the gig I was playing, a family was listening to the music, and between songs, mother and daughter came over and were very excited to get to talk to the trombone player. Unfortunately, this was in the middle of a set, and I couldn't just stop and chat with them (as much as I would have liked to). I told them that I would be thrilled to talk to them once the set was over, and they went back to where they had been standing. To my dismay, they ran out of patience three songs from the end of the set. I got a distinct sense that if I had the chance to talk to them I could have gained a student. Unfortunately, it looks like I will never know.

I seem to have this problem continually. I meet students who would be good candidates for lessons, but cannot seem to get beyond that initial meeting. Or I know that there are students out there, but cannot seem to connect with them. I would love to see potential students connected with teachers so that they could benefit from such a relationship.

I feel that too many students are missing out on their potential (or at least are greatly delayed in realizing it) due to not having a private teacher or mentor. Personally, I was a senior in high school before I started taking lessons. From the very first lesson I felt like I was discovering just how little I truly knew and how far I could go. My first teacher was very good at not only helping me figure out how to play something but also in seeing where it could go from there. Once I got into college and studied with several more teachers, I found that of all the classes I took I looked forward to lessons the most. I have always wondered where I could have gone if I had started taking lessons earlier. Perhaps I would have gotten frustrated or bored, but I think it far more likely that I would be an exponentially better musician than I am now (despite two degrees).

But again, I think that the issue is truly finding ways to connect students with private teachers. And I am open to any suggestions on how to make that happen.