The Savvy Music Teacher

In our era of financial uncertainty and disruptive technological change, the music industry is in crisis. One career path that holds great promise, however, is independent music teaching. For a host of reasons, demand exists in every corner, providing one of the most stable, promising career options available to musicians regardless of instrument, genre, or background - at least, in the hands of a savvy music teacher.
In this book, author David Cutler offers hands-on advice for creating a music career that is meaningful, artistically fulfilling, and financially self-supporting. The book's overriding goal is to ensure a steady income for its reader and to give the reader tools to use that income to provide financial independence. Cutler walks the reader through the process of setting up a profitable and sustainable career plan, and then through the practical aspects of getting out of debt, spending responsibly, investing, and saving for retirement. Cutler also sheds light on the logistics of running a teaching studio, providing helpful documentation and tips for everything from bookkeeping to time management. Lastly and most importantly, Cutler explores situations for increasing a teacher's impact. Rather than simply creating wealthy teachers, the overriding goal of their book is to cultivate leaders who add significant value to society through their teaching.
A must-read for private music teachers of all levels, both beginning and those with established studios, as well as the music performance graduates who so often become private studio teachers, The Savvy Music Teacher provides practical advice in down-to-earth language that includes real-life experiences from successful teacher-entrepreneurs, a focus on large-scale income streams not usually covered in books for studio teachers, and sample documents (including contracts and marketing materials) on the book's comprehensive companion website.

One of the world's leading authorities on arts entrepreneurship/leadership, David Cutler balances a varied profile as a jazz and classical composer, pianist, educator, arranger, author, and sought-after speaker. His first book, The Savvy Musician, has influenced a whole generation of musicians from across the globe. Cutler serves as the University of South Carolina's Director of Music Entrepreneurship.

- Introduction: So You Want to be a Music Teacher?
- Chapter 1: The Very, Very, Very Important Work of Savvy Music Teachers
- Chapter 2: 9 Savvy rules to Teaching Prosperity
- Chapter 3: Stream 1: Lessons
- Chapter 4: Stream 2: Classes
- Chapter 5: Stream 3: Camps
- Chapter 6: Stream 4: Events
- Chapter 7: Stream 5: Technology
- Chapter 8: Stream 6: Products
- Chapter 9: Stream 7: Additional
- Chapter 10: Setting Up Shop
- Chapter 11: Filling Your Studio
- Chapter 12: Time/Life Management
- Chapter 13: Winning the Money Game
- Chapter 14: Your Financial Picture in Five Steps
- Chapter 15: The Savvy Music Teacher Career Blueprint
- Coda: Staying Inspired
- Appendix A: Financial Worksheets
- Appendix B: The SMT Earning Blueprint
- Appendix C: The SMT Impact Blueprint
- Appendix D: Sample SMT Documents
- Appendix E: Further Reading
- Featured Artist Index
- Index