Why Teaching from House to House SUCKS

Read this article first …

last time i wrote some stuff about ..why teaching in a music center sucks ..

does it mean that ..teaching from house to house is better ?

no , teaching from house to house is even WORSE than teaching in a music center ..

some background :

i’ve work for a music center , for about ..5 years ? yeah …and the truth is ..

During that 5 years period..i did tried to tarik a few students out ..i had like 10 private students ..and 30 students at a music center ..

and i realized , that 10 private students ..was killing me ..teaching from house to house was probably the dumbest shit I’ve ever done in my life …here’s why..

1.Time And Money

you see ah , just because you go to a students house , collect money directly from him and take 100% out of it..

you think you earning more ah ? you are wrong mate ..

A Music Center takes commission from 50%-60% ..depending on your experience ..but the difference is ..

A Music Center has RULES AND REGULATIONS that you need to follow no matter what ..

A Music Center has to maintain a certain level of professionalism ..which is ..starting lessons on time , and ending lessons on time ..

that means , if a student is strictly entitled to 30 minutes per class ..in 3 hours , i can teach 6 students ..right ?

on the other hand ..

going from house to house ..takes up time ..going from house to house is sort of , informal ..your 30 minutes class , will drag up to 40 minutes , or worse , 1 hour ..(those who teaching will know exactly what i’m talking about)

it is not easy to tell your students ..”okay , 30 minutes is up …”

it is easier to say ..“I’m sorry dear hot chick , but my other student is waiting outside ”

plus , you have traveling time ..so , in 3 hours ..you can only teach 2-3 students..what happens if one of them stops ? you are left with 1 student ..then charm lor you …

lets not go into the cost of traveling expenses , car maintenance, toll and petrol..alrite ?

so is earning that extra 50% or 40% your music center is taking , really worth the effort ? read on ..

2.Marketing and Promoting

yeah , thing is ..when you are going from house to house ..you are on your own ..you are only depending on

1. word of mouth

2. Internet

Self promo will make you look like a desperate housewife ..

and one thing i like about working in a Music Center ..

it is THEIR JOB to get you student , to pay for advertising fees , to call and follow up with customers and past-students ..everything..

they do , not you

3.They MANAGE IT , They RISK IT

yeap , you just go to your center , teach and CIAO

no need to worry about

1.Arranging the next class and replacement

2.paying the rent , the electricity bills

3.Doing the accounting work

4.reputation

if you screw up , the music center’s reputation is screwed , not you ..

don’t kena pawn , let them kena pawn

4.Damn hard To Collect Fees

yeah , i had this problem before ..what happens if your student always forget to pay their fees ..

how are you going to ask them ? you muka tebal or not ?

i am the type of guy , abit shy shy lah to go like

“hey bro , where the hell is my money? pay up man” …

you know ..so it was a big big problem for me ..

in a Music Center , the admin not shy one ..terus shoot the parents ..

“Dear Mdm , you haven’t pay for your sons fee for the month of September , October , and November , Total RM300 “

So easy lah ..you know ..

don’t need go through all this ..

5.Teaching in a Music Center more stable lah ..

Same like my previous point …even if a music center , fails to collect the fees from the student ..

It is their responsibility to pay you ..the money is between the music center and the student / student parents ..not you ..

you just get your ass to the place , do your job ..and expect the money ..you deserve it ..

if they don’t pay you , you can nail em’

If you are teaching from house to house ..and you failed to collect fees from your student ..

dude , you are screwed ..you are all alone and no one is there to help you

6.Upgrading your students

Next point , you think easy to tell your students ..

“eh dude , you have just completed intermediate level , so now you will get promoted to advance level , your fees will also be raised from RM150 to RM200 a month”

or ..

“you are now grade 6 , no more grade 5 ..so your fees increase by RM70″

you think easy to say that to your student ah ? No ..

easy to say to your admin clark ? sure easy lah ..tell them only ..let them do the dirty work mou ? and all the long debates with their parents ..

women always wanna have equal rights with men , fine . start working like us , bitch ..do the dirty work..

if you are teaching from home to home , and you are charging RM100 per month , chances are , you will be getting the same amount for the next 3 years ..or until your student stops

so , by raising a student’s fee (working for a music center), will actually increase your paycheck lah ..compared to sticking to RM100 per month for the next 3 years ..

7.Quantity

You will always have more students , in a music center ..than teaching from house to house ..

When you have more people , it is easier to conduct some other shit you are working on ..

like , organizing a monthly guitar clinic , inviting more students to your shows and events or even selling a new product , advertising etc ..

8.Equipment

The current music school i work for ..i have

1.FREE WI FI (i bring my laptop to teach , it is easy lah ..using guitar pro and youtube )

2.I just take any guitar i want from the shelf..

3.Amps are provided

4.Registration forms , students information and contact number , all ready ..

5.Siap nice air con and nice chair ..nice table too ..

6.Cables , Music Stand ,guitar picks, tuners , metronome etc..

i remembered last time when i was going house to house..

you know how many shit i have to carry ah ?

Music Stand , Guitar Amp , Electric Guitar , Books , Cable ..bla bla bla bla ..and there was once i forget to bring my cable ..ohh..and there goes the lesson ..

9.Public Holiday and Term Break

All Music Schools are closed on Public Holidays , and 4 term breaks a year

classes are NOT REPLACEABLE ..this is the most owning part of music school..you get holidays and you get paid

work from house to house ah ? prepare to work on Chinese New Year , Hari Raya and Christmas lah ..

even if you cancel it ..you think no need to replace ah ? the student will scream at you if you don’t wanna replace ..

that means , 1 month you will be teaching for at LEAST 4 classes (per student) ..if you unlucky you kena 5 times per month lah ..(sui wohh)

Music School , sometimes lucky can kena 3 lessons a month only..

damn lucky

10.Discount and Benefit

Lastly , you cannot enjoy the discounts and benefits that a music school has to offer..

this includes , ang pow on chinese new year if the company is doing well , sales commission , staff discount , some of them medical card and so on ..

So the conclusion is ..

Don’t teach ..!! since both way sucks ..lol …

lol , well nolah ..actually teaching is quite a well-paid job lah , especially for part timers..just that, sometimes it gets very tiring .and in certain situations it is not worth the time and effort ..

in my opinion , i think music center stealing away that 40% or 50% commission , is quite fair lah ..since they have rent , electricity , cleaners , advertisement fees , accounting fees to pay , find student for you , manage for you , take the risk ..etc etc..bla bla bla

and if you are going to work for a music school , and at the same time , teach from house to house ..careful yea ? once you get caught , your music school has every right to fire your ass

that includes screwing up your reputation among music schools ..so..if you wanna do it , go ahead , just don’t get caught ..

So How now lah ?

It sucks teaching for a music school , it sucks teaching from house to house…

anybody wanna suggest me some solutions ?

Inspiration

We are only Human ..

once in a while ..we start questioning ourselves ..

Why am i here ? not there ?

Why i can’t do this ? Why i can’t do that ?

Am i at the right path ? Why am i not improving ?

I am stuck at my practice routine …
you see , there’s an old uncle who visits Music Master very often ..and one day , he said something like this ..

The curse of being smart , is smart people give excuses ..

As you grow older , you find that many smart people are broke , and many dumb fucks are rich ..

STOP giving excuses to STOP practicing !

STOP saying i can’t ..

if you can’t , do something about it ..what happens today , determines your future ..

some quotes that i like ..

Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.
- Edmund Burke

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.
- Albert Einstein

Great changes may not happen right away, but with effort even the difficult may become easy.
- Bill Blackman

Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.
- Oscar Wilde

ahhh..that was beautiful , i needed that ..

now or days i am so caught up at music master ..no time to complete my song , no time to practice my jazz theory , no time to practice my dynamics ..i just need more strength

but that is not an excuse for me …

to all my students ..especially the new ones .. work towards your goal ..never give up ..

you came for my concept class , study an application ..don’t just do something , sit there ! sit there , do something ..

don’t tell me stuffs like ..

“damn that is too hard , too many things”

“i don’t think i can do it “

“it is not my style , i don’t like it “

“cannot find bandmate”

stop giving excuses and pick what to learn and what not to learn ..master the basics first ..then you can choose what you wanna be ..

i remember , the feeling when i first mastered my sweep arpeggio clean - priceless ..

work towards it ..

Who says Legato are for noobs ?

video of the week

Quick Lesson

remember , the most important thing any guitarist should learn is …

To be able to learn by yourself

an independent guitarist and improving guitarist , is a killer ..compared to a good guitarist that is still spoon fed by his teacher

First thing to master , master to know what you see ...

Don’t just Watch that Ritchie Kotzen’s video and go ..”wow , that was awesome , i wanna be like that someday”

and close it ..go on chatting with msn ..

no ..

you observe , what scale did he play ? what chords were behind it ? what is the dynamics ? why is it unique ? how do i improvise it ?

learn to know the notes on your fingerboard by heart …

whenever you are observing a guitarist , see what note he selects , not WHAT SHAPE HE PLAYS ..

..learn with what you hear , not with what you see …

Observe the video above ..

I love videos like that ..no backing tracks ..nothing..PURE LICKS ..most of you will think it is random wankings right ?

Wrong ..listen ..there are many many many licks that can be learned ..from Major11 licks to minor13 arpeggios..

especially the beginning ..can you spot them?

start from 2.19 ..try to identify what was he playing …that is the easiest ..

Some shots from Blazing Guitar Challenge Semifinals

so i decided to go and take a look at the Blazing Guitar Challenge Semifinals on a Sunday Afternoon ..

here are some shots …

as usual lah ..typical Sungai Wang Yellow-ishh lights at the top floor

Frankly speaking , i think the event was a success lor ..the crowd was there for such a competition..

even mat salleh also went ..can you spot him ?

shitloads of people ..

until i have to stand at the stair case ..aihh..no space…my angle also very bad ..

plus …the sound system was good …guitar solos were loud and super clear ..( so if you make mistakes , can really hear cantik cantik ,  )

it was a nightmare for sloppy players who likes to cover their sloppyness with high gain ..

and ..i think the amps were Marshall AVT eh ? Correct me if i am wrong ..so far lah ..how to see

 

this is sooo unfair wei …how come my gigs , my event company supply me crap amps ..

now this boys getting better amps than me …:(

got roadie to help you set up equipments sommore

1 thing i hate about this competition ..(and i expected it lah)

its a sausage fest..no chicks also..wanna pick up chicks using my ultimate super gapnap pickup line also cannot ..

 

i think this dude (guy with black strat) is the crowd’s favourite lah …so many people cheer for him ..

 yeah..his licks all very malmsteen ..

check out the guy with the ZW guitar mou ..lol ..

anyway , i left after 15 minutes ..tak tahan edi ..:) i have my limits ..

wanted to meet my ex guitar teacher ..ah well..i guess some other time then ..

the finals in on next sunday …who wanna go ?