Guitar teachers who will travel to a student’s home?

[DLQ]

Hi all,

I quickly became a bit discouraged with Google, and as usual there is the possibility of user error…

But I have had difficulty finding anyone in the Hudson Valley NY area who seems like would be a compatible teacher, and also would travel to a student’s home. I actually thought this would be easier to find, but it has not been. At least for me.

Does anyone know of any good platforms that connect teachers / students (teachers willing to travel to homes) or perhaps is just knowledgeable of educators in the nyc / Hudson valley area?

Thanks!

[Silly Moustache]

Hi DLQ.

I am a teacher. I am in southern England and mostly teach folks in the USA.

I use Zoom, and offer one-to-one hour long sessions tailored to the client's needs.

I've been doing this since 2020, and, much to my surprise, have found that using zoom is as good, and probably better, that actual face to face, as whilst you can see each other's face and hands clearly, there is far less of nervousness that is often present when actually physically face to face.

[LAPlayer]

I've seen people advertising in Craigslist. I would also check out all your Folk, Folklore, Bluegrass and guitar-oriented music stores and centers which is where most of the teachers I know gather. Remember that for a teacher to come to you they will likely have to charge much more to account for their travel time. If you can go to a folklore center, guitar/music store, Guitar Center (I've seen people getting lessons there) you will probably fare better.

[lowrider]

You need to better define your location. Someone for Tarrytown isn't going to want to drive to Coxsackie to give a one hour lesson.

[DLQ]

Hi all thanks for the posts so far. It’s dawning on me that the 2024 version of in-home lessons may be done via the internet. I suppose it makes sense given various styles and such would need to match up too.

But I did think being so near the city too it might not be out of the question.

Also I’m near Peekskill.

Thanks again for posting.

[Br1ck]

Both my daughters are pro musicians, performing and teaching. How do you feel about paying their hourly rate to travel to and from your home? My daughters both add travel time to performance or teaching gigs.

My cellist daughter has a studio in her home and gives three lessons in three hours. My violist will go to a music school and do the same. She will go to homes if it is not more than half a mile out of her way, but charges more for the service.

A teacher that desperate might not be someone you'd want.

[rllink]

I've had a few one on one guitar teachers. I had lessons on skype during the darkness. And I had one guy who wanted to come to my house, but he lived four miles from me, lives in a very small house with no room to give lessons and only had a couple students. Otherwise, I would expect to pay a premium for someone to come to me. Most teachers I know have students scheduled back to back. Driving in between would certainly cut into the time that they could be teaching.

[DLQ]

Re travel, that all makes sense. I was an ESL tutor at one point in my life and I did travel to peoples' homes. I think that may not be so uncommon for tutors (although I could be wrong!) so I thought maybe music teachers did it too. But yes it would have to be pretty close distance wise to make sense. I guess I am thinking fairly 20th century. I'll explore online options. I mostly need a task master, is what I have been thinking.

[gurroz]

Your thread is timely, I spent the past week taking lessons (interviewing) 3 different guitar instructors. The first one came to my house and gave a one-hour class. He did not care about your experience level and stated "Everyone gets the same first lesson regardless of their experience." His lesson was very elementary and more of a marketing session telling me how much I needed him. The second instructor was located at a music school and in 30 minutes, he watched and listened to me play. He asked me what I wanted to accomplish, I answered flat-picking. He had me play a pentatonic scale, pointed out what I was doing wrong, showed me how to correct it, and said to practice that until next week's lesson. He happens to be a professional jazz musician but can play all styles of music. The third instructor works from his home, he had me play a series of things to access abilities and made a couple of tweaks. He is almost twice the cost of the other two instructors, however, I feel I got my money's worth! He is a professional flamenco guitarist. I have decided to take lessons with both the jazz and flamingo players. I have attended many jam sessions but this was the first time I have sat across from someone who was focused on my play rather than their own. Lessons are well worth the money spent. I'm not sure zoom lessons would work as well as having someone physically there.

[min7b5]

I have been teaching acoustic guitar in my home full-time since 1987. There was a brief period of time in the 90s, when I was a renter, and my landlord told me I couldn't teach at there anymore and I went to peoples homes for about a year. I hated it. Sorry, not to be controversial. I'm sure some people love it, and it sounds like if you find the right person that's willing to do it, you’re gonna be very happy. So that's great. But for me personally I'm back to back all day long with just ten minutes in between sessions, so I would have to charge somebody three times as much further to work financially. I have a home office that set up for this, in sounds great, we can record, we can video, I have two filing cabinets full of stuff, and a basement full of books. Do you wanna explore Scottish folk music, a strathspey in particular, “I'll be right back…” But here comes the controversial part; I think it sets up an awkward dynamic. I think the student teacher relationship is thrown a little bit from it. Sorry, that was just my experience. I also teach a lot on Zoom these days -both guitar and lately recording and mixing- and it's fine. But I love teaching, in person, and I’ll never stop. If I win the lottery tomorrow, I may cut back by one day, but probably not. I currently have ten students or my two dozen that I've been coming for over ten years, one at twenty.… That knock at the front door in the early afternoon is one of my favorite sounds ever. But I digress.

[Ps346]

You can find many guitar teachers on thumbtack.com who teach virtually (i.e., through Zoom or some similar utility).

I think most would give a discounted initial session to see if you were a good match.

[maxed]

Originally Posted by gurroz

...He is a professional flamingo guitarist. I have decided to take lessons with both the jazz and flamingo players.

We all know what you meant, but the actual word is "flamenco guitar".

Good luck with your lessons!

[jazzereh]

I'm frankly quite surprised that any teacher would travel to a home to give a lesson. If they did I'd have to think that they would charge their hourly rate for the travel time so it would make a lesson more expensive than it's worth.

These days I would think that on line would the way to go if the student did not want to go to the teacher.

[musicman1951]

I did this when I was very young and I'm not surprised you're having trouble finding someone. Reasonably, you'd have to pay for three lessons and only get one. The drive to your house and the drive back home represent the other two lessons the teacher can't give because of the travel, not to mention gas and wear and tear on the car. Personally, I think that would make the lessons prohibitively expensive.

My first hope would be a local college guitar major. You should be able to call the college music department and ask if they have any interested students. Short of that you'll probably have to consider some kind of Zoom online lessons.

[fitness1]

The time, gas and wear and tear on the car that have been mentioned are all valid, but there's something that hasn't been brought up yet that trumps them all.

All it takes is one person to cry wolf on sexual harassment or something similar and you are done.

This is the reason I quit doing in home fitness training 25 years ago.

You'd have to be out of your mind to do something like that in this day and age.