bassjamm Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 Hi everyone, Not sure whether or not this has been covered in the past, but i'm thinking of trying to get some bass students, and thought i might give teaching in schools a bash...does anyone have any suggestions as to how i might go about this? Any info or advice would be appreciated. Thanks Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 Hey mate, i can't really give any advice as to how to get the job, the school i work at phoned me up out of the blue. But i will give u a couple of words of warning, its really different from teaching privately. Mainly the 20min lessons that most schools use! Thats when the pupils even turn up. I'm getting to the point now where i'm so fustrated with barely being able to sit down and ask how they are before they have to go again, that i'm thinking about just going back to private! Not that i want to put you off! Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywalker Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 Hi Jamie My wife taught piano in a local school some years ago as an extra curricular thing. Might be an idea to speak to local head teachers and find out what the situation is, however.................. Anyone who works with children these days has to have all kinds of background and criminal records checks to make sure you're not some kind of paedo.... We even have to have this to coach children cricket at the local club. Whilst there is no problem if you are of impeccable character, this whole thing might make it not worth the hassle. Having said all that, best of luck with it, I hope you do well, I'm not sure if I would have the patience to teach. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 (edited) Yes you need to have a CRB check, which the school provides the forms for, it costs about £10 i think, although my school payed for it. They take about 3 weeks to a month to go through! Oh and as far as i'm aware, you need to have a separate check for each establishment you work in! Si Edited July 3, 2007 by Sibob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZPQ Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 Every school and LEA does things slightly differently. I'd suggest you ring around the school's you're interested in working with - probably best to ask for the head of music and they'll explain they're school policy. I'm 99% sure my LEA does a CRB check which would allow you to work at any of their schools, and this should be fairly quick to do - bit of a pain but fairly straightforward for most people - if you've moved house a lot and changed your name it could be more involved. I you want to know anything specific I can go and talk to the music people at my place and get their ideas. Cheers John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzz Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 I'd probably ask the music department head at the school to get more information. They're generally the most clued up about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr.funk Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 Sad as it is a lot of schools seem to favour a guitar player who can teach bass and guitar as opposed to having a dedicated bass teacher. A real shame although my old schools guitar teacher was a fantastic bass player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hutton Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 I don't know about England and Wales but in Scotland a teacher of any instrument has to have had formal education in music, often a University degree, and achieved necessary qualifications in their particular instrument and in teaching practice. I know this as my younger son is currently trying to get a job as a teacher of guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 (edited) Another route to consider is to approach the local authority music service, they employ peri' teachers to go into schools and they do all the CRB checks etc. It can be as simple as finding the phone number for your local authority education dept. and asking to speak to someone in the music service. Not all school guitar lessons are 20 minute jobbies; the guitar tutor at my school comes in and works with 1-4 kids at a time for a full hour. Not the norm I accept but there are schools out there that care about the quality of teaching the kids get and not just that the school is able to tick another government box. The rewards can be substantial if you get a good reputation but it is hard work. Edited July 3, 2007 by warwickhunt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjb Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 I do a lot of teaching in schools, mainly for Warwickshire county council. I got into it through a friend who teaches guitar. I find it very rewarding, music is looked on as a 'cool' subject these days, and is taught differently to when I was at school, which wasn't all that long ago really. They organised the CR check and everything else. It is different to private teaching, you don't have the same sort of relationship develop, you do tend to be a bit more distant when in a school envoironment for obvious reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassjamm Posted July 4, 2007 Author Share Posted July 4, 2007 Thanks for all of this guys...i'm in the process of making a few phone calls etc...keep the advice coming please!!! Just one other thing that crossed my mind...what do you guys do about basses, i'm currently selling my 4 string which will leave me with my 5 string F Bass, i've been chatting with my tutor whose opinion i value, and he said teaching on a 5 isn't any poblem at all...just wondered what you guys thought to this? Thanks Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 I think the only sensible option Jammy is to teach on a matching 4 string F bass and have a 60s jazz too, just to make sure. Then you might want a couple of fretless basses too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slaphappygarry Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 well... Imangine being a 9 year old with your first 4 string and not knowing what the strings are called, let alone why yours has one more than his... 99% of starter basses are 4 string. Most cheap entry level ones are too... Could be tricky in the long run... G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShergoldSnickers Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Some tentative practical advice, as I know nothing about the machinations of local authority or school politics and procedures. If I were doing this, I'd take a laptop, some decent powered speakers, and have some arrangements already done. A MacBook and GarageBand would be perfect for this for example. You could drop out the bass track (or any other track) as and when necessary, record students' efforts and then burn a CD for each student before the next lesson so they have a record of their progress. On the first lesson hand out a CD with all the exercises on. Just a few thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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