Employment at TSM

The teVelde School of Music (TSM) is the South San Luis Obispo Guild Adjudication Center for the National Guild of Piano Teachers and the American College of Musicians. Bonnie teVelde is the Chairperson of this Center, having Founded it in 1998. TSM is also the exclusive center for the Dou Dou Sight Reading Method Examinations, and we have an exclusive contract to provide the only Sight Reading/Ear Training/Rhythm/Sight Singing Judges in the County of San Luis Obispo.

The teVelde School of Music has the Following Permanent, Part-time Teaching Positions Available:

Piano Teacher:

Must have had at least 8 years of piano lessons, and attained at least the level of Late Intermediate. Must practice regularly, and have a desire to teach and continue to improve in musical skills. Must have a good understanding of music theory, solid instrumental technique, and a good ear. Must sight read music accurately and quickly. Experience playing for a school or church choir a plus. Must have a patient, kind, enthusiastic personality, and enjoy working with children. Will consider training the right candidate. This could turn into a full time, permanent management position for the right, motivated person who wants to make a career in music. Must be available to work 1-2 days per week, M-F, between 3-7 p.m., to start. Position may grow to as much as 3-5 days per week, and/or hours may expand outside of the range stated. There will be flexibility for the right candidate.

Violin Teacher:

Seeking a teacher that is willing to work with beginning and intermediate students. Must have studied violin for at least 8 years, and have played in an orchestra for at least 3 of those years. Must read music well, have good instrumental technique, and have a desire to be continually improving personal skills. Must have a patient, kind, enthusiastic personality and get along well with children. We will consider training the right candidate to teach. The right Candidate must be willing to prepare beginning through intermediate students for participation in the SLO Youth Symphony. Position could grow into a full time position managing a string program in the South County area in the next five years. Must be available to work 1-2 days per week, M-F, between 3-7 p.m., to start. Position may grow to as many as 3-5 days per week, and/or hours may expand outside of the range stated. There will be flexibility for the right candidate.

Other Instruments and Voice: Are You Missing Out On Your Calling?

We are always interested in musicians that love their instrument of choice, and have a passion for sharing that craft with others. Have you ever thought these things:

• I have played all my life, and always wished I had chosen teaching music as a career rather than what I do now...
• I took lessons for years, and now I'm not doing anything with it. Could mentoring a student fill a void that has been missing in my life for years?
• I am still in high school or college. Am I really good enough to teach a beginner? How can I be sure I wouldn't miss something critical that would damage them?
• I would like to teach, but I don't want to have strangers coming into my home, and I don't want to run my own business.
• I already teach, but I'm driving around to student's homes, and it's costing me more in time and gas, not to mention the days when the student "forgets" there's a lesson, and it just not worth it. I wish I could just teach my students in one place, all in a row, with 24-hours notice if they aren't going to show up.

If you've thought any of these things at one time, I would like to talk to you. Please send me an email and tell me what your dream is. I want you to work and study music at the same time. We will be getting you trained and certified, so you can really be an excellent teacher, with students that are happy and successful. Every time they are, you get paid more.

I have a place where the students are scheduled to come, and you just teach them, using your gift without the stress of having to drive all over the county for a maybe. And if you prove your worth as a teacher, with student retention and guild scores, you get paid real money for it, as well as the true knowledge that you will be greatly appreciated for sharing that which has cost you so much of your life and your time with someone else. People come to this school because of teachers that want to be the very best of the best. If you are continually working towards this end, we want to help you at any stage of that development.

And you don't have to start with 20 students. You can mentor 1 student and see how it goes. Our new mentoring program would set you up with a student who can't afford full time lessons, and when you share, they win. When it goes from mentoring to teaching, and you feel really good about it, you can change from a mentor to a Certified Teacher.

Students at this school have a choice about who they wish to have teach them. The better you get at interacting with students, and motivating them about music, the more will choose you as the teacher they want.

All Mentors and Teachers Must Be Willing To:

- Pass a background check
- Provide references
- Be willing and open to learning new teaching ideas and styles
- Be patient, gentle, and kind to their students
- Be reliable, responsible, & honest; no excuses
- Remain completely drug and alcohol free on the job, and have a clean criminal record

What We Offer the Right Candidate:

1. The highest hourly contract pay of any music school on the Central Coast.
2. The best work environment, equipment, and software of any music school on the Central Coast.
3. The most motivated, talented, hard-working, and highly intelligent students anywhere, period.
4. The most supportive parents you will find anywhere, period.
5. Fully evaluated students, and parents who understand them, with clear goals, and a pre-written assessment that will tell you exactly how to teach each student.
6. The best teaching team anywhere on the Central Coast. No interpersonal conflict, just stress free support.
7. The best computer, software, and sound engineer anywhere, period. (He does the sound for Jon Anderson as well.)
8. The most beautiful outdoor and indoor environment of any music school on the Central Coast.
9. A second teaching location for teaching larger groups in Grover Beach. This second location has a large stage w/pro lighting, a baby grand piano, a complete sound system, and a full setup for a band. At any time, as a teacher at the teVelde School of Music, one may submit a request to teach a class at this second location.  We are looking into opening additional locations in Nipomo, San Luis Obispo, and Avila Beach in the future.

Additional Benefits:

• A teacher with the teVelde School of Music has the distinction of being associated with a school that values responsibility, hard work, and the close mentoring bond that develops between the music student and the teacher.  The teacher won’t be required to share your students with other teachers, randomly, when either the student’s or your schedule changes.  The teacher will be allowed to work with the student to find an available time/day that works for both of you, and all avenues will be exhausted before the student is placed with another teacher.  (We do like you to tell us if you are going on vacation, so we can arrange a sub if you are gone.)  We believe that you work hard to build a bond with your students, and to get to know their strengths and weaknesses.  It is very difficult for a student to work with a teacher, or vice-versa, for 2-3 years, just to be ripped away and given another teacher, all because of a schedule change. Although other schools routinely do this, we feel this is detrimental to the student as well as the teacher. The only exception to this principle is if the teacher has reached their knowledge limit with the student.

• A teacher with the teVelde School of Music can schedule all of their students back to back in a private teaching room, with Arroyo Grande Creek outside the back window. Each teaching room has 2 pianos, a full drum kit, an amplifier, wireless internet access, and a full library of music outside your door. The larger teaching room includes a full recording studio, a MIDI studio, and a myriad of music teaching software for use during your teaching sessions. You will have access to the scheduling computer from any internet connection, allowing you full control over schedule changes. You will be teaching with state of the art technology, including a MIDI studio, and full recording studio.
• A teacher with TSM becomes a member of the National Guild of Piano Teachers, and has their students adjudicated at the teVelde School of Music location each year. If already teaching for TSM, teachers may prepare their students for annual adjudication on the same pianos, and in the same exact environment that they are going to play in when they are evaluated. Your students will play better, and you, in turn, will earn your Guild Teaching Certification more quickly.
• The teVelde School of Music has access to 3-4 concerts/”recitals” per year, and all of your students will be able to participate in these showcases of talent. Our concerts are different from most “recitals” in that students do not have to play. They fill out raffle tickets at the beginning of the concert, and if they decide that they want to play, they put it in the bowl, and it may be drawn, like a gift. Playing in the concert becomes a “prize”to be won, not a stress filled evening of angst. We have 2 large seasonal concerts dates per year, and 2 smaller ones. We will be having our Christmas concerts, both on Saturday, one at 6p.m. and one at 7:30p.m. We will be having 2 End of the Year Concerts at the end of May, where all students will receive their guild awards. Those concerts will also be on Saturday evenings, at 6p.m. and at 7:30p.m.

• Each year, there are many requests for TSM teachers to perform at public and private events around the county. These include large functions at the Christopher Cohan Center for the Performing Arts, and the Clark Center as well as private weddings, parties, church events and services, and many more. These requests come into the school because of our excellent reputation for fulfilling those requests in the past, and we pass those requests on to our teachers without taking a cut or finder's fee. This way our teachers can earn extra income through performance and accompaniment requests leads that come in to the school. These are usually in the form of playing for weddings, churches, rehearsals, Christmas parties, etc. We pass these leads on to our teachers without taking any cut or finder’s fee.  We think it is good for our teachers to be out there playing and being heard.
• Teacher’s with the teVelde School of Music make the most money per hour of any music teachers at any schools in the County of San Luis Obispo.  We pay more because we have better teachers.  They are more experienced, they take full responsibility for their students doing well, and they expect more of themselves.

We pay our teachers a finder’s fee of $100 for every new student that starts with TSM after having been referred directly to the school by you.  They must mention your name when they first call in for lessons. 

What is Required of Our Teachers?

We expect you to research your student’s learning style & personality, as given to you after the testing is completed, and adjust your teaching style to match it.  We expect you to learn about all of the different combinations of personalities and learning styles, and take part in teacher training sessions on Saturday afternoons or on other days when offered.  At least 3 of these sessions must be completed by you in the first 3 months of Teaching, or as soon thereafter as offered.  These classes are also required to enhance your TSM teaching certification in any way. You must read the book "Do What You Are" and "Nurture by Nature", and take a proficiency test on the information in them, you will automatically get a $1 per hour raise. This is because our entire testing system is based on the systems taught in these books, and you need to understand how to use the results in the most effective way. If, after one month with us, you still haven't read the books or understand the related materials, you will not be given any more students.
1. Each week we expect you to keep an accurate record of exactly what you taught each student, on the appropriate student lesson log in the student file.
2. We expect you to be on time, well groomed, and consistent regarding the day & time of the lessons you teach.  We ask that you not skip lessons unless you have given Bonnie teVelde at least 2 weeks notice.  At that point, she will let you know whether you will be having a sub teach your students during your absence, or whether you will be allowed to make up the lessons yourself.
3. We expect you to stick to the curriculum assigned, and not to skip anything, period. This is especially important, as we have found that teachers that skip songs and sections of books are skipping valuable material that was put into the method for a reason. Unless a teacher can tell us, what that reason is, and why it is not important to the student’s learning, it must be taught.
4. We expect you to learn all of the duets that accompany the Faber or other method books we assign. You will be expected to teach the curriculum exactly as outlined in the testing summary in the student's file. You will be required to learn how to teach the Dou Dou Sight Reading Method, and integrate it into your weekly lesson routine as well.
5. We expect you to prepare your students for National Guild of Piano Teachers Adjudications every year, without exception. The judging is usually in the months of May or June, and it is your responsibility to find out the requirements for your student, and make sure that they are met. You must find out the minimum musicianship phases that apply to each student, and make sure that his or her repertoire is memorized and complete at least 4 weeks before the guild is scheduled. You are responsible for getting the correct spelling of your student’s names, their songs, composers, # of songs, the level they will play at, and the award they are seeking to the Guild Chair (Bonnie teVelde) no later than 6 weeks before the guild adjudication date each year, or no later than March 15th.

• We expect you to prepare your students for Dou Dou Sight Reading Examinations every time they finish a Level of the Dou Dou Method.

Our School is going to go through a large expansion in the next 2-5 years. We are also adding a community music program, which will include a children's choir and an orchestra. There will be many opportunities for personal growth on the job, including extra hours and extra responsibilities as various persons prove themselves over the next several years. Our current teachers have had up to 3 year waiting lists for several years, so we are looking for a select few teachers to add to our team.

Hours are flexible, M-F 3-6 p.m. (1-2 weekdays per week, once set, pretty much the same each week). Hours will be added depending on the reliability of the employee, and the demand for the instrument... possibly developing up to 20 hours per week.

Please send a resume and include short and long range employment goals, as well as salary requirements.

Email us at: teveldemusic for more information on teaching. We would be honored to have you.