We empower teachers.
Piano Power knows that happy teachers make happy students. We offer W2 employment status, 401(k) with employer match, PTO, full health benefits through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, competitive pay, and fully compensated driving time.
We value your talents and your time.
Are you a musician seeking respect, stability, and a community that values your talents? Tired of exploitative jobs and stodgy studios that leave you feeling undervalued? We get it. We’ve been there. You deserve better.
Piano Power believes that every musician is worthy of a fair, respectful workplace that acknowledges their talents. Over the past 17 years, we’ve crafted a great culture for over 100 Chicago-area musicians.
Don’t take our word for it – play the video below to hear what one of our awesome instructors has to say.
We understand that it can be risky to try a new studio.
You might worry about not getting enough students, having too much driving time, or not having enough teaching experience. But our teacher-centric culture means that we don’t thrive unless you do.
Here are our Core Values:
Happy teachers make happy students
Keeping teachers happy has always been the foundation of our success. We attract and retain great teachers by providing financial security, health benefits, and a fun, respectful workplace. We work diligently to fill your schedule and compensate you for all driving time.
Emotional intelligence
We hire instructors for emotional intelligence first, and outstanding musicianship second. Our student/teacher bonds are built on a foundation of trust and empathy, making them powerful and durable.
Humor and humility
Music education succeeds when it’s fun. We turn down the pressure, turn up the smiles, and never take ourselves too seriously.
A culture of mentorship
Our mentors equip their students with life skills like confidence and resilience, providing tools to manage stress and anxiety, using music as the vehicle.
Fun, customized, anti-competitive lessons
We never put your student into a “one-size-fits-all” curriculum. Each of our students is on a personal journey, custom-built for minimum stress and maximum fun.
Thinking about making the switch to Piano Power?
Piano Power believes that every family deserves quality enrichment without sacrificing precious time together. As parents ourselves, we understand how hard it is to maintain that balance. We’ll help you reclaim quality time while giving your kids the joy of music.
Amplify your career and harmonize your life.
Here’s the tracklist for your ‘Career Makeover Mixtape’:
1.
Apply and tell us about you.
2.
Do a phone call with us to confirm we’re a great fit.
3.
Show us your musical magic.
4.
Try out a lesson with one of our students.
5.
Start teaching with us!
6.
Watch your schedule fill up!
Ready to transform your career?
Click below to apply online.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why work for Piano Power? Unlike other lesson providers, we are a teacher-centric business. In other words, we focus on a satisfying work experience and a providing a full benefits package for our teachers including: W2 employment status, competitive pay, and 401(k) with employer match; paid time off and paid driving time; and full health benefits through BCBSIL. Furthermore, we cultivate a healthy work environment through great student matches, professional development, efficient routes, full schedules, and an engaged artistic community. To top it all off, our professional admin team keeps everything — logistics, payment, scheduling, and marketing — running smoothly, so you can focus on teaching.
You set your own schedule. Our teachers generally teach three to five days per week. Reliable teachers maintaining a four-day (or more) weekly schedule are eligible for substantial bonuses.
Our four core areas of instruction are piano, voice, guitar, and drums. If you teach one or two of these instruments, our introductory rate is $39 per hour. If you teach three or four of these instruments, it is $43 per hour. We provide generous annual raises for great performance, substantial bonuses for reliability, full compensation for your driving time, and comprehensive health insurance for qualifying teachers.
We maintain an annual limit of two cancellations during the school year and three during summer to make sure you have consistent families on your schedule. Once a client reaches that limit, you’re fully compensated for all future cancellations.
We provide full health benefits, through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, for teachers who teach four or more days per week.
We look for musicians who can sight-read, develop an original composition with a student, and arrange a pop song by ear. We evaluate these skills during the interview.
But more importantly, we’re looking for empathy, good listening, and the ability to discover what motivates your students. We highly value interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence.
Also, the power of patience, positivity, and a sense of humor can’t be denied. We appreciate humor especially when it reflects an aptitude for honest self-assessment. Evidence of humility and an honest desire to improve your craft can also go a long way.
These qualities don’t always correlate with being a conservatory-trained musician, but they do correlate with being an effective music teacher.
Yes! Starting in 2025 we’re offering a comprehensive benefits package to qualifying teachers. The package includes W2 employment status, paid time off, a 401(k) with employer match, and full health benefits through BCBSIL.
We’re very invested in helping you be the best teacher you can be. Once hired, you’ll be paired with a Lead Teacher — a veteran mentor who’s always a text away. Your Lead Teacher is also available to observe one of your lessons upon request. Having a dedicated mentor is a huge factor in making your Piano Power teaching experience happy and meaningful.
On a more formal level, we’re looking for teachers who can retain students, maintain at least a 90% attendance rate, respond promptly via phone/email/text, encourage recital participation from their students, and inspire great feedback from their students’ families.
Lessons are in our clients’ homes, and our teachers commute from house to house.
You receive a $300 bonus!
We compensate our teachers for all in-between-lesson time at City of Chicago minimum wage, currently $15.80/hr.
We nurture a feeling of teacher community, which is especially important when we work remotely. That’s why we have parties for teachers twice a year (our last one was at Sleeping Village), informal “Idea Potlucks” for teacher enrichment, weekly “office hours” via Zoom, a Telegram group chat, and field trips to teacher performances around the city! We love that so many of our teachers are working musicians, and we love seeing them in action!
Our clients primarily live in the North Shore (e.g., Deerfield, Evanston, Glencoe, Highland Park, Lake Forest, Northbrook, Wilmette, Winnetka). We have a smaller number of students on the north side of Chicago (e.g., Andersonville, Avondale, Bucktown, Gold Coast, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Lincoln Square, Logan Square, North Center, Ravenswood, Rogers Park, Roscoe Village, Uptown, Wicker Park).
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