Teacher Application FAQs

Visit our Teacher Application page and fill out the form. We will then contact you to set up an interview.

You must be proficient in your instrument(s) of choice, of course. Having a degree or some college experience is preferred, but you will also be considered if you have extensive teaching experience. Good communication skills, reliability/responsibility, and a good work ethic are all key to your students’ success, your success as a teacher, and our success as a business. Since we mostly provide in-home lessons, you must have a reliable form of transportation (i.e. your own car). You also must provide at least 2 references, to help us evaluate you as a potential instructor.

We conduct our preliminary interviews live, typically in our Setauket studio. You will be asked about your teaching experience and other job skills. We ask that you prepare a list of method books or other pedagogical materials (scale methods, sightreading resources, etc.) that you use while teaching. There will also be an audition portion of your interview, where you will be required to demonstrate proficiency on each instrument you wish to teach. This first interview will take approximately 1 hour.

If this interview goes well and we decide to hire you, we will conduct a follow-up interview over the phone. This is mostly to familiarize you with our policies and procedures, and will take between 30 minutes and 1 hour.

Please prepare two contrasting pieces of any style. You may also be asked to improvise or sightread. Be prepared to audition on each instrument you plan on teaching for us.

You should dress professionally, as if you were going to teach a student. No T-shirts, sneakers/tennis shoes, or jeans, please.

Typically, we conduct interviews on weekday mornings, although we can sometimes accommodate other times if necessary. Please contact us for details.

You will be required to sign a contract, and provide a driver’s license and your Social Security Number (or equivalent). Please note that our teachers are considered independent contractors (not employees) and you will receive a 1099 tax form at the end of the year (as opposed to a W-2).

! Please be advised that you will be under contract and may not teach any student for your own personal benefit that you gain through String Sound Studios. In other words, once we give you a student, you cannot take them on without the involvement of the Studio.

We serve all of Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk), as well as some parts of New York City (Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan). You may define your own work area, based on where you live, although please note that if there is no demand for your instrument in your area, we may ask if you would like to take a student in another area.

Since most of our students are still in school, you will typically be teaching between 2:30 and 9pm on weekdays, and any time during the day on weekends. We have some teachers who only have one or two students, and some who teach for us full-time. Again, you can determine your own hours, based on your schedule and the schedules of your students.

You will be paid a per-lesson commission, the amount of which will be based on experience. We will discuss this at length during the course of your interviews.

We specialize in piano, guitar, and string instruments, but we also provide lessons for woodwinds, brass, percussion, and voice. Please contact us to find out if there is a demand for your instrument in your area.