How to Create a Music Course With Joseph D’Amico
Have you ever wondered how to create your own music course? Or why it would be beneficial to you and your students? Well, It’s easier than you might think, and the rewards can be incredible. Whether you're looking to scale your teaching business, reach students beyond your local area, or create passive income, building an online music course can be the perfect way to do it.
In this blog post, we’re diving into a conversation between Carly Walton, founder of Teach Music Online, and Joseph D'Amico, a successful music teacher who’s been creating music courses and seeing great results. Joseph shares his journey from live lessons to building "Flex Lessons," a hybrid of pre-recorded and live lessons, as well as the tech tools he uses to make it all happen.
If you’ve been curious about how to get started with course creation, or you're looking for ways to improve your teaching setup, you’ll find tons of practical advice here. Let’s explore how you can create a music course that works for you and your students!
Why Create an Online Music Course?
Creating a music course can be a game-changer for your teaching business. Not only does it help you reach more students, but it’s also a really fun and rewarding process. Joseph D’Amico, in our conversation, talks about how exciting it is to design a course that takes students from not knowing anything about music to mastering new skills. There’s something so fulfilling about guiding someone through that learning journey, especially when you’ve created something that didn’t exist before.
One of the biggest perks of creating a course is that it frees up your time. Instead of repeating the same lesson over and over to each student, you can create polished, pre-recorded videos that cover those essential concepts. Joseph loves the fact that his students can watch his videos and get the same high-quality teaching every time. And the best part? He can spend his live lessons focusing on specific feedback and questions, rather than going over the basics again and again.
Another thing Joseph points out is how fun it is to watch people go through your course and then tweak it based on their feedback. It’s an ongoing process of improvement, and seeing students benefit from what you’ve created is incredibly rewarding.
For many teachers, building a course is also about achieving better work-life balance. Joseph initially moved to online teaching to spend more time with his family, and creating courses has helped him continue to grow his business without adding more live lessons to his schedule. It’s a win-win!
If you’ve been thinking about creating a music course, whether to reach more students, supplement your income, or just for the joy of teaching, it’s definitely worth exploring. You get to share your passion with students from all over the world, and at the same time, create a more flexible, sustainable teaching business for yourself.
The Benefits of Teaching Online and Creating Courses
Joseph made the switch to online lessons for practical reasons—he was tired of commuting, saving time, and trying to make things easier for his students. But what he didn’t expect was how much he'd love it! Now, he's built an entire roster of adult students from all over the world, thanks to his online lessons and YouTube channel.
Through online lessons, Joseph has been able to reach students from places like the Philippines, Germany, and Saudi Arabia. It’s opened so many doors, and it’s made scaling his business with pre-recorded lessons much easier.
If you're thinking about going beyond just teaching live online lessons, pre-recorded courses allow your students to learn at their own pace while still getting your awesome guidance.
Setting Up Your Online Studio
Joseph shared some great tips on how to set up your studio for teaching music online. Here are the essentials:
OBS Studio: This is the software Joseph uses for lesson recordings and live teaching. It lets him switch between camera angles to give students the best view of what they need to learn.
Stream Deck: With this tool, Joseph controls everything from camera angles to lighting with just the press of a button.
Multiple Camera Angles: Showing your hands and face at different angles helps students follow along better. Joseph sets this up to give a more interactive experience.
High-Quality Audio: Joseph uses a Zoom H8 and stereo mics to capture crisp audio. Great sound is super important, especially for more advanced students.
While setting up your studio might take a little investment, it’s a game-changer for delivering great online lessons.
What Are Flex Lessons?
One of the coolest things Joseph has developed is his “Flex Lessons,” which blend live lessons with pre-recorded content. This gives students the best of both worlds—on-demand lessons they can go through at their own pace, along with the option to schedule live lessons when they need extra help.
For Joseph, this model frees up time while still offering students a high-quality learning experience. And students love it! It’s a win-win because they get the flexibility to learn whenever they want while still having access to their teacher.
Challenges of Creating a Course
Creating a course isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Joseph admits that one of the hardest parts of course creation is figuring out how to structure it, especially for beginners. Since music requires learning skills in a certain order, it’s tough to make sure you’re introducing concepts in a way that makes sense and doesn’t overwhelm students.
Joseph’s advice? Start with the most complex parts of your course and fill in the introductory material later. This helps you cover everything you need without having to redo lessons later on.
Launching Your Music Course
Once your course is ready, it’s time to launch! Joseph has had great success using his YouTube channel to market his courses. He shares free lessons and tips on YouTube to attract students who are interested in his teaching style.
Here’s how you can get started:
Start a YouTube Channel: Use it to share samples of your lessons and attract students who like your style.
Offer a Free Mini-Course: A free beginner course is a great way to introduce potential students to what you offer.
Optimize for SEO: Create content that’s optimized for search engines so students can find you when they’re looking for lessons.
Wrapping Up: You’ve Got This!
Creating an online music course is such a great way to reach more students and scale your business. It might seem like a lot at first, but once you have everything set up, the possibilities are endless. Plus, you get the joy of knowing you're helping students all over the world discover the magic of music!
If you’re serious about diving into course creation, the Teach Music Online Membership has a training that will guide you step by step. It’s designed to make the process easy and fun for you, with all the tools you need to create a successful online music course.