Composing and producing music is only one way to generate income from your skills, knowledge and experience in music. There are in fact many more. One other path you can take is to teach online courses within music.

How to teach Online Music CoursesHey friends, Mike here, and I am a composer. Just. Like. You. And today I want to help you get started with teaching online courses.

Personally I teach courses on music composition, music production, and music marketing, because music is my passion.

What is your passion and main expertise?

I strongly believe that passion is the biggest factor for succeeding with teaching online courses. I have personally been teaching on My YouTube Channel with basic tutorials and how to videos since around 2010, and I started my online teaching journey on a platform called Udemy in 2015. Check out my Udemy Profile here for some inspiration! =)

Tools to Produce an Online Course

  • Screencasting Software (Ex: Screenflow, Camtasia, Quicktime)
  • Video Camera (Ex. Webcam, iPhone, DSLR)
  • Microphone (Ex. Headset, Blue Snowball, Rode Podcaster)
  • Video Editing Software (Ex. Screenflow, Camtasia, iMovie)
  • Slide Presentation Software (Powerpoint, Keynote, Google Slides)

I also personally recommend using some kind of project management tool to stay organized when you work on your online course, and to always have a birds eye perspective. It makes the whole process much easier, and more manageable. The one I use is called Trello, and is available for your smartphone, computer and even a web version.

I use a software called Screenflow for MAC (Camtasia is an alternative for Windows) both for recording the videos via webcam or screencasts, as well as editing the videos. I find that using one single software to do it all is so much more efficient.

What you need to do to Produce an Online Course

1. Make a Course Outline (Curriculum)
Planning the content that will go inside the course, and structure it into chapters and individual lecture titles.

2. Write Lecture Scripts and Bullet Points
Simply rambling just because you know the subject won’t be enough. You need to either write complete scripts for every lecture, or at least have bullet points that you follow to keep it concise.

3. Film and Produce Lectures
In most cases you will need to make your lectures in video form. But it does not have to be filmed with a video camera. Powerpoint slides with your voice over recording can work great for teaching. Just make sure you keep the final videos visually engaging.

4. Choose a Course Platform and Publish your Course
The course platform I recommend to start with is Udemy, which is also the biggest online course marketplace in the world right now. The process of uploading and publishing your course is pretty straightforward. You simply create an account, go to the course publish section, add the title of your course, and then follow the instructions they give you for the entire course publishing process. Things like naming the chapters and lectures, adding a course title and description and so on.

Now Take Action

You can make an online course on music composition and other fields within music, publish it on a course marketplace (like Udemy), and start generating an income as an online educator. Improve people’s knowledge and skills without having to book a classroom and have everyone commute to a specific place. Teach potentially thousands of students, and then make money while you sleep. Does this feel like something you would like to try for yourself?

This is not rocket science. It’s really easy to get started, and while you probably won’t make a lot of money to start out with, the possibilities to grow your authority and income in your niche are endless.

You just have to believe, and then Take Action Now!