Musicians who are also teachers make music their night and day job.

Do what you love and the money will follow, right? Well, maybe not. Especially for musicians who want to live their passion. Life in the world of performing arts has never been easy. But for those who choose to stick it out, that often involves working a "straight" job during the day while hustling for gigs at night. It''s just a matter of paying the dues the old pros say. But does it have to be a mundane job?

For two local musicians, each with a different approach, the art of teaching is what keeps them going. To work with people who share their passion or look to them for advice and counseling offers a modicum of security while they follow their dreams. It''s not true, the old saying, those who can''t do, teach. It''s the exact opposite. And teachers who are good at teaching foster the development of future teachers. Take Biff Smith and Steve Moseley for example. They both were inspired to teach by the example of others.

For jazz pianist Biff Smith, it wasn''t just his early training in piano, but also the teachers he encountered while at boarding school in Minnesota. For rock guitarist Steve Moseley, it was his teachers at the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood who lit his spark for teaching. For both, it was not just the way they were taught but the relationships that developed. Those experiences propelled them to be teachers, and to love teaching. Therein lies the key to their way of doing what they love and having the money follow.

"I took private lessons as a kid in classical music," says the 50-something Smith. "I had a very broad-minded teacher. He was the kind of guy who realized I wasn''t a straight and narrow classical guy. I remember one of the first things I played for him that wasn''t classical was a transcription of Dave Brubeck''s solo work. I really discovered jazz when I was 12 years old...At that point, nobody had to make me practice anymore. I just picked it up on my own by doing a lot of listening and picking brains, a lot of trial and error."

Although music was always a part of his life, Smith didn''t aspire to be primarily a professional musician. All during his formal schooling, which would lead to a career as an English teacher, (BA English, Stanford University; MA at University of Oregon), he played in jazz bands, composed his own music, and taught jazz piano. He continues to indulge his musical passion while teaching English off and on for the past 20 years at Robert Louis Stevenson school in Pebble Beach. When he first arrived in the area to work at R.L.S., he hooked up with Don Schamber, then the jazz guru of the Peninsula and creator of the Jazz Music Department at Monterey Peninsula College. Schamber encouraged him to write, arrange and conduct the music for the school''s jazz bands, which he did, and now does again. In the interim, he taught music at Berklee School of Music in Boston, once during the mid-''70s when the school paid little (he found that being a starving artist in Boston didn''t cut it), and now again as a teacher of musicianship and applied theory in the summer. (After a teachers strike in the ''80s, the school reorganized in a more professional manner.)

"I do the teaching because I love to do it," he says. "I especially love to teach music. I''m a full-time English teacher, but I love it when someone is really excited about learning jazz. Performing really does feed into teaching. You can relate one''s experiences while performing and tell them about what the life is like.

"I have to say, one of the reasons I''ve never been attracted to doing music full-time is you often times wind up playing music you detest in front of people who don''t give a damn what you''re doing. I want to keep the love of the music a part of life, so that it is amazingly special."

For Moseley, a 34-year-old Pacific Grove resident, teaching guitar at Music Unlimited while pursuing a career as a rock guitarist "helps me to be a happy, positive person because I''m doing what I love. It can be a little less secure than a corporate type job, but that''s not who I am."

As a teenager in Sunnyvale, he got turned on to guitar by hearing some friends play who were really good. He asked one of them to show him a guitar riff by AC/DC and he was hooked.

"I practiced on my own," he says. "I didn''t take lessons for a long time, but had friends and acquaintances show me songs. I always had a good ear and started listening to tapes of my favorite groups. Within a year I was playing in cover bands. When I had my first gig, boy, I was really hooked after that."

The excitement of having a full band behind him and the energy from the audience kept him coming back for more. He did try a couple of guitar lessons, but found the teachers less than inspiring. At 24, he got serious and decided to go to the Guitar Institute of Technology. His mom applied the savings she had for his college to G.I.T.

"I was very much inspired, living and breathing music practically 24 hours a day," he says. "I also picked up some students. That was the first time I taught to make ends meet. I was inspired by one of my teachers. Even though I wasn''t making a lot of money, I was doing something I loved, working with the students and seeing improvement and how guitar brings enjoyment to a person''s life.

"I made the decision to work towards being a full-time guitar teacher and performing musician," he says, after he returned to Sacramento. "It just kind of evolved. I enjoyed teaching, but it was more about the courage to make a commitment. When you follow your passion, it''s a little risky. You''re not getting a weekly pay-check or anything. But I knew it was what I wanted to do."

After a move to this area in ''94, he had already been working his way into a full-time schedule at Music Unlimited. He now has between 35 and 40 students that he teaches Monday through Friday, and then weeknights and weekends, he likes to get out and play.

"Performing is my number one passion," he says. "If I could make a living going out on tour, then I would do that. But I would miss teaching. One of the pleasures of teaching is meeting all the people, sharing one on one and playing the music together."

Teaching is not for everyone, but for these two highly regarded local musicians, they have found a niche. You can hear in their voices the pleasure they receive from living their dream, from imparting knowledge to others and perpetuating each of their chosen musical styles and instruments.