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What is the average cost of piano lessons?
By Janice | April 14, 2008
What should my piano teacher be charging me?
How much should a regular piano lesson cost?
Whats the average price and cost structure – by the week?, by the month?, by the term?
I wish that we could give you a better response to this question! We’ve surveyed and researched the internet to find the average prices as advertised, and we’ve really found that asking this question is a little bit like asking……….What is the average cost of a car?
A car can vary from a twenty year old beat up mini to a brand new ferrari.. so asking the question is really quite pointless!
However, you can ask of course what is the average price of a two year old ford focus, and you’ll get a much more suitable response!
Therefore, when asking this question you need to take into account:
1) The experience and qualifications of the teacher
2) The success that the teacher has had with similar aged children to yours
3) What you want to get out of the lessons for your children.
Our research on the internet shows that in the United states (as well as many other places around the world) lessons range from $15 to $30 per half hour, and when offered hour long lessons can be $50 – $100 per hour. IN the UK we found that lessons were offered from 8GBP – 30 GBP.
My advice would always be to focus on point #3 above… what you want to get out of the lessons for your children.
If you know this before you start, then you can find an appropriate teacher that will be able to get your desired outcome.
For example, some piano teachers are excellent at preparing students for examination, and really know exactly how to get excellent results for their students in exams.
Other teachers are excellent with young children, and know how to communicate the fundamentals of music to them in a young child way.
It doesn’t take a genious to work out that if you choose an exam teacher to teach your five year old who really prefers working with older children that you won’t get full value for money.. despite the fact that the teacher is extremely well qualified and a very gifted teacher.
The reverse is true – if you are trying to prepare for an exam with an inexperienced teacher in that area then you’ll find that your money is not as well spent as it could be
I suggest that you ASK the teacher when you start.. and take their advice. If their advice is not to start lessons before 8 years of age.. then follow their advice and don’t start them (with that teacher) at five!
If however you are lucky enough to find a teacher who teaches loads of five year olds.. then go to them for a few years, and then back to your preferred teacher at the age of eight!
Remember to focus on the child.. and what the child needs.
Music is a wonderful thing for children, and it has been proven to in numerous studies it has been shown to improve their thinking and reasoning skills.
So stop worrying about dollars.. save some money on other things and make sure that you put your child first!
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Topics: General Advice, Piano Lessons | 30 Comments »
December 5th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Thank you. This article was very helpful. I teach in a rural area and only charge $15.00 per 30 minute lesson. I consider the fact that people in the rural area have to drive out to my house. Still, some people think this is too much. It always helps to have a source such as yours to prove a point.
December 18th, 2008 at 3:26 am
WOOOOWWWWWWW I MEAN WOW THATS ALOT I REALLY WANT TO LEARN BUT WOWWWWWWW
February 4th, 2009 at 2:38 am
I have been teaching piano in my home for 7 years and have always charged $15 for 30 minute lesson. I have just raised my rates to $20 per 30 minute lesson. Is this a fair price and increase? Some of my students have been with me all 7 years and I am hoping that I will not loose any student because of this increase.
February 20th, 2009 at 1:59 am
I only charge $8.50 for 60 Mins and $10.00 for 45 Mins.
May 21st, 2009 at 8:30 pm
In response to comment #2, I have been a piano teacher for 15 years. When I started, $15 for a 30 minute lesson was the going rate in Maine, where I lived at the time. Currently here in Oregon, I charge $22 for 30 minutes and $30 for 45 minutes. I think that is completely reasonable.
August 17th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I charge $15 for a 30 min lesson. But I only charge $10 each for siblings. I come from a family of 8 so I know how expensive lessons can be if you have more than one child. Of course, this is Arkansas where costs are not very high.
August 27th, 2009 at 12:32 am
Usally is 100 dollars per hour and up.
August 27th, 2009 at 2:46 am
I charge $10 per half hour, but then again I’m just a high school student.
I was wondering if $15 would be too much, considering I haven’t ogne to college yet. I have been playnig for 9 years at an advanced level, and been teaching for 2 1/2 years.
August 29th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
I charge $10 per lesson for children and college students and $20 per lesson for adults. When the child is able to read, I’m willing to begin working with them on basic things. My lessons typically last 1 hour; however, I will takke longer if necessary.
September 8th, 2009 at 7:57 am
I was wondering what was a fair price. I use to charge $20/hr but now I charge $15/hr. I have not gone to school for music so I kinda thought that might be too much. Allthough I am a young college student and have been playing for 20 years and have played at many public events along with weddings, perties, funerals, churches etc. Should I go back to $20/hr. or more?
September 17th, 2009 at 5:22 am
The usual rate in MA is between $23 and $35 a half hour.
September 17th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I actually charge $30.00 per hour, and $17.00 per half an hour. I am located in Michigan. However, I try to keep all material costs to an absolute minimum. I print and type out every lesson plan myself. I just require that each student or parent purchase one book, and one main piece to work out of. I always make sure to order and pick them up myself to get them as much of a discount as I can. I also tend to have my lessons run long. If it is a half an hours lesson, it ALWAYS seems to turn into 45min to an hour.
Melody Piano
http://www.melodypiano.net
http://www.melodypiano.blogspot.com
October 13th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
[...] lessons can run $30 to $150 for an hour. The Parents Music Guide agrees with this. And on Answers.com someone makes the good point that (read carefully!) “In my opinion, [...]
October 17th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
In London £30 seems to be an average sum charged per hour. I take £20 for 30min and £35 for one hour, however some of my friends charge as much as £50 (for lessons in student’s house).
I suppose £8 somebody mentioned earlier must be for a 15min session?
November 26th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
My wife and I teach piano in our home in the northern New Jersey suburbs. We have 120 students bewteen the two of us and I’m surprised at some of the prices for lessons quoted here. We charge $35/half hour with 45 and 60 minute lessons being proportionally higher.
When we moved to this town 20 years ago we started charging $15/half hour and we have raised the prices $1/half hour each year. In all the years we have been doing this we have only lost one student because of an annual price increase. As far as we can tell, the $35/hour hour fee is the going rate in this area – we still have over 40 students on a waiting list.
December 5th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
I charge 30 per half hour and 55 per hour. I give a 10% discount for siblings. I live in a fairly expensive neighborhood (thank goodness we bought here 25 years ago when it was affordable) in a large city and find that people are willing to pay more for the convenience of having someone close-by to teach.
I started by charging $22 per half hour about 10 years ago. I use the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to calculate increases or decreases to my rate. E.G. if the cost of goods and services goes up by 3% a year, then I increase my lesson cost by that amount. If it goes down then I decrease my lesson cost. This keeps my income, relative to expenses, more stable.
Clients are accustomed to seeing pricing changes associated with fluctuations in the economy for all products they buy. Why should the cost of lessons be different?
As teachers, we need to be sure to protect our own purchasing power and not charge less than our valuable knowledge and expertise is worth. In addition, we need to charge enough to offset the many hours of preparation, scheduling and billing that are part of the business, but unbillable.
February 12th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
Almost everybody has a serious spelling error from 2-10… loose or lose? Purties or parties? Likk or like? Come on! Don’t post your website if you can’t spell! You are just shooting yourself in the foot. I definitely won’t be sending my children to you. Sorry.
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:04 pm
Cori, It’s too bad everyone can’t be as perfect as you… I charge $15 for half-hour lessons also.
February 24th, 2010 at 11:13 pm
I just wanted to add that I have a sliding scale for families who are having financial problems. Currently I have lowered my 30 minute rate from $22 to $10 for certain families. Also to Cori, just because someone mistypes a word, doesn’t make him/her a poor teacher. As well, a perfect speller may be the worst teacher:)
February 27th, 2010 at 9:31 am
The cost of piano lessons pale when campared to its value. Hopefully the diverse pricing mix makes it possible for each child to access one of the most powerful experiences that can maximize their learning efficiency.
March 10th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
I think the point is being missed here. Piano teachers are running a business. This isn’t their hobby; it is their livelihood. Nobody would expect to walk into a department store and pick up some goods and say they can’t afford them, so can they have a reduction or even free, so why should they expect it from piano tutors?
Like all businesses, they have to consider the time they have available to teach, to prepare, to write reports and all other admin, to market their business, to calculate the amount of students they can take and their expenses and in order to remain solvent, they have to calculate the amount that they need to charge to cover that, plus something for themselves.
Students don’t always come to lessons and when they don’t come, the teacher doesn’t get paid. During holiday times they don’t get paid. The fees have to cover that, regardless of how many letters they’ve acquired after their names. Some students will think they’re great; others won’t relate to them. That’s life. A full-time teacher cannot afford to give away their time because they feel sorry for students and it devalues their service if they do so. Once you launch a professional teaching practice, you are running a business.
March 18th, 2010 at 2:02 am
I still think that people without the capability to pay full price should have the chance to receive lessons. To me, a good “business owner” has a little lee-way every now and again to offer lessons to those that can’t afford the full rate. The dollar difference I lose is not important if it means a child (or adult) can have music in his/her life. It’s called Karma and paying it forward. No price tag for that. If I wanted a steady and reliable paycheck, I wouldn’t have become a piano teacher.
March 19th, 2010 at 12:20 am
I have been teaching for over 25 years. Currently, I live in Belgium and I charge the equilvalent to $20 per 30 minute lesson. This price is considered very reasonable for this region. I will continue this pricing structure when I return to the US soon. I am worth much more than this price, but I want to continue to have plenty of students. I teach out of my home and that certainly helps keep costs down. Teaching lessons gives me a degree of flexibility to manage each student as necessary. I almost always have a student or two who are unable to pay. I consider this a very small contribution to the good of the world! Despite this, I am still running a business and I expect to be pain on-time and fully. I also pay my local and feberal taxes as necessary for a small business owner. Certainly there are complexities to this, but it is worth the effort because I love the music, have been blessed with a talent for playing AND teaching, and enjoy the students tremendously. I would not ask for a better job. It is absolutely perfect for me. I hope most of you feel the same!
April 6th, 2010 at 7:37 pm
I charge $22.50 per half hour, and will probably raise it once I have reached capacity (I’m trying to keep my rates a little low until I build a reputation in my area:) I agree with Diane’s post 100%! I always tell my students up front that teaching is my work, not just something I do for fun. As such my time needs to be respected, and my rates taken in stride. I have a degree and 7 years of experience, and if people can’t afford my rates there are probably other teachers who charge less than me. I think it’s tempting to bend the rules a little for someone who can’t afford lessons, but honestly most people who say they can’t afford lessons also have their kids in ballet, swimming lessons and gymnastics and have a decent car and house. My parents paid full price for my piano lessons on a tight budget with 4 kids in the house because it was a priority, and they made it work. At the very least if a teacher wants to give parents a break I’d suggest bartering (“I’ll offer a 50% discount if you clean my kitchen every week:).
April 11th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
I am just beginning to teach lessons; I have attended college for music. I therefore plan to charge 15 dollars for 30min and 30 for an hour; this is more pay than my current job, and seems fair
May 4th, 2010 at 2:08 am
I charge $20 per half-hour, ($30 for 45 min., etc). This is in Kentucky. I have learned to tell people in advance that they will pay me for the month in advance (well, actually the first of the month, and it usually takes most of the month to collect it all), but I do NOT refund for missed lessons. Families are willing to share their phone numbers and the schedule with each other so THEY can make arrangements for needed changes. This has made all the difference, and people will do it. I just tell them up front.
If I have to miss (and it is extremely rare), I credit them for the lessons, and they know this in advance, as well.
May 5th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
I am going to open my home for bith piano and music theory classes this summer. For piano, I lan to charge $15.00 per half hour lesson and for theory $8.50 per half hour lesson. Is this reasonable?
June 7th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
It all depends on the experience and reputation of the teacher as well as the location. Someone living in Podunk cannot typically charge as much as someone in a big city, nor will the clients be willing to spend as much. It’s a broad range. I know that some well respected concert pianists charge $150 to $200 or more for a lesson. Most people don’t need a concert pianist to learn from, of course. You would only pursue that if you were at a very high level and most of them are not going to teach less advanced students anyways. Still, you should have an experienced teacher. At a certain level you should try to find someone who plays very well AND has had success as a teacher, if possible. Not all good performers are good teachers, but I also don’t advise studying with someone who can’t play if you’re at a more advanced level. Perhaps this isn’t quite as important for a 4 or 5 year old who is just learning basics. And it’s VERY true that different teachers have different strengths. Some will be miserable teaching little ones. For others, that’s their forte and they may be out of their comfort zone with advanced students. Certainly there are some teachers who CAN teach all levels, but the ones who specialize at teaching little ones are usually better at it. They really love teaching the kids, while for some teachers it feels like babysitting. $50 to $100 for an hour is not uncommon at all for an experienced teacher in a middle to upper class area in a city. You can always find cheaper teachers and some may be good. Just keep your criteria in mind as you search.
June 30th, 2010 at 12:40 am
I’m going to say this right now – most teachers listed here are not charging enough for their services. Full disclosure: I have a MA in Music Education, I have a successful wedding band, and I am a public school teacher for elementary kids.
I charged $35/30 minutes and $60/hour up until last year; I now charge $40/30 minutes and $70/60 minutes.
I would not “give away” lessons; it is cheapening the product for those making a living. I guess I could understand if you were independently wealthy and wanted to do something nice. Listen, it you want to do charity – go to a community center and offer group lessons for free. We need to make a living here folks!
July 25th, 2010 at 6:59 pm
To Dj, so, in your opinion, I should say no to the kid who can’t afford my full rate? And down the road, that kid will still be without piano in his/her life just because I couldn’t make $40 more a month off the family? I make a living at teaching piano and I am very proud of the fact that I am able to help out two of my families with variable rates. The gratitude that these families express to me is more than enough repayment. It is not about “cheapening the product” at all, it is about providing accessibility to all families, even those in lower income groups.