Cost of piano lessons

Typical mistake:
shopping for the cheapest
piano teacher

After your child’s sixth birthday, you decided that it’s time to start piano lessons. To find a good piano teacher, you checked the Internet, the local newspaper, even Craig’s List.

You compared the prices and chose a few teachers who charged the least. Out of those teachers, you selected the one who looked charismatic, energetic, and had excellent reviews. She agreed to travel to your house for lessons and offered to give the first lesson for free.

On top of all that, she told you that it’s unnecessary to spend money on the piano books – she will provide the Xerox copies of music (she probably didn’t even know that according to the copyright law, it is illegal).

Two years later

You were sure that it was the right choice and stayed with that teacher for two years. You were praising yourself for saving money on lessons with this inexpensive teacher. However, by the end of these two years, you became concerned with the little progress your child made.

When your daughter was practicing piano, you started to notice that she could not read music notes unless her teacher showed her what keys to play. Your daughter did not like to practice either, because she was quite helpless in figuring out new songs.

The disappointing school talent show

During the recent talent show at your daughter’s school, she played worse than other children. She made too many mistakes in a simple composition.

You wondered why one of the participants in the same talent show played much better. He was the same age, but when you talked to his parents, they said their son started piano lessons less than a year ago.

“Maybe your son is very talented?” – You asked the boy’s mother. “I wish he was, – the mother answered. – However, according to our teacher, he has average abilities.”

“Does it mean that I have chosen a wrong teacher? – You continued. – But our teacher had such wonderful reviews”. The boy’s mother laughed: “She probably asked her friends and relatives to write the reviews. It’s easy to do”.

Switching to a more expensive teacher

You asked for the phone number of their teacher. The new instructor turned out to be more expensive, older, and she did not offer the first lesson for free. Besides, she was too busy to travel to her students’ houses; everybody had to come to her home studio. And on top of everything, the teacher told you that you would have to purchase piano books regularly from now on.

Reluctantly, you decided to give this new teacher a try.

During the first lesson, you heard the truth

•  Your daughter did not have any sight-reading skills.
• She did not know how to count and how to figure out the rhythm.
• Your daughter played piano with flat fingers.

In a few months, your daughter participated in a piano recital. You were happy with your child’s remarkable progress. Only now you realized that for two years, you were wasting money on low-quality music education.

So what should you pay
for piano lessons?

Location

The price differs from one state to another, from one city to the next, from an urban area to the country area. For example, the tuition for any lessons (music, dance, gymnastics, etc.) is higher in South Florida than in Central Florida. At the same time, private piano lessons in Florida cost less than in Washington, D.C.

What are your goals? 

• Why do you want your child to learn how to play the piano? Over the years, I heard some parents saying: I do not want my child to become a concert pianist. 

Hah? Wanting or not wanting it has nothing to do with the possibility that it might happen. The world-class concert pianists are one in a million. Sometimes I was tempted to tell such parents that we shouldn’t worry about their child becoming a concert pianist. However, I always kept my mouth shut and just smiled.

• Do you want your children to be well-rounded persons and have solid piano skills which will allow them to enjoy music for the rest of their lives?
• Do you want your child to do better in school? You have read that studying music has the same positive and powerful effect on the brain as learning another language. It would then be best if you had a teacher who will teach your child how to think, analyze, and figure out things. Studying piano with such a teacher will help your child be a better student in school and later get into a better college.
• Do you want your child to become a music lover who will go to concerts and the opera? Then it is back to the piano again. If your child has the right teacher, he will be exposed to many different compositions, including piano arrangements from symphonies, operas, and ballets. Also, the piano repertory will include music from different times and countries.

Guidelines for choosing a teacher
who offers more value

 High value. Teachers, who studied piano for several years in music schools and colleges, usually charge more.  They had to pass many exams on different music-related subjects. They practiced for several hours a day and performed in concerts.

Low value. Some teachers never went to college to study music and never took any piano or music exam.

High value. The teachers who never stopped to enhance their music education. They read books on piano pedagogy and music history. They attend music conferences, where they network with highly skilled music educators.

Low value. The “home-grown” piano teachers don’t bother about improving their skills.

High value. The teachers who performed for the public. I gave hundreds of piano concert-lectures at many country clubs (like Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton Resort, etc.), retirement communities (click here to read where I played).

Low value. Teachers who have never performed.

High value. These piano teachers taught hundreds of students, gave thousands and thousands of piano lessons (I am even afraid to calculate how many lessons I gave in my life since I was always swamped with students).

Low value. Some piano instructors just started teaching, and their experience is minimal. They have a handful of students (attracting them with low tuition fees) and gave about 20 or 30 lessons total.

High value. Professional teachers plan a learning sequence for each student. They adjust this plan to the student’s progress and interests.

Low value. Others teach without having a clear picture of where they are going.

High value. Experienced teachers know piano books and methods from different publishers.

When I lived in LA, I taught 55 students in their homes (I was very young and poor – I would never do something like that now). Many of these students already had piano books at home. As a result, I was exposed to the most popular piano methods: Bastien, Hal Leonard, Alfred, Schaum, Thompson, Ada Richter, Faber and Faber, and others. There are many more methods and teaching materials for the piano than for any other instrument.

Low value. Teachers who try to use the same method that they used with their childhood piano teacher. Often their total knowledge is limited to those few years of learning how to play the piano.

Conclusion

So, what should be the cost of piano lessons? Your children are growing fast. Do not lose precious time in their childhood by giving your kids a mediocre education. Shopping for the best price should be applied to merchandise, not to your kids’ education. Do not waste your money on cheap teachers. Go with the best ones.