Piano lessons...

[MissMet]

Anyone have any idea on how to save on piano lessons?!!

I've been checking prices in the area & the cheapest I can find is $30 for one half hour lesson & the lessons are one a week!! That means I'll be paying almost the same for piano lessons that I do for my car payment each month!! Hobbies are expensive!

There's got to be another way! That just seems outrageous. Is that really what it costs for piano lessons anymore??

 

[Purseval]

Try Youtube, that is where I get my guitar lessons

 

[Inigo]

When DD was 6 and first started piano lessons, I hired a high school girl who had been taking lessons for 10 years to teach her. Karly was very good (I checked with her teacher), and DD loved the lessons. I think we paid something like $5 per half hour to start, but I felt it was worth more, so I added a bonus to the monthly checks.

 

[floridascgirl]

If it makes you feel any better, we've been paying $60 an hour for the past 4 years. Luckily, it's proving to be a wise investment b/c our DS11 just got into a wonderful performing arts magnet school for piano. He has also auditioned and received scholarship $ the past couple of summers to pay for a wonderful fine arts camp. It hurts to write the check each month (no pedicures for mommy), but it's worth it.

 

[GCM]

My son has been taking lessons for a few years now and his lessons are $50 a month for a total of 2 hours--1/2 hour weekly or 1 hour biweekly. I am not sure where you are from, but $30 seems quite high to me. I agree with Inigo about getting a high school student to teach. I know my son who is only 12 would be quite capable of teaching a beginner piano without any difficulty whatsoever.

HTH

 

[mjkacmom]

Music lessons here are generally $30 per 1/2 hour here. My dd13's voice coach only charges $60 an hour, per week, which is great, considering my neighbor's voice coach is $75 an hour, per week. I think it depends upon where you live.

Edited to add, I just noticed that you are Mets season ticket holders, so I'm guessing you also live in the NYC metro area - yep - $30 per half hour, unfortunately.

 

[mafibisha]

Music lessons here are generally $30 per 1/2 hour here. My dd13's voice coach only charges $60 an hour, per week, which is great, considering my neighbor's voice coach is $75 an hour, per week. I think it depends upon where you live.

Edited to add, I just noticed that you are Mets season ticket holders, so I'm guessing you also live in the NYC metro area - yep - $30 per half hour, unfortunately.

Yup, they're $30-$40 per 1/2 hour here too, for both piano and voice.

We have friends who object to paying big bucks to see a Broadway Musical but easily spend that much for seats at an MLB game. So I guess its a matter of personal priorities, and we're willing to pay for music lessons. (and seeing Broadway Shows and MLB games, too! WHen we can afford them! LOL)

(hope that made sense, its been a long day LOL)

 

[MissMet]

Thanks guys. You confirmed what I was afraid of.

When I hear $30 per 1/2 hour lesson that actually doesn't sound that bad to me. It's when you put it together & realize how much it is per month! Ouch!

I would do youtube or something like that, but I really want to have someone there to let me know if I'm doing something wrong or developing any bad habits.

I think I'll have to try & find a high schooler.

Thanks!

 

[elgerber]

Both my dd and her friend have lessons, and both are $15-$16 for 30 minute lessons, once a week.

 

[kellydizfan]

We just paid $125.00 for this month - includes the books and then $75.00 a month up until end of June. Comes out to $800.00 a school year. My dd15 has 1/2 hour lessons weekly. Some weeks she will not have any at all due to Holiday's etc. There are 2 extra included in the $800.00 and that is for make-up's and if the instructor is sick, she will make them up otherwise - not including the 2 extra. She is an excellent piano player. dd15 voice is $15.00 a week for 45 minutes. This is a steal and the teacher is a professional jazz singer. She is a stay at home Mom who wanted to offer voice at a reasonable price. We are very lucky that way.

 

[DebMcDonald]

When my two daughters took them last year we were paying $15 per half hour or $28 for the hour for both girls. We went to the piano teachers house.

 

[Purseval]

Thanks guys. You confirmed what I was afraid of.

When I hear $30 per 1/2 hour lesson that actually doesn't sound that bad to me. It's when you put it together & realize how much it is per month! Ouch!

I would do youtube or something like that, but I really want to have someone there to let me know if I'm doing something wrong or developing any bad habits.

I think I'll have to try & find a high schooler.

Thanks!

Try bartering, trade lessons for Mets tickets. The way the Mets are playing it would be a tough sell but you might get lucky.

 

[mommyto2]

We are paying $15 for a half hour piano lesson every week, and she comes to our house. When I was looking for a teacher, I was finding teachers charging up to $25 a week. (We're in Illinois.)

 

[smokeyblue]

The average here is $15/half hour.

My cousin started giving lessons when she was a high school student and charged under $10/hr.

I would see if your local university has a job search board and post an ad there. I'd also call the university's music department or even the high school music teacher and see if there is anyone they can recommend or if there is a board you can post an ad on.

 

[disykat]

If you are taking as an adult, I'd see if the teacher would let you split a spot with someone and go every other week. Many adults find it hard to squeeze in the time for the lesson and for enough practice between lessons every week. If the teacher is not fully booked, she/he may let you do this without a partner to split with. Ask - there may be someone on a waiting list to do the same thing.

 

[TnTWalter]

We go to a neighbor and it's just gone up this year from $15 to $17.

perhaps you can find someone like that?

Good luck.

We spend A LOT on travel soccer, hockey, dance, etc. piano, for 3 kiddos.

It's insane with 3 kids. We just put it all in the budget as a lump sum and divide by 12 and save that per month.

Trish

 

[TN Hockey Mom]

We have a guy that comes to our house and does a 30 minute piano lesson with my DS9 and then a 30 minute guitar lesson with my DS10. We pay him $160 per month. That's $20.00 per 1/2 hour lesson for each of them. He comes over on Tuesday nights. If there are 5 Tuesday's in a month we don't pay him any extra - it's included in the $80/month for each child. Plus, it works out great that he comes to our house. While they're down stairs doing their lessons I can be upstairs getting things done around the house.

We also spend a lot on travel hockey, private hockey lessons ($50 per 1/2 hour lesson), baseball, basketball and camps for the 2 of them. We just include it in our budget.

To me, the money we spend on these things is not as insane as the amount of time put into getting it all done. My sister thinks we're crazy and swears she'll never let her children be involved in as many things as our kids are. I'm sure she'll eat her words one day. She didn't think she could ever love children more than she loved her dog until she had her twin boys 18 months ago. She has since come to me and apologized and told me that I was correct. My kids love every minute of their hectic schedules and it keeps the amount of time playing video games to a minimum!

I don't think $30 for a 1/2 hour piano lesson is unreasonable.

 

[Golf4food]

Any self-respecting musician is going to charge at least $20-$30 for a half-hour lesson and the good teachers get a lot more than that. I never got a lesson for less than $20 per half-hour for any instrument and would charge at least $20 were I to give lessons. It also varries by market. Someone in New York City will pay a LOT more for lessons than someone in Podunk, Iowa, for example.

Any serious student needs a real teacher, however, or else bad habits will develop if you try to learn on your own. I play multiple instruments and have a music degree but if I were to take on a new instrument I'd seek lessons with an experienced professional - it is a lot easier to start correctly than try to fix a lot of problems after the fact, trust me.

 

[mrudman]

I think it all depends on the area of country you're in too. I'm in Ohio, both my daughters take piano lessons from a lady who has her Master's in Musical Education, and she only charges $16/half hour.. so $32 each week for both daughters.

 

[mafibisha]

Any self-respecting musician is going to charge at least $20-$30 for a half-hour lesson and the good teachers get a lot more than that. I never got a lesson for less than $20 per half-hour for any instrument and would charge at least $20 were I to give lessons. It also varries by market. Someone in New York City will pay a LOT more for lessons than someone in Podunk, Iowa, for example.

Any serious student needs a real teacher, however, or else bad habits will develop if you try to learn on your own. I play multiple instruments and have a music degree but if I were to take on a new instrument I'd seek lessons with an experienced professional - it is a lot easier to start correctly than try to fix a lot of problems after the fact, trust me.

All the above is really true and the advice I put in bold is 100% true. Anyone who wants to become a real musician should read it and believe it.

The never-ending unanswerable question -- I continue to wonder why people will shell out big bucks for everything else (major league games, designer bags, clothes ect) and yet quibble about the cost of music lessons.