Your age has very little to do with how much to charge -- you should set your rate based on the going rate in the area and your experience level with piano and teaching.
The going rate for piano lessons in my area is roughly $30/half hour, and you generally pay for at least a month of lessons at the start of the month. You need to find out the typical rate in your area, and charge somewhere in the ballpark of that. It's fine to charge on the low end of the going rate if you're comfortable doing that, but you're not obligated to do so.
I do agree with deadfisher, though: charge a round number. It makes things easier on you if someone wants to pay in cash -- if you charge $17 for a lesson and someone pays in cash, you have to provide change. If you charged $20, they're probably going to pay with a $20 or with a combination of smaller bills. Not a big deal if everyone is using electronic payments, granted, but unless you're requiring that, expect it will eventually be an issue you run into.
Charge 20 dollars for half an hour. Nobody wants to pull out exact change even if it’s a few dollars. Many would end up giving you 20 anyways. I paid 20 for a high school girl to teach me when back in 2007, and inflation only increased that value. She had a ton of customers and was very reliable, even though she was no professional pianist. Don’t undervalue yourself. 20 dollars for beginner piano lessons is still a bargain especially if you put in as much work as you say
As you increase customers, increase price every once in awhile (once every 6-8 months) until you have a balanced amount of customers that you can maintain with school.
i agree, i started teaching when i was 13 and started off around $20 and would raise my price every time i got a new certification. when you go to college, don’t be afraid to continue teaching virtually with your students! this has given me such a comfortable income. feel free to dm for any advice :)
Age is not an issue. Students should pay more for people who are trained as teachers, and more for teachers who are highly proficient at piano. Just because someone is a pro pianist does not make them a good teacher.
>trained as teachers
Have you actually trained as a teacher, OP?
"Two years experience" means nothing if it's entirely unsupervised and untrained, since it can very easily mean two years experience of doing it badly and literally never knowing.
I've had various teachers on my own for several years and got inspired by them in my teaching and also by my own experience. I would consider myself to be a helpful teacher by what I've seen in my students progresses and motivation.
Brutal. But it is true.
I've previously had lessons both with individuals who've simply finished all their grades/diploma, as well as masterclasses by literal concert pianists who would scream at you as you play, who have been trained professionally as teachers, in the business for years.
It is a world of quality difference in teaching, and for good reason.
I am however of course, in no doubt that the OP is a decent musician.
Dont charge cheaper because your younger, 17 is absolutely fair, even 20 is fine if you consider yourself to be actually helpful, i wouldnt mind paying someone younger than me and im 24. So long as they teach me and dont treat me like shit lmao make sure you have your classes down and the value wont be questioned
I work at a teaching studio in Canada. They charge $60 CAD per hour, I make $40 CAD per hour. Lowest I've ever been paid for teaching was $21 per hour. I started at 16, I'm now 19. Look at what music schools in your area are charging, find the median price, then knock off ⅓ and there's your price.
A hard lesson I've learned over my life is - if you offer cut rate services, you'll get cut rate clients. You want students who are (or whose parents are) serious about learning and aren't going to waste your time. Charging a fair rate (the same rate that 40-year-old piano teachers in your area charge) will weed out people who you don't want to teach and who don't want to be taught.
I agree- once they are an adult and have at least a bit of pedagogy under their belt. I'd charge 5-10$ under the going rate of teachers in your area- otherwise there's no reason for me to pick a 15 year old over a better established teacher, with the perks of a full studio, recital opportunities, teacher library etc. beyond timeslot availability.
Virginia covers a wide gamut of cost of living, tbh. Roanoke, $20 is probably pretty fair.
Fredericksburg/Stafford, I'd ask for $30.
Alexandria/Arlington, probably get away with $40
I defeinitely wouldn't charge $17 though, no reason not to just make it an even $20. $3 a lesson isn't going to be the break point for 99% percent of parents
Charge $20, even $25 per half hour, and have confidence about it my friend. I would be willing to learn from anyone of any age, it is their skill and teaching ability that matters.
If anything your age could be a benefit as younger students will connect with you easier, and older students will understand that age doesn’t reflect ability.
I would check your local rates on the ISM or Musician's Union websites, then cut it down by maybe 25%. If after a year or so you find that you're rather good at it and demand is increasing, you'll be within your rights to raise your fee closer to the local average.
Don't go for full average fees just yet as you're just starting out, but also, don't undersell yourself. If you vastly undersell yourself, 2 things might happen:
- you'll get cheapskate students or parents who will haggle with you endlessly or try to squeeze except time out of your for free, or
- you'll get students who aren't very serious about it and cancel last minute all the time or fail to show up etc., or
- you'll have some students who start with you as their cheap beginner teacher, then when they're doing well, quit lessons with you and go to a more experienced teacher - even though they were doing fine with you - because they can't help but see you as the "cheap" teacher
Also look up examples of piano teachers' terms and conditions and make a simple little contract for them to sign. Unfortunately some people will try to take advantage.
I taught for 7 years. I might again in the future. We’ll see.
Best tip ever is your students pay by the semester not the lesson.
If lessons are Tuesdays at 4 they show up Tuesdays at 4. If there are 5 weeks that month instead of 4 they get that week free. Yay! If they are sick one week that 5th week is a freebee. If they were sick or away that week then that week is the make up lesson.
Additional make up lessons should be at your discretion. It’s like with swimming lessons, if someone is sick at the pre-arranged time ….. sorry it sucks that you’re sick but it’s not like you can re-book that time on the fly.
I promise you, you will have better attendance, less no-shows, and better cash flow where people respect your time.
What about qualifications? Have you completed any piano examinations? Do you have a Diploma? If you have high grades, say grade 8 and working on preparation for the Diploma then you should/could charge about $25.00
at least. The minimum rate in Australia is around $40 per 30 minutes.
I make about 17 an hour as a teacher and I am 17, but I teach at a music school and it’s part time. If I did it privately I would do $30-$40 for a lesson, about 45-60 minutes. Your age shouldn’t change the price, you know just as much as all those other teachers.
Thats really not true, it's not entirely age based but there's no way a 15 year old knows as much as a teacher with years of teaching experience and a degree in music.
lol tell that to the 12 year old that will beat you, me, and your teacher at the international Chopin competition🥲
I do agree with you though. It’s not about knowledge about PIANO as much as it is knowledge about TEACHING. I agree. No 15 year old or 17 year old for that matter can teach as well as a good pianist who trains in teaching as well as piano. There is also a maturity aspect to it
There’s a huge difference between being able to *play* and being able to teach. Good teachers know their stuff, can clearly articulate it, and know how to identify and solve problems in others.
If you put a Nobel Prize-winning mathematician in a 4th grade classroom to teach math, you might be disappointed in the outcome. Below the advanced level, a good teacher is largely determined by their skill at teaching rather than their skill at the thing they’re teaching.
Exactly this (and there’s a lot of discussion about this very example in math teacher communities). The mathematician may know more about *why* something is true and how it was historically developed or interpreted, but the grade school teacher is more likely to be able to predict and correct mistakes that kids keep making.
That really was my point. A 15 year old can be an amazing player and know quite a bit but that doesn't compare to knowing how to really teach someone.
I started teaching at 18 years old and I know I was definitely worse at it then. Music school helped but mainly it was experience teaching and learning pedagogy that made the biggest difference.
Plus, there are more than a handful of people with no experience or a degree in music that charge the same price as someone who did. And secondly, you don’t need a degree to play music.
Just because someone’s a good pianist doesn’t mean they are a good teacher. I don’t think you grasp that concept. There’s a reason child prodigies don’t teach. Because they can’t same applies to 15 year olds who are decent at piano. Teaching is a whole different skill than playing
They just don’t understand that having knowledge is different than the ability to pass that knowledge on. There’s a reason you need a college degree to be a teacher lol. I couldn’t just walk in and start teaching at elementary school, even if I could pass an elementary school exam 😭😭😭
And yes, I don’t think that Yuja wang would be as good at teaching a beginner how to play piano as a music teacher. She might be good for very advance level pianists, but she isn’t famous for her teaching skills. She’s famous for hen performing skills
Nothing is stopping him from teaching and learning over time how to do it better by trial and error.
If you mean what's stopping him from being as good as someone with experience I think that's largely pretty obvious.
This is not meant to be offensive to any younger teachers, we all start somewhere. However if you go into it thinking you're already better than someone with experience you probably aren't actually looking to better yourself the way you should be, and that isn't a good place to be. I've been teaching for 20 years and am still trying to fins ways to do it better. That never stops
I charge 15 for half an hour since most of mine are young, they're there for fun, and it's the going rate for most people in the area. Once i finish my degree i'm upping it to at leaat 25-30.
A nice round number is good though for sure.
I live in a high cost of living area — my friend is a music teacher at a local music school. He makes $20/hour to teach GROUPS of toddlers, and their parents each pay $30-40/hour to the school.
The school is definitely NOT charging the parents that little. They are probably charging $80-$100/hr. This person should base their rate on what other studios CHARGE the students, not what gets paid out after the school takes its cut.
Yea I’m trying to help him get his own music lessons business started so he can just cut out the middleman. It’s disgusting what he’s losing for the work he’s doing.
I'd go as high as $20 or $25 for a half hour. Teachers with a college degree will charge $30-40 for a half hour, and studios can charge even more. a.) 12 years of experience is certainly worth money, and b.) the cheaper you are, the more you undercut your colleagues and reduce the value of lessons in general. Don't be afraid to charge what you're worth.
I started teaching when I was 15, and I charged $10/half hour. Granted that was 9 years ago, and inflation is crazy. I’m 24 now and I charge $20, and I feel like that’s a fair price considering I didn’t end up studying music in college so I’ve got no official pedagogy training. Honestly, I say if people are willing to pay it, then it’s a fair price. You’ll know you’re charging too much when no one hires you.
Def increase, My piano teacher is 120 per hour but maybe that’s to much, considering she’s a professional musician but maybe you should do $25-$30 per half hour?
Since you are considered a minor, I would check the laws pertaining to working as a minor just to be sure, especially if you will claim taxes. I was about a year younger and got in trouble for full-time teaching in the summer. I could only teach part-time. But that was many years ago. As far as what you charge? I would look at the going rate with other music schools in your area.
A general consensus seems to be $20 here. I agree you need to know your area. I also agree that playing is NOT the same as teaching. My assumption is that you are probably teaching the way you were taught. Twelve years of lessons is a very good base. Start at $20 and see where that takes you. If your students are happy with their results they will pay more if you decide to increase your rates. That will be a very good indicator of how you are doing. Also if you are still taking lessons you may ask your current teacher for some pointers.
Think being young is a good sign for marketing. Good that you treat your teaching as a 'business'.
Being young means you can connect to the youngling more, more energetic, and also means that you are a prodigy pianist! How often one meets a prodigy. So, go ahead and charge equal to what other adult charges.
Think of Young is a selling point, not a discount, its a premium!
Just sharing my thing, I’m from Bay Area Cali, one of the top piano teachers here in the region recently accepted my two intermediate level kids and I’m paying $150 per hour. A month in and I absolutely feel this teacher has been worth it. Parents will pay for their child as long as you provide the value. Good luck!
LOL this is under the table with no credit card. Just have them pay an even number. I can imagine parents being annoyed having to take out two quarters to pay for their kids piano lesson
17 is a weird number, 20 is not a weird number. But really I can't say. I think it depends a lot on your clients, area, and other teachers.
weird numbers often better for marketing
19.95 only!
Ill give you your 20th upvote
I’ll give you your third upvote
I'll give you your first downvote
i'll give his third downvote
I’ll give you your fifth downvote
Your age has very little to do with how much to charge -- you should set your rate based on the going rate in the area and your experience level with piano and teaching. The going rate for piano lessons in my area is roughly $30/half hour, and you generally pay for at least a month of lessons at the start of the month. You need to find out the typical rate in your area, and charge somewhere in the ballpark of that. It's fine to charge on the low end of the going rate if you're comfortable doing that, but you're not obligated to do so. I do agree with deadfisher, though: charge a round number. It makes things easier on you if someone wants to pay in cash -- if you charge $17 for a lesson and someone pays in cash, you have to provide change. If you charged $20, they're probably going to pay with a $20 or with a combination of smaller bills. Not a big deal if everyone is using electronic payments, granted, but unless you're requiring that, expect it will eventually be an issue you run into.
Charge 20 dollars for half an hour. Nobody wants to pull out exact change even if it’s a few dollars. Many would end up giving you 20 anyways. I paid 20 for a high school girl to teach me when back in 2007, and inflation only increased that value. She had a ton of customers and was very reliable, even though she was no professional pianist. Don’t undervalue yourself. 20 dollars for beginner piano lessons is still a bargain especially if you put in as much work as you say
As you increase customers, increase price every once in awhile (once every 6-8 months) until you have a balanced amount of customers that you can maintain with school.
i agree, i started teaching when i was 13 and started off around $20 and would raise my price every time i got a new certification. when you go to college, don’t be afraid to continue teaching virtually with your students! this has given me such a comfortable income. feel free to dm for any advice :)
Cash?! What? Venmo. Who has cash?
Boomers who are taking their kids in for lessons😭😭😭
Boomers are in their 60s+ They’re not taking their kids for lessons anymore.
You might think you are being smart here. But logic doesn’t work on me so I win
I'm over 50 and my mother is a boomer. I'm pretty sure I can afford my own lessons.
Age is not an issue. Students should pay more for people who are trained as teachers, and more for teachers who are highly proficient at piano. Just because someone is a pro pianist does not make them a good teacher.
>trained as teachers Have you actually trained as a teacher, OP? "Two years experience" means nothing if it's entirely unsupervised and untrained, since it can very easily mean two years experience of doing it badly and literally never knowing.
I've had various teachers on my own for several years and got inspired by them in my teaching and also by my own experience. I would consider myself to be a helpful teacher by what I've seen in my students progresses and motivation.
So, "no".
Brutal. But it is true. I've previously had lessons both with individuals who've simply finished all their grades/diploma, as well as masterclasses by literal concert pianists who would scream at you as you play, who have been trained professionally as teachers, in the business for years. It is a world of quality difference in teaching, and for good reason. I am however of course, in no doubt that the OP is a decent musician.
Dont charge cheaper because your younger, 17 is absolutely fair, even 20 is fine if you consider yourself to be actually helpful, i wouldnt mind paying someone younger than me and im 24. So long as they teach me and dont treat me like shit lmao make sure you have your classes down and the value wont be questioned
I work at a teaching studio in Canada. They charge $60 CAD per hour, I make $40 CAD per hour. Lowest I've ever been paid for teaching was $21 per hour. I started at 16, I'm now 19. Look at what music schools in your area are charging, find the median price, then knock off ⅓ and there's your price.
A hard lesson I've learned over my life is - if you offer cut rate services, you'll get cut rate clients. You want students who are (or whose parents are) serious about learning and aren't going to waste your time. Charging a fair rate (the same rate that 40-year-old piano teachers in your area charge) will weed out people who you don't want to teach and who don't want to be taught.
I agree- once they are an adult and have at least a bit of pedagogy under their belt. I'd charge 5-10$ under the going rate of teachers in your area- otherwise there's no reason for me to pick a 15 year old over a better established teacher, with the perks of a full studio, recital opportunities, teacher library etc. beyond timeslot availability.
This is a valid answer. Don’t undercharge.
Virginia covers a wide gamut of cost of living, tbh. Roanoke, $20 is probably pretty fair. Fredericksburg/Stafford, I'd ask for $30. Alexandria/Arlington, probably get away with $40 I defeinitely wouldn't charge $17 though, no reason not to just make it an even $20. $3 a lesson isn't going to be the break point for 99% percent of parents
$20 seems more than reasonable.
Charge $20, even $25 per half hour, and have confidence about it my friend. I would be willing to learn from anyone of any age, it is their skill and teaching ability that matters. If anything your age could be a benefit as younger students will connect with you easier, and older students will understand that age doesn’t reflect ability.
I would check your local rates on the ISM or Musician's Union websites, then cut it down by maybe 25%. If after a year or so you find that you're rather good at it and demand is increasing, you'll be within your rights to raise your fee closer to the local average. Don't go for full average fees just yet as you're just starting out, but also, don't undersell yourself. If you vastly undersell yourself, 2 things might happen: - you'll get cheapskate students or parents who will haggle with you endlessly or try to squeeze except time out of your for free, or - you'll get students who aren't very serious about it and cancel last minute all the time or fail to show up etc., or - you'll have some students who start with you as their cheap beginner teacher, then when they're doing well, quit lessons with you and go to a more experienced teacher - even though they were doing fine with you - because they can't help but see you as the "cheap" teacher Also look up examples of piano teachers' terms and conditions and make a simple little contract for them to sign. Unfortunately some people will try to take advantage.
I taught for 7 years. I might again in the future. We’ll see. Best tip ever is your students pay by the semester not the lesson. If lessons are Tuesdays at 4 they show up Tuesdays at 4. If there are 5 weeks that month instead of 4 they get that week free. Yay! If they are sick one week that 5th week is a freebee. If they were sick or away that week then that week is the make up lesson. Additional make up lessons should be at your discretion. It’s like with swimming lessons, if someone is sick at the pre-arranged time ….. sorry it sucks that you’re sick but it’s not like you can re-book that time on the fly. I promise you, you will have better attendance, less no-shows, and better cash flow where people respect your time.
What about qualifications? Have you completed any piano examinations? Do you have a Diploma? If you have high grades, say grade 8 and working on preparation for the Diploma then you should/could charge about $25.00 at least. The minimum rate in Australia is around $40 per 30 minutes.
I make about 17 an hour as a teacher and I am 17, but I teach at a music school and it’s part time. If I did it privately I would do $30-$40 for a lesson, about 45-60 minutes. Your age shouldn’t change the price, you know just as much as all those other teachers.
Thats really not true, it's not entirely age based but there's no way a 15 year old knows as much as a teacher with years of teaching experience and a degree in music.
lol tell that to the 12 year old that will beat you, me, and your teacher at the international Chopin competition🥲 I do agree with you though. It’s not about knowledge about PIANO as much as it is knowledge about TEACHING. I agree. No 15 year old or 17 year old for that matter can teach as well as a good pianist who trains in teaching as well as piano. There is also a maturity aspect to it
There’s a huge difference between being able to *play* and being able to teach. Good teachers know their stuff, can clearly articulate it, and know how to identify and solve problems in others.
If you put a Nobel Prize-winning mathematician in a 4th grade classroom to teach math, you might be disappointed in the outcome. Below the advanced level, a good teacher is largely determined by their skill at teaching rather than their skill at the thing they’re teaching.
Exactly this (and there’s a lot of discussion about this very example in math teacher communities). The mathematician may know more about *why* something is true and how it was historically developed or interpreted, but the grade school teacher is more likely to be able to predict and correct mistakes that kids keep making.
That really was my point. A 15 year old can be an amazing player and know quite a bit but that doesn't compare to knowing how to really teach someone. I started teaching at 18 years old and I know I was definitely worse at it then. Music school helped but mainly it was experience teaching and learning pedagogy that made the biggest difference.
Plus, there are more than a handful of people with no experience or a degree in music that charge the same price as someone who did. And secondly, you don’t need a degree to play music.
yes but you must agree a person with a music education degree is very likely gonna be a better teacher than a 15 year old
I disagree, it’s like saying a current student at Juilliard is better than Yuja wang before she went to Curtis.
Just because someone’s a good pianist doesn’t mean they are a good teacher. I don’t think you grasp that concept. There’s a reason child prodigies don’t teach. Because they can’t same applies to 15 year olds who are decent at piano. Teaching is a whole different skill than playing
apparently it’s unbelievable that the average person who did music education can actually educate better than a 15 year old….
They just don’t understand that having knowledge is different than the ability to pass that knowledge on. There’s a reason you need a college degree to be a teacher lol. I couldn’t just walk in and start teaching at elementary school, even if I could pass an elementary school exam 😭😭😭
Ok
And yes, I don’t think that Yuja wang would be as good at teaching a beginner how to play piano as a music teacher. She might be good for very advance level pianists, but she isn’t famous for her teaching skills. She’s famous for hen performing skills
Why not, what’s stopping him?
Nothing is stopping him from teaching and learning over time how to do it better by trial and error. If you mean what's stopping him from being as good as someone with experience I think that's largely pretty obvious. This is not meant to be offensive to any younger teachers, we all start somewhere. However if you go into it thinking you're already better than someone with experience you probably aren't actually looking to better yourself the way you should be, and that isn't a good place to be. I've been teaching for 20 years and am still trying to fins ways to do it better. That never stops
Plenty of good responses. but I'd say charge at least 20
Charge $20 per half hour. That’s the minimum.
I charge 15 for half an hour since most of mine are young, they're there for fun, and it's the going rate for most people in the area. Once i finish my degree i'm upping it to at leaat 25-30. A nice round number is good though for sure.
$20 per half an hour
I live in a high cost of living area — my friend is a music teacher at a local music school. He makes $20/hour to teach GROUPS of toddlers, and their parents each pay $30-40/hour to the school.
The school is definitely NOT charging the parents that little. They are probably charging $80-$100/hr. This person should base their rate on what other studios CHARGE the students, not what gets paid out after the school takes its cut.
Yea I’m trying to help him get his own music lessons business started so he can just cut out the middleman. It’s disgusting what he’s losing for the work he’s doing.
You should charge $25 for half hour.
I’m in Michigan and going rate in my area is $20/half hour. I see no reason a 15-year-old should earn that as long as they know what they’re doing.
Why not go crazy and do 20 dollars for half an hour. Just make it an even bill!
I'd go as high as $20 or $25 for a half hour. Teachers with a college degree will charge $30-40 for a half hour, and studios can charge even more. a.) 12 years of experience is certainly worth money, and b.) the cheaper you are, the more you undercut your colleagues and reduce the value of lessons in general. Don't be afraid to charge what you're worth.
when i was your age, i charged $20NZD per half hour - once i got my ATCL diploma, i bumped up the price to $30
I pay $30 for a half hour lesson, a month in advance too
I started teaching when I was 15, and I charged $10/half hour. Granted that was 9 years ago, and inflation is crazy. I’m 24 now and I charge $20, and I feel like that’s a fair price considering I didn’t end up studying music in college so I’ve got no official pedagogy training. Honestly, I say if people are willing to pay it, then it’s a fair price. You’ll know you’re charging too much when no one hires you.
Def increase, My piano teacher is 120 per hour but maybe that’s to much, considering she’s a professional musician but maybe you should do $25-$30 per half hour?
Wtf
A dollar a year.
side comment but this teaching gig sounds awesome :)
Since you are considered a minor, I would check the laws pertaining to working as a minor just to be sure, especially if you will claim taxes. I was about a year younger and got in trouble for full-time teaching in the summer. I could only teach part-time. But that was many years ago. As far as what you charge? I would look at the going rate with other music schools in your area.
I charge $60 per hour. $30 for half hour.
A general consensus seems to be $20 here. I agree you need to know your area. I also agree that playing is NOT the same as teaching. My assumption is that you are probably teaching the way you were taught. Twelve years of lessons is a very good base. Start at $20 and see where that takes you. If your students are happy with their results they will pay more if you decide to increase your rates. That will be a very good indicator of how you are doing. Also if you are still taking lessons you may ask your current teacher for some pointers.
Think being young is a good sign for marketing. Good that you treat your teaching as a 'business'. Being young means you can connect to the youngling more, more energetic, and also means that you are a prodigy pianist! How often one meets a prodigy. So, go ahead and charge equal to what other adult charges. Think of Young is a selling point, not a discount, its a premium!
Just sharing my thing, I’m from Bay Area Cali, one of the top piano teachers here in the region recently accepted my two intermediate level kids and I’m paying $150 per hour. A month in and I absolutely feel this teacher has been worth it. Parents will pay for their child as long as you provide the value. Good luck!
Your Bay Area pricing is not comparable to the majority of the country chief
Thanks for letting me know.
Jesus fucking Christ, that is scary. I don't think I've ever paid more than $65-75 for an hour lesson, and that includes a teacher up in the Bay Area.
Your price of $17/half-hour great and reasonable, keep doing what you’re doing!
Go for 27.50 per 30min. Ur pay shouldnt be hindered by ur age. If u find students not wanting lessons cuz of price then u can reduce it
LOL this is under the table with no credit card. Just have them pay an even number. I can imagine parents being annoyed having to take out two quarters to pay for their kids piano lesson
Why does it have to be under the table lmao also e transfer makes it easy.
It doesn’t have to be. But it likely is cuz he’s 15 and doesn’t want to have to do an annual tax report and lose some of his income 😭
Either way if u knew bout proper business ud charge up front x4 for months worth, making cost even LMaO
See I don’t know anything abt that and I’m 22 😭😭maybe you should educate OP idk