Cost of Piano Lessons?

My daughter is interested in taking piano lessons and I have no idea what they
run privately. I realize prices differ region to region but I'm trying to get a
ballpark number.

Ericka Kammerer...

Northern VA: $130/month for weekly 45 minute lessons.
This is about par for the course for a good teacher around
here. You can find cheaper, but typically not with a good
studio.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Chookie...

No idea, but consider group lessons. They might be cheaper, and they might

HCN...

Somewhere in the vicinity of $40 to $60 per hour, though she may start out
with 1/2 hour lessons. I started my boys with group lessons, which were
cheaper. One stuck with it (and now plays saxophone in high school, with
marching band in the fall), the other had no interest in in practicing.

also be more interesting.

Ericka Kammerer...

Eh, I'm not a fan of group lessons on piano. You
don't get near enough attention, and the early years are
really important for hand position. It's *really* *really*
hard to break bad habits in hand position. If you get the

cjorp...

This is why I'm not really a fan of violin Suzuki instruction, or of
taking only the school orchestra classes and not also lessons from a
private instructor.

I would estimate, *especially* with beginning students, that I say
something or other about hand position about every five minutes while
I'm teaching private violin lessons. The same frequency holds in my
lessons with my private teacher, and I've been playing the violin for a
quarter of a century. At least some of that is ongoing correction of
residual habits from when I was 11, although violinists do talk about
hand position absolutely all the time as well. :-)

Ericka Kammerer...

;-) I think that issues vary somewhat by instrument,
but it always helps to have good instruction. The boys did
spring piano festival about a month ago, and it's always
an eye-opening experience for me. An astonishing number
of students were *very* ill prepared, had terrible hand
position, and so forth. Now, a poorly prepared student
or a student with poor technique isn't *always* the fault
of the teacher, but there are clearly many teachers who
either don't place a priority on good technique or don't
have effective means of teaching good technique. DS1 has
started percussing in band at school and I don't have him
in private lessons yet. However, he is actually getting
good instruction at school and is being taught good
technique. We'll likely do some lessons this summer
to get his feet wet, and if he keeps it up, he'll start
lessons a bit later.

Best wishes,
Ericka

xkatx...

I had meant one on one lessons, either through any company or a private
instructor. There's this Music for Young Children program offered, which is
the parents and children together, and I believe that starts at a preschool
age. Mind you, it's not sitting down at a piano for half an hour for a
lesson, it includes some basic keyboarding, singing, games - all based
around the piano.
I believe I started piano around 5. I was reading and writing when I had
started kindergarden and piano with private lessons. I would have loved to
go back to that private instructor I had, but I don't know if she's still
doing lessons, or even if she's still alive? She had to have been at least
50 when I started lessons, almost 20 years ago. If I recall correctly, she
looked to be pushing 70 by the time I had stopped lessons. That was the
only woman my mom was able to find that would take children at a
kindergarden level, and my mom found her from another girl in my
kindergarden class who was with this piano teacher.

Ericka Kammerer...

Most teachers don't want to take kids that young
because it usually doesn't work out well, and it's usually
the parents pressuring the kids into doing it. Also, many
kids aren't developmentally really ready to read music at
that age, nor are they ready for the discipline of practice.
This is not as much of an issue with a method like Suzuki
that doesn't teach reading music initially and is geared
towards starting the younger child. So, if you can find
a Suzuki teacher in the area, he or she would take a younger
teacher.
If you want a traditional teacher, some have a
policy of not taking younger children but might be willing

HCN...

Also, with Suzuki the parent has to start several months before to learn
themselves... and a few weeks before the lessons start they need to play the
songs in the background for the child to get familiar with the songs.

to negotiate (about half the teachers I know have taken
younger kids than their usual policy on occasion). You
can ask if they'll consider taking a younger child on a
trial basis (maybe for a few lessons during the summer).
Be sure to emphasize that the child is motivated (wants
to do it him- or herself), is already reading well, and
is able to sit and pay attention for a lesson and for
practice. Expect to do an interview with the teacher
before the teacher might agree to a trial. You'll need
to interview the teacher and see how he or she works
with the child, too. You'll need someone flexible and
patient to work with a younger child. Watch how the
teacher works with your child and look to see they have
a good rapport. It might not work. A good teacher
will likely have a waiting list even limiting it to
kids who are older, but sometimes you can find something
that will work.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Oddly enough, my BIL now lives right next door to the piano teacher's
house... I've thought to knock on the door, but the idea very quickly went
out of my head ;)

Chookie...

We are doing group lessons through this mob:

It isn't all piano (for 5yos); they are learning about beats, they sing, dance
and clap, and there was a music activity with two parts yesterday, which is
not uncommon. You can't do that in a class of one. The teacher does inspect
the way they play, and does help with positioning, but it seems to be treated
as a gradual thing. The kids don't move their hands yet; they are only
learning to play notes between C and G atm. My guess is that the keyboard
activities are kept short in an effort to prevent bad positions becoming
habits. But I will bear it in mind!

Ericka Kammerer...

Ah, if it's sort of a music/movement/fun with piano
class, that's one thing. I was thinking more in terms of
traditional piano lessons. I would think those would be
boring in a group setting for a young child. What you
describe sounds reasonably appropriate.
I always have some mixed emotions about that
sort of thing, though. I think the overall music exposure
stuff is good, but I think it is good for you to keep an
eye on the technique just to make sure he doesn't learn
any bad habits. At piano festival last month, I heard a
lot of young kids play who just had *horrible* hand
position. Their wrists were hanging below the keys,
their fingers were all splayed out and not playing on
their tips, their fingers were all floppy, etc. I sure
wouldn't want to clean up that mess! They also didn't
seem to have much musical sense. They were just banging
out the notes with no sense of phrasing or musicality
(or much rhythm, for that matter). On the other hand,
I suppose it took a lot more for them to get to that
state than a little bit of early piano ;-)

Chookie...

LOL, I would think so! The only thing that worries me about Forte is their
annual concert, where the kids play "ensemble" pieces in unison. The pieces
they play at the lower levels are very simple (it's all just to get them used
to performing). Last year, DS1 played from C to G in sequence, for example,
to imitate a rocket countdown. That's fine. But there is something terribly
wrong when a bunch of 10yos are playing the start of Fur Elise in unison!

Ericka Kammerer...

Well, but I imagine if he were still playing
piano at 10 years old, you'd have moved him to private
lessons by then, no? ;-) Really, you just can't learn
all the skills you need only playing in an ensemble--
especially one where everyone's playing in unison!

Chookie...

Actually it was more the idea of *Fur Elise* in unison that bothered me!
Hardly puts it in its best light. From what I understand they have *group

Ericka Kammerer...

Well, that's for sure! ;-) Although I think it's
quite amusing that neither of my piano playing kids have
encountered that piece yet. I thought it was some sort of
cosmic requirement ;-)

cjorp...

What, you mean it isn't???

lessons* to age 11, not just unison playing. I overheard a conversation
between a teacher and a parent, and the teacher recommended group lessons for
as long as possible, because they were more stimulating than playing and
practising alone -- and yes, they do offer private lessons.

Ericka Kammerer...

Wow, I can't really believe that. I've had group
lessons and private lessons, and private lessons are far
more interesting and engaging. I think my kids' situation
is ideal. They have private lessons, but with a very active
studio. During the school year, they have two recitals and
at least one festival. Before each of those three events,
they have a group class where all the kids in the studio
get together to play musical games and play their pieces
for one another and get comments. In addition, there's
a pre-Christmas group class where each student prepares
a piece in secret and presents it to the teacher as a gift
(playing it in front of everyone). So, they get the
camaraderie of being in a group, which is nice since there
isn't normally any ensemble playing as a pianist until
you're pretty advanced, but the attention and discipline
of private lessons.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Best wishes,
Ericka

chance, before signing up for lessons, see if you can attend
a studio recital. A good teacher will have kids who are
very musical and have good hand position and "touch" even
among the youngest students. It makes a big difference in
the long run. Not only that, but proper positioning
protects against pain and nerve damage too.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Penny Gaines...

How do group piano lessons work? Is there just one piano, and the
children take turns, or do they have several pianos?

Ericka Kammerer...

Turns out Chookie was talking about a different
sort of thing, but a typical traditional group piano class
would have a piano for each child. These days, the pianos
are often electronic keyboards so everyone can wear headphones
and hear themselves play, or else they just all play in
unison.

Best wishes,
Ericka

FWIW, in the UK the national average for a half hour lesson is �12.

dejablues...

So you're still shilling for newsguy.com? How's that working out? Can I get
a free account if I answer your question?

Banty...

Um, Cindy doesn't have much choice in the matter. See below...

Cindy...

Hi Banty,

I work for Newsguy and wanted to let you know that you can put in your own
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Banty...

Thanks for the tip (this post will be my test.)

But - as glad as I am that you wouldn't leave your customers without an option
to change it, I think decency would require that you let your customers have the
option to not have it to begin with. By the way, it's not clear from your
preferences (until I got into the signature page) that this is something that
could have been changed.