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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to be annoyed about music lessons

87 replies

MissSunny · 27/06/2009 22:27

Message withdrawn

OP posts:
TheUnstrungHarp · 27/06/2009 23:28

£14 for 20 mins does seem a bit pricey for kids. Would have thought you could definitely find a private teacher locally for less, and then you are not so restricted on instruments. Depressing that the school isn't able to provide more though.

On the keyboard/piano thing, it depends an awful lot on the keyboard don't you think, FAQ? If it's decent, weighted and it has pedals (although of course a lot of them aren't) it isn't that much different from a technical point of view - especially given how variable different pianos can be. And kids do love all the extra stuff that they can play around with on a keyboard.

paisleyleaf · 28/06/2009 00:13

They're "talking" about making instrumental lessons free again where I am (East Sussex).

babyignoramus · 28/06/2009 14:25

On the music forum I use there are countless threads from music teachers who teach in schools - they also don't think 10 min lessons are any good! The reason you have to pay in advance is probably because so many parents 'forget' to pay, ditto booking two terms of lessons - the teacher needs to know where they are in terms of pupil numbers. Don't forget the teacher is making a living - apparently one of the main problems for music teachers is customers thinking that it's a hobby and not realising that it's their livelihood, resulting in late fees etc. You're much better off getting private lessons IMO - then you can choose your instrument and make sure your child gets a teacher that suits them.

FAQinglovely · 28/06/2009 14:30

no the problem with the weighted keyboards (and a lot of the cheaper electric pianos) is that the weighting is different, the finger technique to get the right sound can't be learnt properly.

And I know very few people who have even cheap electric pianos (with pedals et all) it's mostly weighted keyboards which are horrendous to try and play piano music on.

And you point about all the extra stuff they can mess around with - well bring me back to offering keyboard lessons rather than "piano" in schools - give them keyboard lessons - if they want to learn the piano later on great - if not they can keep funking around on their keyboard. There are exams (have been for years) for keyboard so they can still do that.

RealityIsMyOnlyDelusion · 28/06/2009 14:37

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fatslag · 28/06/2009 14:42

Ye Gods, when I think back to my days in primary school (in the 1970's) in Surrey... the whole class learned the recorder and how to read music, starting at age 7. Then at age 8 I remember we were all let loose in the school hall to try out a wide range of instruments - there were brass, woodwind, violins and of course the piano. We could pick one and choose to have lessons on that instrument during school time. I picked the cello and played it until I was 16.

My parents paid for me to have piano lessons privately, but the teacher was a friend of the family and I don't think it cost them much.

What has happened to us if our society can no longer offer cheap music lessons to middle class children?

sweetnitanitro · 28/06/2009 14:43

Is there a music college near you or a course that does music courses? You could ask if one of the students would do lessons for your DD for a lower price, I know I would have been glad of the extra cash when I was a poor music student

FAQinglovely · 28/06/2009 14:47

lol Reality - I'm about to get rid of my piano.........however long term plan is to put in it's curent spot one of these (it's a VERY long term plan given the price tag )

RealityIsMyOnlyDelusion · 28/06/2009 14:50

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mollyroger · 28/06/2009 14:52

''At least you know that a school music service teacher is an excellent musician AND able to teach small children. "

sadly I had to withdraw my dyslexic son out of guitar lessons because the teacher made him cry every week by saying things like ''you can't have forgotton it all already, for heavens sake, we learned this last week. none of the others have forgotton it...etc''

And my son s not severely dyslexic. I ain't blaming the teacher, but on reflection 1:1 would have been better. School didn't offer 1:1 and the cheapest prvate we could find was £40 an hour - which is too long a lesson for a boy with dyslexia...

FAQinglovely · 28/06/2009 14:55

well that's there top of the range one - there's a slightly cheaper one (but still VERRRRRRY nice) in a local music shop that has been there for AGES.

I like my current piano, but it's a big old overstrung piano that sadly has been attacked by my DS's and is a bit tatty looking.......it hardly gets played and is too big for the room now really

toddlerama · 28/06/2009 15:09

I am a professional piano teacher now, but started out teaching 5 year olds when I was about 15 and charged £5 for a half hour lesson. Definitely approach a teenager who knows what they're doing for the early stages if you want to save money.

Agree with FAQ about piano vs keyboard. They're different instruments and the amount you have to pay to get the weighted key quality you would need, it's cheaper to just buy a piano. Incidentally, I have seen 3 on freecycle, so if you have the space you can get one for nothing which will just need tuning and maintenance, and delivery....not free at all actually, but quite cheap

It is expensive and it's a shame that it isn't subsidised more heavily, but at those prices I would just have private lessons instead. There's be not much in it for a beginner. In Sweden every child can learn 2 instruments for free in a private lesson set up. And not everyone even takes it up!

letsgostrawberrypicking · 28/06/2009 15:26

DD in secondary school plays the piano. We pay £100 per term and she gets about a 20 min lesson. So that works out about £8 per lesson I suppose if there are 12 weeks per term. Pro rata the teacher must charge £24 an hour then approx

gerontius · 28/06/2009 16:57

Reception is quite young for starting violin....where we live you can only have peri lessons once you're in year 3. I'd go for private piano if I were you.

ShellingPeas · 28/06/2009 18:11

Going slightly off topic but touching on some of the earlier posts... from a music teacher's perspective I wish that schools would offer general musicianship courses for ALL children to teach the fundamentals of pitch, reading music, beat, rhythm etc before embarking on concentrating on a specific instrument. Unless the child concerned has an extraordinary talent or has shown very early promise, starting to learn an instrument in reception can be completely counter-productive.

The concentration required, the skills required, combined with the repetitiveness of learning an instrument can be very negative for 4 or 5 year old, and sometimes they're really not ready for it until the child is much older. There are many more fun ways of encouraging music making that enable children to learn the basics before moving onto learning a specific instrument when they're more physically and mentally capable of doing so.

I wish that all state schools had the funding and expertise available to have all KS1 children learning along the lines of Kodaly and Orff, using the voice as a instrument and tuned percussion and then graduate onto more skilled instruments. Even learning the recorder or the ukulele are useful stepping stones and really should be much more encouraged.

However, rant over and back to OP

Prices seem to be in line with what I would expect to pay for peripatetic tuition at my DCs school. However, I would pursue private tuition, which may not cost much more and give you the benefit of being able to find someone who will suit your child and their way of learning.

FAQinglovely · 28/06/2009 18:19
campion · 28/06/2009 18:21

DH is a professional musician and music examiner and he says he can always tell which children have had group lessons because they've usually no idea about tuning / playing in tune ( which can be hard when you're sitting there listening to and marking it!). He also reckons that they make generally slower progress and probably get less satisfaction out of the whole process.

If a child's musical or wants to make good progress find a decent private teacher. It does cost more ( you get what you pay for) and ISM recommended rates average at about £25 an hour outside London, though 1/2 an hour is enough.

campion · 28/06/2009 18:33

Was also going to say that DH regularly examines candidates who all have the same teacher and who all make the same basic mistakes/ have obvious gaps in knowledge and barely scrape through ( or fail ). OTOH he gets the other side of the coin where all one teacher's pupils are really good and play musically and do all the tests well.

A good teacher makes such a difference

ShellingPeas · 28/06/2009 18:33

Sorry FAQ - that isn't what I was saying, perhaps bad wording - I should have left off the 'Even' at the beginning of the sentence.

I play the recorder to a very high level, it being my first instrument and I learned to play it at school. I play recorder of varying sizes - I currently have bass, tenor, treble, sorprano and sopranino in my repetoire, and I also play flute, piccolo, piano, and cello, ukulele and guitar - I am a great fan of all instruments regardless of what they are.

ShellingPeas · 28/06/2009 18:35

My point being actually that recorder and ukulele are often overlooked as 'proper' instruments when beginning to play, which is why people fell obliged to send their children to learn violin or piano which are much harder to master.

ShellingPeas · 28/06/2009 18:36

feel not fell

MaryMotherOfCheeses · 28/06/2009 19:24

Shellingpeas, very sensible comments there re general musicianship. That's what early music making should be about.

FAQinglovely · 28/06/2009 19:28

ahhh well - will let you off then

traceybath · 28/06/2009 19:30

DS1 is going to start piano lessons in september when he goes into year one.

I'm pretty sure its £140 for the term's lessons - these are private and half an hour each.

We're going to hire a piano initially to see how he gets on.

His general music teacher at school recommended he did piano lessons as he's shown some aptitude apparently.

Not cheap though!

Madmentalbint · 28/06/2009 19:42

At my DC's school you have to commit to the whole year of lessons, so if they don't like it, then it's tough luck. It costs around £45 per term (paid at the beginning of the year with post-dated cheques).

One of my DC's has lessons with a local school lad because it wasn't possible to carry on with her instrument when she moved to secondary school for various reasons. I pay him £7 for half an hour. It is excellent value and worth every penny - he's totally fab!