Music lessons

[PrettyCandles]

How much do piano lessons cost? My 5yo is very keen to start learning, and I'd quite like to improve my playing (I got as far as Grade4 about 25 years ago) so that I can play songs for ds and dd. Though after my experience with music exams, I don't want either of us to just work towards passing exams - is this possible?

Also, does anyone know anything about Suzuki mehtod?

It varies widely depending where you live and the experience of the teacher you chose.

Expect to pay around £25-30 per hour in the South, and around £20-£25 for an experienced teacher in less affluent areas.

Students or those who only teach beginners as they are not advanced enough to teach the higher grades charge less, around £15-£20 per hour.
A 5 year old would only need a half hour lesson at most and to be honest it is a little young to start. My dh would not take them on yet.

The suzuki method is most widely known for violin though it is also used for other instruments. I don;t know a huge amount about it as I have never studied that way but I gather that you begin to play by ear whilst very young not learning notation etc until later on. It has been very sucessful for some people and is often taught in groups.
A 5 year old would only

Wow. Steeper than I anticipated.

Why is 5 too early?

I don't know about piano but DP is a guitar teacher and charges £20 an hour and thats cheap for music lessons apparently

My ds (who is almost 6) started piano lessons at school last month. He has one a week for 15mins at a cost of £3. He really enjoys the lesson. His teacher is wonderfully enthusiastic though and gives him a chocolate at the end.

I wanted ds2 to have piano lessons when he was about 5.5, but couldn't find a teacher at all round here. Eventually tracked one down 3.5 months ago (he's just turned 7 now), and I have to say it was worth waiting. The extra age and maturity have made all the difference - at 5 he would have just been bored. As it is he practices twice a day every day for between 5 and 30 minutes a time. He has almost finished the second tutor book, and is his teacher's star pupil. So for us it actually made sense waiting.

His teacher also does not normally take children until they are at least 7. For real littlies you have to have a teacher (and parent) with the right approach to motivate them, and the child needs to be genuinely interested too, otherwise it's just not worth it.

Everything up here is much cheaper. We pay just £7 for half hour lesson (with fabulous, extremely well-qualified and experienced teacher.)