How much do you pay private music tuition?

[nosferatu]

Just about to start searching for a piano teacher for a beginner. I am in west London and I heard that it is around 20£.
What do you do? Do they come to your house?

[pigsinmud]

Dh charges between 34-38 p/h. Most of his teaching is in school and set by schools. I think privately he charges £36 p/h.

A warning from dh - just because someone has grade 8 on an instrument it does not mean that they are a great teacher or that good.

He does not have many private pupils now as it eats in to evening time when he is often busy with playing work. He has a couple that come to the house and a couple he teaches at their houses.

[ByTheWay1]

We have a lovely piano teacher who comes to our house straight after school on a Wednesday - he has many students in our area - so travels round them all on Wednesday. He advertises in our parish magazine (comes free through our door and one day I didn't just chuck it!)

He charges £23 an hour - but 4 weekly in advance, so £92 every 4 weeks. If he teaches in the child's home he requires an adult to sit in until the child is of secondary age...

I have 2 girls, and the 1 hour lesson is split depending on who is in most need - eldest (11) is going for grade 2 so she gets 3/4 of the lesson right now, unless he is starting a new piece with youngest (9) who has just done grade 1 and is having a breather.... As exam time gets within 2 weeks he may slip in an extra lesson to focus heavily on the aural tests...

As for practise - we bribe.... computer time comes AFTER piano practise (and school homework) ALWAYS , .... eldest does 20min every day as she has focus of grading, youngest 15 min every other day to get her new piece faster. They both love to "show off" to grandparents etc, so I think they still find it "fun"...

[pigsinmud]

Curiousmind - I don't think you are being ripped off. Some teachers are highly qualified and others have grade 8 and that is it. Dh has music degree, then went to RCM for a year. Has a teachers diploma from RCM. Now has 20 years playing & teaching experience at a high level.

Would you expect to pay the same for a maths tutor who just had a-level maths and a tutor who had spent 4 years in higher education studying maths?

He does get a teeny weeny bit annoyed when he sees adverts by music teachers who say have grade 8. Dh would say that grade 8 is nowhere professional standard. He wouldn't book his grade 8 students on a professional gig....unless he didn't want to be asked back

[SnapSnafu]

Peripatetic teacher at school is £4.10 for a shared half hour lesson, £8.20 for lone one. No transport time so it works great for us.

[CURIOUSMIND]

Schilke,
Thank you for your support! I know our teacher definitley knows what he's talking about.
The method we learned from him inspired us a lot, far beyond those a few pieces .

[ImNotaCelebrity]

The grade 8 thing ... so true! When I went to university, I thought I was the bees knees with my grade 8 distinction, acquired 2 years previously. I was brought thudding to the ground when I was told grade 8 was the level to start to learn to play properly and promptly had my technique torn apart and put together again!

[startail]

£11 for 30 minutes at the teachers house, but rural Midlands not London.

[EvaLo999]

I have an 18 year old son who is heading for a conservatoire or uni in October. He has 2 Grade 8s with distinction and will shell out somewhere in the region of£40000 to get a degree. He knows now that ImNotaCelebrity is correct. It is a long hard road and in a recession career prospects are not rosy. His main aim is not to teach grade one, but you never know! you get what you pay for and there are not many people out there who are well enough qualified to teach grades 6-8 (A level equivalent). We have been lucky to have had excellent teachers who we have known for many years and consider the £30-35 per hour that they charge to be very reasonable. Once you go beyond grade 8 you can easily be paying double this amount! So, if you need a teacher for a beginner you need enthusiasm and someone who gets on well with kids. If they get to a reasonable level be prepared to change teacher. However, please don't expect a well-qualified professional to work for peanuts.

[valiumredhead]

I pay £10 per 45 mins-1 hr lesson, mates rates with an excellent teacher and I'm REALLY grateful!

For ds I pay just under 100 a term through the school.

[mkmurphy]

Adding to what EvaLo999 said, it might be useful to know that the Musicians' Union recommend the following rates for 2012/13 music lessons - Individual pupils: £30.00 per hour / £15.00 per 30 minutes / £10.00 per 20 minutes as a starting point, increasing with experience. London and Central London prices tend to be higher.