Music lessons for children - cost

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I emailed our local authority’s children services music lesson provider for prices as they’ve got many ads at the moment about how beneficial and affordable they are. And this is what I got -
Prices / Durations:
30 minutes - £30
45 minutes - £40
60 minutes - £50
As this is not fully private provider, but one supported by the council, I was very surprised - to me these are unaffordable, especially as this will have to be a long term commitment.
Is music a more accessible extracurricular option where you live?

Lessons are allegedly free in Scotland in school but councils are frequently threatening to cut the services. I think if you are willing to pay, private lessons might be more efficient and you will get better communication with the teacher. It is sadly unaffordable for many. Some places might subsidise it. Professionals should be paid for their skills.

We pay £30 for 30mins for a teacher to come to the house, which seems completely reasonable to me for what we get but is obviously expensive and not affordable for many.

My twins do lessons at school through local authority. It’s £12 for 30 mins. One on one.

Our school are always sending out emails trying to promote the music service! It has a very low uptake owing to the costs. I have 3 kids so £90 a week for half an hour each is just not do-able for most people.

I think paying for activities for younger kids are a waste of money unless you’re minted.

We waited until teen DS got serious with an instrument in secondary school. He then played his dad’s guitar and effectively taught himself the basics.

School music lessons are absolute rubbish. Most of the kids choose the music option for Junior Cert as they think it’s easy so they have zero interest in learning music theory which makes the teacher’s job so much harder. They can choose to sing for the performance part of the exam rather than learn to play an instrument. Ridiculous.

DS now has a 90 min lesson fortnightly with a really good tutor who is working towards his PhD in music and is an experienced session musician.

We pay €50 for 90 mins. Well worth the money!

Instrumental teacher here.

This is a useful page for checking what teachers receive in your area:
https://www.ism.org/advice/music-teachers-fees-survey-results-2024-2025/

It shows that most teachers are receiving less than the Musicians Union recommended rates.
https://musiciansunion.org.uk/education-and-teaching/teaching-pay-and-employment/music-teaching-rates-of-pay

Hardly anywhere in England actually subsidises music lessons these days (a contrast from the free lessons I grew up on) although most places have means tested bursaries for deserving kids.

Where the teacher is employed rather than self employed (music services/ some increasingly rare schools) you will always be paying more than the teacher receives because somebody else will be getting paid for doing the admin.

I teach an instrument in two schools, (I have a music degree, a postgrad qualification in music teaching, take loads of independent CPD and have about 25 years experience). I am self employed in one school, where I charge £40 ph (£20 for a 30 min lesson). I send out all the invoices, chase repeatedly for payment, get no sick/ holiday pay - obviously. In my other school, I am employed, the parents actually pay about the same, but I get a lot less. However, I do get holiday pay and a contribution to a pension scheme, and someone else chases the money and deals with notice periods etc.

I don’t currently work for a music service, partly because the rates to the teachers are so low, but I’ve just checked and parents pay a bit more than my SE rate, and the teachers get a lot less.

Free where I am in schools.

But there's a small fee for participating in the school orchestra. Around £25 per year.

Similar with mine.

Also, I have two out of four DC who are involved in Trad Band Music Projects where they learn a trad instrument and get tuition free that way too.

I pay £18 for 30 mins 1-1 at our private music tuition. I’m in the North West and anywhere around £20 seems the going rate round here

Swimming is much much cheaper esp if you get lessons in a public pool. I used pay approx seventy pounds for eight group lessons. That is not expensive. Even in a hotel swimming is much cheaper.

We were paying £50 for 30 mins for 1-1 swimming lessons last year.

That’s just the difference between group lessons and 1:1 though. Group music lessons are also much cheaper, as the same rate is obviously just split between the number of kids in the group. It’s a choice though because you make much quicker progress (in music and swimming) if 1:1.

Our music hub is £12.50 for a 30 min shared lesson, £18 for 30 mins 1:1. That includes free loan of a beginner suitable instrument. I thought that was expensive enough, but I see I should count myself lucky!

My children get music lessons from the council music service. Group lessons in school are £30 per month for 30 mins (group usually 3-7 pupils). Private 121 lessons at the music centre are £45 per month.

When I took my toddler/young child swimming it was £17 for half an hour…max 4 in a group though.

Akways been expensive.
We pay £45 for 45 min.

One child?

I pay £80 per week (£40 x 30m per child) for music and I think that is expensive. I don’t know anyone who does group music lessons and have never considered them tbh.

The only ppl I know who do 1:1 swimming are families who book an instructor per the no. of kids in the family so it works out less expensive..

Music lessons take 8+ years. My kids spent approx 4-5 years learning to swim proficiently in a group class. In 1:1 that would be 3-4 years max so I consider swimming substantially cheaper.

If you're struggling with affordability you can see if at high school or university students are offering tuition at lower rates - I've been teaching as a side gig since my uni days (10+ years ago), initially at around £15/hr and now at £30/hr (I now do it as a hobby and a way to maintain my skills).

I've taught up to Grade 8 ABRSM (students gaining merits and distinction), having gained diplomas in piano and violin when I was at school.

Where it becomes more important to get a professional (conservatoire grad / professional performer ) teacher is if 1) your child shows aptitude and willingness to do music professionally or 2) around grade 4/5 where technique and musical interpretation become more of a concern.

If your intention is to enable your kid to become a professional, then it's worth going with a pricey and experienced teacher who has a string of successful students who have been able to get into great music schools from lesson 1. Because it'll save time on correcting technique down the line.

Else, if the intention is just getting the kid to enjoy learning and playing music, then realistically, a uni student who has reached diploma level and is able to be engaging and reflective is able to get your kid started with music.

I had about 12 teachers growing up, all very talented performers. Only 3 were decent teachers and about half actively horrible (clearly resented having to teach) , so that's shaped my viewpoint.

Our music service is £300 a year for a minimum of 30 lessons. Usually group but if the learner is unique in level/instrument it will be solo.

As an independent self employed piano teacher in the SE I charge £21 per half hour (equivalent fees for shorter/longer lessons).

I don’t make a great living from it. I’m actually considering giving up.

And I’m nearly fully booked and have one part time job at the weekends.

£25 for 30 mins 1:1. Now in gcse music so we get a subsidy paid in arrears, think its almost half the cost.

I was paying £24 12 years ago for 40 minutes so these seem approximately the same. It’s worth checking private providers but do check their qualifications, some won’t have any teaching qualifications and not even grade 8 in the instrument, varies a lot

Our LA music service is £150 for a year (20 minute lessons), which works out about £5/lesson. And if you have a shared lesson the cost is halved. It is (at least) double that for private lessons around here.