Price Of Music Lessons Options

[BerkshireMum]

Hi everyone! This is my first post. I've been browsing through the forums and came upon a recent thread in Student about lesson prices. I was quite surprised to see how much variation there seems to be in different areas. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

Here in Berkshire nearly everyone has lessons from Berkshire Maestros, and we have just been told that individual lessons will cost £43.50 per hour from September. There are normally 30 lessons per year, so that's £652.50 pa for the 30 min lessons most people have. Does anyone else think this is well above average?

[petrat]

In one word YES!

[upbeat]

I'm not from Berkshire but that seems way way way above average to me.

[Maizie]

The Musician's Union has a recommended minimum rate that they publish for each year. The page is here but it won't let me in to the documents at the moment (I'm not a member, but I have been able to get in to the documents before).
I'm sure that the minimum recommended per hour was >£25 and <£30. For £43.50 per hour, I'd be expecting a fantastic teacher, that's for sure (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Digby]

According to the ISM website, the average for 04/05 was £24 per hour, rising to nearly £40 in Inner London.

I am Gloucester based and that is fairly standard for our area at the moment.

[organgrinder]

Hi everyone! This is my first post. I've been browsing through the forums and came upon a recent thread in Student about lesson prices. I was quite surprised to see how much variation there seems to be in different areas. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

Here in Berkshire nearly everyone has lessons from Berkshire Maestros, and we have just been told that individual lessons will cost £43.50 per hour from September. There are normally 30 lessons per year, so that's £652.50 pa for the 30 min lessons most people have. Does anyone else think this is well above average?

Wow, that seems a lot - what exactly is a Berkshire Maestro in terms of qualifications and experience?

[Malone]

Hi everyone! This is my first post. I've been browsing through the forums and came upon a recent thread in Student about lesson prices. I was quite surprised to see how much variation there seems to be in different areas. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

Here in Berkshire nearly everyone has lessons from Berkshire Maestros, and we have just been told that individual lessons will cost £43.50 per hour from September. There are normally 30 lessons per year, so that's £652.50 pa for the 30 min lessons most people have. Does anyone else think this is well above average?

Wow!!! Thats heaps!! Maybe I should move somewhere there so I can charge more!

My hourly lesson was about £36 per hour or so but I get them paid for now which is a huge releif but they are both great teachers and professional musicians in Orchestras.
I'd never even think twice about spending that much money on a lesson, thats way to much. If they were famous maybe, or hugely in demand with excellent & wonderful reputations, then I might just sit down and consider it and maybe have one every couple of months with another cheaper teacher for weekly/fortnightly lessons.

[harmony2]

You would probably find it considerably cheaper to go direct to a teacher - from their web page it looks as though you are paying for a lot of admin etc due to the 'organisation' status.

[BerkshireMum]

Should perhaps have explained that Berkshire Maestros is a somewhat pretentious name for the Trust which provides lessons in schools and music centres here (used to be Berkshire Young Musicians Trust). There isn't a lot of option, as we are not inundated with good private teachers in this area.

Most children start off in short group lessons in school, but if they show promise they are offered a 30 min iindividual lesson. I am actually really pleased with my son's teacher (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) , who has a postgrad diploma in performance from the RCM (in clarinet) and is the ideal teacher for him. She has taught him for 4 years now and he got a good distinction at grade 8 in the spring term, but he has had an hour lesson for the last 2 years, so it's very expensive. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

[maggiemay]

That's a bit steep. I'm also in the south-east (although other side of London) and the going rate (ok - without the middleman) in this area seems to be a good bit less.

[Melody Amour]

I nearly choked when I read your post, BerkshireMum. That is far too much. As someone said, the admin staff have to be paid, and guess who is paying. On the positive side, your son is doing really, really well. It is not as if it is expensive rubbish. I wonder how much the actual teachers receive though.

[sarah-flute]

It does seems expensive. Is this the Berkshire version of the LEA system? Because >£40 makes me wonder who's siphoning off a chunk somewhere (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

[BerkshireMum]

Yes, it's supported by the LEA but not to any great extent. What subsidy there is goes to players on the award scheme, and means the cost of bands etc is less. My son (who is in the scheme) plays in Newbury area concert band (2hours each Sat), clarinet choir (1 hr) and a oucnty band, and also gets a whole evening's tuition each week in things like Alexander technique and chamber music. Next year this will cost over £2100.

The award scheme is great, but you're either in it (in which case you have to do everything and pay over £2000 pa), or you're not and have to pay full price for the bands etc. The LEA subsidy is falling all the time (was 85% 2 years ago, then 75%, now 65% for next year) which is why the costs are now so high.

I feel very sorry for those with younger children - my son is 17 so only has one year to go - as the package is great, but now so costly. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

[sarah-flute]

What I mean is, that as you say LEA funding has dropped, and so with there being more go-betweens than with someone going to a private teacher, the cost tends to mount up. When I started the violin at school aged 7 it was free, and even by the time I left I think it was £13 a term or something (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) these days, private lessons seem to if anything often be cheaper than lessons in school (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif). So I wondered if that was the case in this scenario (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

Ouch, that is a lot, though it does sound like a good scheme.

[BerkshireMum]

Yes, it's an excellent scheme (if you can afford it!). Trouble is, as you say, when son started clarinet at age 9, it wasn't all that expensive, so we encouraged him. As the costs have increased, so has his enthusiasm, and it's impossible to pull someone out of a scheme they are benefitting from when you encouraged it in the first place!! Music is his big hobby, but it takes up so much time that he can't get a part-time job to help fund it and still do 4 or 5 A-levels.

I was just surprised to realise that things are so different in other areas. You tend to assume that everywhere is like where you live!

Thanks, everyone, for your quick responses. I think I could get to like forums! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)