Four of my pupils will be doing their music exams in January. It's the first time I've entered anyone so I'm new to all this! I will be accompanying them and I was wanting to hear people's thoughts on charging for this on top of the normal lesson fees. Thanks.

Yes, I don't charge either as I see it as part of my job, and yes, I agree, it would be nice to have some thanks and appreciation for doing this for free!

I even picked up a child from her school to take her to the exam (as I would have to be there anyway, and her parent was working) last week and including running through a few scales with her before hand a ten minute exam took an hour of my time! I don't mind as it matters to me that the child does well, but I do sometimes wonder how much parents take for granted.

I think that unless they have come across it before they don't realise that an accompanist usually needs paying and if they do they may not know how much. If they've always had teachers who accompany without charging they just think that it's a normal thing.

I put two pupils in for my first set of exams too last week or so. I didn't think of charging them and even if I did I wouldn't have charged them. I also picked them up before hand and even treated them to tea afterwards. It's what ever you feel is right really.

xx

Thanks for your comments.
When I was doing my exams we always had to pay someone else to accompany me as my teacher wasn't a confident pianist. However, now that I'm teaching I don't feel I want to charge them extra as it is part of the job I'm doing. The parents are luckily being very supportive anyway, with one inviting me round to theirs to practice with their child nearer the exam, as they have a piano at home and I don't.

I think you should charge, because you are spending time and money - transport to the exam venue. Accompanying pupils may be part of your job, but why don't you feel able to charge for it? How is it different to giving them an extra lesson? Any other accompanist who did the job would expect to be paid. This is a bit like under charging for lessons because is 'just a hobby'. You are setting a precedent that you may find hard to break if you decide to charge in future.

I always accompany my pupils at exams and festivals free of charge - I see it as part of my job.

Sorry to bang on, but can someone please explain to me why

"It's part of my job" = "Free of charge"?

I would lean towards doing it free of charge, but perhaps for those who are going to charge, it should be the same rate as for a lesson? What do others think?

I've never come across any teacher who charges for accompanying exams (or festivals even). Everyone I know sees it as part of the service - and it is paid for in terms of a pupil spending 500pounds+ a year on lessons. My singing teacher even collects me and drives me to the exam (in the next town) herself. (I make a point of buying her a rose bush.)

I'm sure they're lovely people, but that's hardly for your benefit!

That's what I usually do. Not quite sure how to charge for travel, though. Usually I accompany at an exam centre that's only about 15 minutes away, but I was recently asked to accompany an exam an hour's train ride away and I'd feel a bit uncomfortable charging my full lesson rate just to sit on public transport. On the other hand, it's my time, and I'm only making the journey for the specific purpose of playing for this pupil's exam...


I hope she likes roses!

I charge a flat rate for my time, whether I'm teaching or accompanying. I've never had anyone quibble yet -(maybe I'm not charging enough?!)

Not to mention time spent practising the accompaniment, if necessary.

I think so (I've tried offering money)

I took my son for his grade 8 exam 15 months ago and got talking to some mums in the waiting room. They thought it dreadful that their children's teacher was charging them £5 each to accompany the children in their exam - until I told them that I'd had to pay £50 for someone to rehearse with my son for 30 minutes and accompany in the exam!

I actually think it's good in principle to charge to accompany. By the time you've travelled to the exam venue and hung around encouraging your pupils for however long, you've given a lot of your time. I think £5 each to cover your expenses on the day is definitely not too much to ask, and makes parents realise that you don't get service for nothing.

I'm with Berkshire Mum on this one! Heck, if a teacher offered to accompany an exam, I'd...(gee, what would I do?)...be very grateful indeed, and would without question pay a lesson's worth of time, more or less depending on travel time etc.

After all, it's not just the need for an accompanist, it's the fact that exam times are so unpredictable - until you get the exam time, maybe only a fortnight in advance, you can't regard the accompanist as "fixed".

If a teacher took that burden off me (by saying that s/he would accompany the exam pretty much whenever it happened to be scheduled), that alone would be worth money. Even offering to find another person to accompany the exam is a help. As a non-musical parent, finding an accompanist is difficult, and finding a good accompanist is just a lucky-dip.

As it was, it cost me about 30% of the Grade 8 exam fee for 2 rehearsals and the exam accompaniment, and as I thought there might only be one rehearsal offered, I thought that was most reasonable. Son and I gave the accompanist a small "thank you" gift after the exam, as well as the fee in advance.

I work as a peri in a well-known private school in the area; I get asked to do a lot of accompanying and can claim for the extra hours from the school - whether it's for exams or concerts. The school charges pupils over the odds (in my opinion) for instrumental lessons, but I think it is partly to cover extra expenses like providing exam accompaniment etc.
As for the private teaching scenario, I would to an extent see accompanying my pupils as 'part of the job', but would hope that the parents would recognise the extra effort involved and perhaps offer payment or some other token of appreciation! (Maybe make a comment like, '' I'll do the accompaniments myself, as it would probably cost you thirty quid to get someone else to do it! , and hope they take the hint!)

I don't think it would be unreasonable for you to charge. Maybe something nominal - less than £10 say - so it covers your travel and doesn't leave you out of pocket. Also, take in to account hours outside of the actual exam/lesson if you have had to practise the accompaniments. It is something that student's and parents should know about too - I accompany for other teacher's students and have heard (in an incredulous tone) "do I need to pay you then?!" a fair few times as their last teacher didn't charge them.

A little off topic - I have heard teachers charge their students for being there at the exam venue, even if they're not accompanying!

Surely not!

I should say that I never go to exams. I've always felt that it would be an added pressure if I was there, although I've never asked any of my students how they would feel about it. My teachers never went to exams, so I probably grew up thinking that it wasn't something teachers did!

The school I teach in has just given me a list of recommended rates for accompanists from next term. These start from £11.50 for a Grade 1, increasing to £45 for a Grade 8 and include a rehearsal as well as the exam itself.

The rates seem to be based on the length of the exam, but make no provision for differences in the difficulty of the accompaniments and the length of time needed to learn them: the Grade 3 flute exam I accompanied recently was far easier than any of the Grade 2s I did the same day.

I'm a student (an adult learner)...my teacher charges £20 to accompany me..worth every penny..wouldn't expect him to do it free...why should he? It's his job!

I'm in a similar situation. In my case I need to get a nice bottle of wine for my daughters Piano Teacher for similar reasons.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm now leaning towards charging a small fee, maybe £5 or so as was suggested. I haven't had to put much effort into learning the pieces luckily and I was planning on going to the exams anyway as I want to support my pupils who's first exam it is. Yes this is my job but these pupils are the few that I teach at a weekend privately and is a much different situation to those that I teach through the music service in the week. I am aware that when I was at uni I was having to pay £50 for each rehearsal I had with an accompanist and know that generally this shouldn't be a free service, but as I said this situation is a little more relaxed. Thanks again for the comments.

I would be doubling the Grade 1 fee - with a 20 minute to half hour rehearsal, travel expenses and time in the exam you're looking at at least an hour before you even consider any practise time.

I have a sliding scale for accompanying from £20 Grade 1 - £30 Grade 5. This is pretty standard round here, and it's the simplest way of keeping up with paperwork. For grades 6, 7 and 8 I charge per half hour, as the time needed is variable.

I was recently asked to accompany two candidates at our local centre on an emergency basis. The organistaion which contacted me said they usually arrange for an accompanist to be at the centre all day and pay £7 per candidate. ( I negotiated a slightly higher rate as I was only going for two people.) Rehearsal payment was up to me to sort out with parents. Of course you should charge for the use of your time and skill. If you do not charge you are giving a message that your time is worth nothing.

I don't think we would all agree with that and I don't think you should assume that we all feel the same as you about this.

As a parent, I have always assumed that I would have to pay the accompanist and always have. The various people have never had to ask - I always have pushed something in their hand immediately after (usually £20 - maybe this is now not enough). Why should you give up your time for nothing - the price per lesson is exactly that - per lesson - why should we get your time accompanying for free? I have always paid lesson rate too for any extra time practising. but I hadn't til now thought of paying for the hidden practise time....... If you spend time with someone for an exam, why should you not be paid for it?
But if a teacher chooses to come to the venue just to encourage - in my view, that's very kind, but I don't need to pay - it's the teacher's choice to do that.

I never charge my students if I accompany them in an exam. I'm a very weak pianist so don't accompany above grade 3 anyway (and often have to simplify the parts a bit). I always give my students the choice really. I tell them that I'm willing to accompany free of charge but am honest with them about my skills on piano, but also tell them that if they want a proper accompanist then they are more than welcome (and I won't be offended) and I will find them one, but they must cover all costs including a practice before the exam. It's always tended to work. I have a few younger children who's parents won't pay who I accompany (they often feel happier with someone they know being at the exam with them too), and then a few adults who prefer to pay someone to come in.

Agree totally with all this.

I recently paid a set fee of £15 to my child's singing teacher to have her accompany my daughter at the exam. I did not begrudge paying this at all as the teacher was giving up her time on the exam day. The money I pay for tuition covers just that - 30 mins of tuition each week and I would definitely expect to pay extra to have an accompanist.

If our singing teacher had not been able to do it, then I would have had to find another person - and I would not have expected them to do it for nothing - so why not pay the teacher?

Of course, they did say that I could accompany her

****rolls on floor laughing****

After I had dried my eyes, I politely declined.

I only accompany mine up to grade 3, too, and consider it included in the lesson fee - after all, I have had ' extra parts to learn and expect to be at the exam venue on the day anyway. That way my least experienced pupils have the 'comfort blanket' of a familiar face in the exam room and I have a good view of how they cope in the exam situation.

After that I feel that pupils' performance requires the service of a specialist accompanist, whichbi most certainly am not. The accompanists in my area all charge their normal hourly rate for rehearsal(s) before the exam - for lower grades the exam itself is usually rolled into that (especially if there are several pupils to accompany) but for the highest grades (needing more time - both in the exam and for private practice!) the exam time is usually charged too.

That seems very fair to me, both as a teacher and as a parent. After all, from my pianists' point of view, it has to be worthwhile for them to take time out of their teaching, and possibly have to reschedule their own pupils' lessons, to do the accompanying.