How much should I pay for Music Lessons?

Settle in – this one is going to be JUICY.

So, the obvious disclaimer here is that yes, I run a music school, and yes, I therefore have a vested interest in this subject matter.  Equally, I can explain why we price our lessons the way we do and hopefully help you understand things from our (private music teachers) perspective.

There’s no sugar coating this.

Music is not cheap.  Before you’ve even thought about lessons, you’ve got to think about buying an instrument, buying books, maybe paying for examinations, travel to and from your lessons….have I missed anything?  Probably.

The average music lesson in 2022-2023 cost £38 an hour, according to the Musician’s Union.  Their current advised minimum rate should be £40.50 per hour as of September 2023.  It seems outrageous, doesn’t it?  But here’s the thing – they’re that high for a reason.

When you pay a music teacher, you are paying not only for the hour of your lesson, but their training, experience and outright extra planning time.  Very often you are also paying to be able to use our own space and equipment, which requires specialist care and insurance.  Sheet music is expensive to purchase because of the way international copyright laws work – all of these things factor into the cost of how we deliver lessons.

Prelude actually offers much more competitive rates than mentioned above.  One hour at our full rate of £34 gets you the following:

• A teacher with at least 3 years formal undergraduate university training/experience (many of us have postgraduate degrees as well), but more than likely an extra 8 years of instrumental training and experience.  This accumulative training is likely to have cost your teacher over £30,000 in tuition and examination fees, minimum.

• Access to instruments worth in excess of £700 minimum

• Access to books, sheet music and backing tracks, totalling over £1000 in value, minimum

• Personal, tailor-made learning plans made to suit you and your abilities down to a tee.

• Uninterrupted, one to one lessons with a professional musician.

As you can see, from a purely mathematical standpoint, for £34 an hour, you gain access to at least £31,000 worth of training, experience and equipment. That’s 0.1% and some change that you pay per hour in order to be able to access that wealth of information and training.

More importantly, that cost enables you to learn a skill that is permanent and will stay with you for the rest of your life.

So, now that I’ve ranted a little about why they cost so much – lets talk a little about how much you should be paying.

As mentioned above – the MU (Musician’s Union) recommend teachers charge at least £40.50 per hour for one to one lessons.  A quick google search shows that most will pay between £35 and £45 per hour.

The important things to ask about what to pay are:

What do I get in return for the cost? 

Think training, experience, equipment, and all those things I mentioned before.  Very often we see the odd teacher charging like, £15 per hour, and you may be tempted to go for the cheaper option – but usually, you will end up with somebody who perhaps has less experience teaching or performing than average, or who perhaps has less in the way of qualifications.  This is not to say that you shouldn’t hire them, merely that you should bear in mind what you are looking for in a teacher.  Some people want highly/specifically trained individuals, and others are looking for something more informal/with more experience of self-teaching – either is perfectly valid!  Some people want teachers to travel to them at home, and others prefer travelling to a studio, it really does depend on what you want from your lessons.

Does this fit in with the local averages? 

If not, why not?  Don’t be afraid to ask a teacher or school why they price themselves the way they do.  Any teacher or school worth their salt, that has sat and worked out how to set their prices will be able to answer this question for you readily.

Can I afford it? 

When I say “afford” I don’t necessarily mean simply the outright cost of lessons, but more so, after you’ve weighed up what you stand to gain, against what you would be paying for, monetarily speaking.  Does it feel worth it to you?  If not, perhaps you might want to look at somewhere cheaper, or that at least aligns with your values closer to what you are finding.  If you feel like it’s worth it, then you’re on your way to starting a new hobby!

Hopefully, I’ve answered a few questions about the cost of music lessons – as ever, please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.