Among the instruments, the one that seems the most wistful and difficult is the piano. An incredible instrument that many would love to be able to play, but also the one that seems the most expensive and troublesome to engage with.
There are many teachers willing to give you a leg up, for the right price of course. Which leads us to ask: how much do piano lessons cost? In this article, we answer that question so you don’t have to find out the hard way.
The experience of a teacher is important for any new learning endeavor. Most of us in the world today do not operate as autodidacts – self-taught people – and need some kind of instruction before pursuing our goals. This is no different from the piano, however, the experience and level of mastery each piano teacher has can vary quite a bit.
Teacher’s Experience
Those who can play the piano, but it is a hobby, or just dabble in the instrument from time to time with a different career tend to have prices that are on the lower end of the spectrum. These semi-professionals tend to charge $15 to $25 per half an hour (or a full hour if you are lucky).
Those who play piano regularly and incorporate piano into their everyday lives or make a career of teaching piano will charge slightly more at around $30 to $50 per half an hour. These people will often be your music teachers at school or band players in bars at night, who supplement their income with piano lessons.
Finally, we have those with extensive knowledge of the piano. These are the people with music degrees or have extensive performance backgrounds and have a reputation to match, think Carnegie Hall. These people charge upwards of $100 per half an hour, however, they are the best in their field and their livelihood is tied directly to the piano.
With such variation in price and experience, it is best to scout out piano teachers before committing yourself to one and find which suits your needs and, most importantly, your wallet.
You may start as a hobbyist, but turn serious, or be a serious player with little free time and just looking for an excuse to play, whatever you want from piano lessons make sure you browse before you buy.
Location
The location of the piano lessons will definitely affect the cost as if you provide more equipment or space for the lesson, the cost will go down. An example will be if you take the piano lesson in your home with your own piano and have the teacher come to you.
While this may affect the initial cost of procuring a piano, you will not be paying extra for renting the instrument or, if it is a music school, the room space.
This is because music schools tune their pianos regularly and maintain them properly, which means a payment to a certified piano tuning.
Not only that, but music schools often have to rent the space they use and, even if they don’t, they must pay upkeep on things like electricity or gas, making them more expensive overall.
However, if you don’t want to buy a piano and potentially cordon off a section of your house or pay the expense of going to a music school, there is a third option.
You could take piano lessons at your teacher’s home. In price, this normally sits in a nice middle ground between the two, the piano teacher will certainly have a piano at their home, which they will provide upkeep for, and you aren’t expected to pay exorbitant amounts of money to keep the lights on, which is a fairly nice situation all round.
Hidden Fees
You may be a bit confused about this section. Piano teachers are not some seedy company or bank, insidiously trying to scalp a bit more money off you without you noticing, and you are right, they are absolutely not.
The problem is that these fees aren’t things they, or us, would consider hidden, just things we forgot to come with learning something new. An example of this is books, if you are a college student you know what I mean.
A lot of the pieces or tablature you will learn will come from books that you need to purchase. While these books are not that expensive, most sitting at $10 a pop, they build up over time and when you are spending 10s of dollars a month on books as well as lessons, it adds up.
If you plan to have a recital with other players, these can also cost money with some charging hourly or half-hourly rates for you to play. This seems ludicrous at first, but these are often performed at concert halls that need to think of their upkeep too.
Finally, traveling and your own piano. If you need to travel to your piano lesson away from home, then you need to think of travel expenses. How much gas will be needed to get there? Or, what is the train or bus fare? If you do this week on week, it can become expensive.
Alternatively, if you have a lesson at home, how much will the piano cost? Even a relatively cheap keyboard can set you back $60, which would knock the stuffing out of my wallet. These are all things you need to consider before moving forward with lessons.
Final Thoughts
Learning an instrument should never be a chore, especially with the joy they bring, however with the costs they can be. Yet, if you know where you will need to spend money and where you can avoid it, you can still learn the piano and have a fun time while you do it.