Hi Moms,
I'm starting my 6 year old daughter on piano lessons and I'd love to have someone come to the home and teach. Have any of you had or heard of some nice teachers that will come to your house? What do their rates run? When I was a kid we had the nicest lady come to teach my brother and I - her rates were extremely low but that was 20+ years ago. My daughter's school offers piano lessons but they are so very expensive - $30 a week for only 30 minutes!!!! So ten 30 minute sessions is $300 - which is much too expensive! I may have to go through our local park district, but I'd prefer to have someone in the house if I can find a reputable teacher at a good rate. Please let me know!
Thank you!
Thank you moms for all your responses! I guess I'm just totally out of it - I haven't taken lessons in so long, I didn't realize what they cost. I did find lessons through some local park districts that are more afforadable. I'm sure the quality of having a professional in your home is higher than a semi-private park district lesson. But just to get my daughter started with the basics, I think it'll be ok. Thanks again for all your info!
Ask at church. I am taking my daughter to a woman's house and she charges $10 a half hour. If I were to go to the conservatories it would cost me $30 per 1/2 hour. I found her by asking a friend.
I paid $20 a half hour for piano lessons 7-5 years ago, so $30 seems to be about right. Ask the music teacher at your school for recommendations. Perhaps there is a high school student who could teach your child the basics. For me, my child rarely practiced, so it wasn't very productive paying for lessons. Hope you have better luck.
I'm not sure which park district you are thinking about using, but think twice about doing the park district! I tried that with my son for a few sessions. His teacher didn't teach actual music notation. He just teaches using fingers and numbering. We sat through a "recital". I was horrified! When over half of the students sat at the piano to play their pieces, the teacher would have to reach over and re-position the child's hands to place the thumbs on middle C so they could play. If the teacher didn't re-position the hands, the child would happily play the pieces wherever their hands landed on the keys.
Since we as parents sit in the hallway during lesson time, I had no idea this was the method taught. I found a new teacher, and it took us over 6 months to deconstruct what was taught at the park district class and finally begin learning. It was horrible! When asked what the note name for "F" was, my son would say "4". He didn't know anything about note values.
Happily, we have had great experiences with studio teachers and private teachers. They are the $20-25 per 30 minute range. Find someone who currently takes lessons and ask for recommendations.
teacher rates might vary depending on what part of the country you're in, but something in the range of $30/half-hour is pretty typical around here. my girls' current teacher is a recent high-school graduate who charged $25/half-hour.
