In these more difficult financial times, I am looking for different methods of adding students.

Does anyone offer a package, say 4 weeks, of lessons to people who are not sure they are interested enough in piano to be a long-term student?

I am not in dire financial status right now but extra income always comes in handy!

I think it's a very good and proper idea (and could be a good marketing strategy for your studio). After the try-out period, both parties can decide whether to continue, to sign up for a longer-term agreement, or not. No fault, no harm. It seems to me that otherwise it would be hard to know, really, if teacher and student are well-matched.

I don't know if the practice is in very common use, but I got the idea from the post of a teacher here who offered it. The two teachers I've tried the arrangement with have let the trial period blow by without comment, until I asked. We continued in both cases, though one teacher decided that I was too stupid to learn after about a year. It might have been a little less bruising if more serious attention had been given to the trial period (which was longer than four weeks--- ten or twelve, if I remember). It's ok, though; I still use what I learned in that year, and it's true that my 60-year-old mind does not have the plasticity of a child student's.

My experience helped me select the next teacher with more attention to temperament, so it was good that way too.

It's a great idea. This is what I do with all my students. As part of my policy, a month's worth of lessons (4 or 5 depending on the month) is due on the 1st week of the month. I began doing this because it really helped lessen the amount of no shows and cancellations. A big bonus was that the parents pushed their children to practice MORE since they felt "It's already been paid, might as well take full advantage of it!." (I actually had a parent tell me that.) Most people are OK with it. Those who aren't are usually unsure about their future playing the piano. All in all, just give it a shot and it may payoff a lot better for you too.

My violin teacher teaches primarily adults (he might teach adults exclusively but I'm not sure) and offers a discount if his students pay for 10 lessons at once. He says he likes it because he has a better idea of his income and it keeps people committed. I like the discount and not having to remember to have a check ready every lesson.

I offered my students a discount of about 5% if they paid the full semester's tuition this week. I had one of them take me up on the offer and the extra cash is well-appreciated. It's going right back out again, but I won't be as frantic when it does.

I don't know how well this will help you, but I find that I'm attracting two types of students: ones which come on referrals and know what they want. These students (families) don't need or care about trial lessons. The second type I'll call explorer families. These are usually great families, but have little or no background in the musical arts, have no idea what learning piano entails, or the time commitment involved. For these students, a package works really well. Personally, I offer a 13 lesson package, but for beginners only. The package includes the beginner music, and is priced significantly below cost. That is to say, it's a loss leader. I find 4 weeks is just not enough time for any decent evaluation, either by parent (student) or time for the teacher to really grasp the learning style of the student.

This is quite a bit different than paying for lessons by the month or for a block of lessons, which some are talking about. I do offer a very slight tuition discount if half of tuition is paid up front (5%). This is more of a convenience for both parent and myself than any real time saver for me. Some activities are very slightly reduced, but mostly I save worry about payments, which is worth a "thank you" to those parents who elect to prepay.

I do small packages in the summer. If someone just wants to try out piano for 4, 6 or 8 lessons, that's the time to do it. My fall and spring semesters are in "packages" of 17 weeks, so those are really only for those who are more serious.