Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Soooo, you can't afford lessons....or maybe you can???

As a teenager I worked for my teacher to help pay for lessons.
In adulthood when I went back to study with a teacher it was on a working musician's budget and it wasn't easy... but 4 years of lessons and a beautifully rebuilt Mason & Hamlin grand piano still cost less than a master's degree.

I kid you not I am using my student load and maintance grant. I am paying £20 for a 1 hour lesson. £20 is cheap as ****** in the UK. People always say 'Make sure to find a professional teacher' the freak is professional? How do I contact Elton John? Surely he is "professional" He charge me £20? Errrr I don't think so more like £10k for a 1 hour lesson! Come on now what is professional? My teacher is not even in her 30s and she is pretty good at teaching me stuff I highly doubt she is 'professional' pls stop using that [censored] word. Someone explain to me what 'find a professional teacher' means. Professional lmao.

I find it ridiculous that people charge £50 for a 1 hour lesson pls re think about your life! I don't care if you are a professional the teaching approach is always going to be the same regardless if your a causal teacher with good piano knowledge vs a 50 years experience Piano teacher.

Piano is a expensive hobby regardless if you are self taught or not.. Please be grateful!

Sorry I got carried away I think I'm drunk.

Typed on iPhone.

I think I've experienced all of the above. Did not make the most of the money my parents and grandmother paid for my lessons as a teenager, but at least laid down a base. Bought a Clavinova, with my last recreational dollar and a lot of doing without, around age 30 to try to do something on my own. That worked for a while - I did enjoy trying to relearn things; as a teenager I had made the jump from those books that you used to get after you had finished John Thompson - ("Singing Keys", anyone?) and had gotten to the easier Chopin preludes, and thought I could get there again.

Well.....sort of. It turns out that one of my weaknesses is learning style - aka "bang head against wall until it goes through". And that, plus the kids hitting the high-impact ages, when you spend your weekends doing wall-to-wall activities and realize on Sunday night that you can either sleep or do something interesting....led to frustration at my slow pace, and ultimately giving up.

Round 3 - with teacher. It's working better, in part because the teacher realized what was frustrating me (I couldn't really see it - knew I was doing something wrong, but couldn't figure out the fix.)

I don't say you have to have a teacher. But if you've got my set of weaknesses, a teacher really helps.

I like the idea of trying less frequent lessons - using the teacher more as a coach, perhaps. Easier on the pocketbook, and gives the student a lot of time to internalize what the coaching session produced. Not sure it would be ideal for me - I benefit from the structure of regular lessons - but might bridge the financial and/or time gap for someone whose learning style is different.

Really, you have been taking lessons for about one month and have decided that the teaching approach is always going to be the same? It is not... there is a big difference in teaching approach as well as the art of teaching. This is not to imply that if you pay more $$$ for a teacher, that the lessons will be automatically be better and the teacher absolutely more skilled, but just to let you know that all teachers are not created equal.

And yes, there are many teachers that are worth every penny of 50 per hour.

I wasn't going to comment on piano teacher "worthiness", however, I do feel music is a niche that has been long-cultured into how we view teachers, and why we pay them what we do.

Remember at one time, lawyers were considered blue-collar tradesmen, less revered than a blacksmith or carpenter. We definitely still value our carpenters, but what price have we now put on lawyers? One cannot get minimum basic rights guaranteed unless they pay at least $2-5K, and what kind of stress do we put on court-appointees?

I don't understand… Well of course I understand, it's human nature. But why are people who cannot afford lessons, implicitly reproached for financial irresponsibility or inability to manage their funds…

Because people try to compare themselves or what "big world", i.e., media, magazines, movies to folks who cannot afford things.

Like I mentioned, growing up, we never wanted for much, but piano lessons were considered too expensive to afford. Now as a grownup, I went through being able to afford lessons financially, to being able to afford it time-wise. It's different efforts on both parts.

JazzyMac - since you asked The first time music lessons came up, my son, who had just started his teen years, asked for them. You will find ways to do for your child what you won't think to do for yourself. I'd gone from comfortable married middle income to single parent dirt poor. The teacher was taken by the efforts and abilities, and was supportive - he also liked the commitment he saw from me as a parent. I became a student a few years later and he made it a reduced fee. I switched to freelancing to be there for my kids, and I was not good at the sales end of things. A few times I could not pay on time when a customer was slow in paying me, and he accepted me paying late. Once he forgave an entire month's fee.

My son made it to music studies in university. The 2007 slump happened and my finances that had been hand-to-mouth got much worse. Before that happened, I bought a used digital piano, a Samick, for $300. I had played self-taught 35 years before. Then it all crashed, I had to stop those other lessons. I was left with the piano and teaching myself. I joined PW right at the very worst time, so as to not be alone.

How bad were things? I stood in the snow with borrowed quarters at a phone booth, negotiating for electricity not to be shut off, because I had gotten some work. Food was donated by a kind soul to keep us going. 2 years were quite bad. In the teacher forum, above all, I'd read about "tightening the belt", not eating out as often, not taking fancy vacations, there's no excuse not to have lessons / a grand piano. It upset me ... a lot. The phone had been shut off; only part of bills could be paid etc. Whoever was writing these things had no clue about poverty.

Fortunately it did turn around. After all, I have a decent education and sets of skills. I got an amazing 3-month project for which a colleague had negotiated a good fee. When I deposited my first pay cheque I went to the grocery store, out of habit wondered if I could buy a tomato or head of lettuce, realized I could buy both tomatoes and lettuce, and cried. While I had too much work I stopped underselling myself when queries came in, and got a better business sense - and some good breaks. One person who turned things around for me was John v. d. Brooke. He was pushing teachers to charge what they were worth. First I was mad, because I was locked out by dint of money, and then I thought "Wait. I'm a professional too. He's talking to me as well." I started changing my own attitude.

Anyway - I know what it is like to not be able to scrimp more than is already being done, to truly not be able to afford anything beyond a roof and food, and am grateful to no longer be in that place. But others might be.

The childhood part: When I was a teen, we watched Green Acres. We were also living it - the great outdoors, nature, and instant farmers = instant becoming poor. I did get piano "lessons" for 6 months by a "teacher" who lived along the bus route, and went off to stir the food in her kitchen during "lessons". When she became pregnant, that stopped. My parents were proud of my natural talents, but didn't know that parents do something with that - they had not been raised that way. We lived in a tourist spot where American tourists had owned cottages at the lake for generations. My mom cooked for one such family in the summers to make ends meet. I found out in my late 50's that this family had heard me play the piano, and had offered to pay for placement in a conservatory, room, board, and tuition, but my parents had said it was "not necessary". Who knows what, good or bad, might have come of that.

I was given instruments, but had to teach myself. It left me with a rather quirky background in music.

I read the original post to be addressed to those who won't afford lessons, as opposed to those who can't. When someone says they can't afford lessons, I take their meaning literally. But there must be a portion of those who say they can't who really mean I choose not to rearrange my finances for this purpose.

And that's their choice. It should be respected as well. Piano is a wonderful hobby, but it is still a hobby--unless you plan to make it your career, in which case it's everything.

This story is amazing and I know you are so proud!!!!

There is a Facebook Group on people who workout, and the same topic came up yesterday. People say, "I can't stand overweight people on food stamps! So what they can't afford a gym membership? They can just go outside and run!" Makes me so irritated that people don't realize their own blessings, nor have empathy for others.

There are several good discussions going right now, and I'm not sure which one of them I should put this comment on - I'm going to try here, but this could easily go in the discussion about not giving up when you get frustrated.

Is there some intermediate step that would give the self-teacher, whether because of lack of money or learning style or choice or location or whatever, a chance to have a 2nd pair of eyes and ears to discuss let's call it current issues - how does this sound, is my LH or RH too soft or loud, can you hear the top voice on the other side of the room, can you spot a different fingering, am I showing tension that I can't see for myself, etc. These are things that a teacher does really well, but it doesn't always have to be a teacher every time, it could be a colleague.

Someone mentioned having a duet buddy - which sounds really fun - and maybe there is a way to have a small group critique each other at regular intervals, just so it isn't always just you and the piano by yourself. You could sprinkle in a teaching or coaching session as and when the time and money presented itself, but in the meantime, you would have another person who could tell you if something could get better.

Not trying to take the bread out of teachers' mouths - we need you guys! - but trying to deal with life at the same time. Who knows, maybe a study group could hire a teacher to come in and have an evening's "master class". Just thinking out loud.

As someone who often works with people with lesser means (and I am not talking about material things only), I kind of took it for granted that this thread is not about blaming or labelling anyone. It is about what some of us do to follow our passion even it means some minor sacrifices in other things. It's unfortunately common for people to make judgements about others as if they could really understand the reasons behind someone's action without knowing and understanding about the consequences of everything they've been exposed to in life. So I do see why this sort of discussion can be irritating. But I hope people here can see that it's just a bit of friendly discussion about our experiences. If you cannot afford or cannot in any other way handle lessons, don't think that you shoudn't study piano your own way. Your efforts are just as valuable and you are allowed to enjoy your achievements, however minor!

Out, I agree with you totally. I also find it amazing those that learn via Youtube, or even by ear. That's an accomplished trait--visual learning, and it's awesome to be able to do that.

Medved, plenty of teachers would be glad to give occasional lessons just like you have described. The weekly format doesn't work for everyone, and we all know that.

I started learning without lessons..but now realized for me, I need one and couldn't progress to where I am on my own. My parents could not afford lessons for me. Life event happened, woke me up on how short life is. Remembered my childhood dream..here I am. I sacrifice my lunch money, so to speak, to cover my lessons. Spend less in other places to save up for my piano. I find playing/practicing the piano is like volunteering, you get so much back than you put in.

Love the idea of master classes, there is a piano group in New York, not been yet..meets twice a month for an hour...

Hmm... My cats consume two lesson-hours' worth of food every month… meanwhile, there are chipmunks, squirrels, and mice running around galore in the woods by my house.

Oh well… No, I couldn't do it… That little metallic sound of a cat food can being opened, causes such a festive mood among the felines, that I'm quite willing to keep paying for it.

I did get all analytical about the cost per ounce of cat food, and protein content. I calculated that I could buy the cheaper canned brand of cat food (which the cats seemed happy to eat, on a trial basis), and add a certain measured amount of diced chicken, to raise the protein content of the cheap stuff to an acceptable level. Cooked yield of chicken price per ounce, protein content… Lots of poking around on my calculator.

The plan backfired. The cats decided that they liked the idea of chicken, did not like the cheap food after all. As it turns out, I now buy the more expensive food as before, as well as giving them daily chicken treats. Straight, unadulterated chicken!!

I console myself, that it would have taken many months of my chicken dicing plan, to make up the amount of one piano lesson.

On the other hand, I have a friend who spent $400 on some sort of electric, automatically flushing cat litter box… I wouldn't have minded that so much, except that I had to listen to her complaining about running out of money by the end of the pay period. Well, we both lost our jobs, so it's all a moot question now.

The group would work best if small and roughly of similar skill level, but it's a wonderful idea! I've never heard of such a thing for beginners or intermediates, and only rarely for advanced amateur players.

No reason it could not work.

At adult amateur music camp, there are master classes which involve all possible skill levels-- and it works! I learn something from the feedback given to each single pianist, regardless of the skill level. What i would consider to be important is to keep the group small.

What I feel above all is fortunate. And the hard knocks taught things too. There is a saying that everything happens for a reason, and "what good things has this event brought?" rather than only the obvious undesireable ones.