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I'm a junior at the Catholic University of America. I recently inquired about piano lessons for non-music majors. They gave me a price of 800USD a semester. I wanted to know if that is too expensive, and what other options should I consider?

Hi --

Is this the cost for a teacher at Catholic U?
I happen to live in the greater Washington DC area -- last time I checked, the average cost of private lessons from a reputable teacher was $35 for 1/2 hour lesson. For comparison purposes, then -- your $800/ semester equates to about 22 1/2 hour weekly lessons or eleven full hour weekly lessons.

Virginia (from Virginia)

Well, living in New York, from the Julliard teacher directory I've seen most lessons being at 60$-75$ for half hour and one at 125$ for 45 minutes!

Bach...:

You don't say how many hours of lessons you're entitled to per week/month/semester for your $800.00, so it's difficult to compare that rate to any other.

Regards,

I also was quoted a PER SEMESTER rate from the local music school, and didn't like having to pay all at once -- instead, I have a private teacher and pay each lesson. This allows greater flexibility -- some lessons are one hour, some have even gone two hours, depending on what we're doing. VERY frustrating, on the other hand, to be cut off because time is up if your teacher at a school has another student waiting.

Another disadvantage of taking at a school: those teachers are probably teaching most of the day, and won't have nearly as much energy to devote to YOU as would a private teacher who has fewer students. What if you don't like your teacher? Can you switch? You've already paid $800. [If I don't like my private teacher, I can simply find another one.] What if you become ill, or otherwise need to miss some of the lessons -- can they be carried forward or can you get some financial remuneration?

If you are getting a one-hour lesson each week for 17 weeks at the university, that would be $45 - 50 per hour, which seems reasonable. If you are only getting half an hour, the price seems too high. IMHO you always pay more through a school -- the teacher and the school both take their cut of the $.

Bach, as you can guess from the above, I much prefer having a private teacher. Still, if you find a university teacher who is sympaticato, that certainly work too.

Yikes, I thought that Jodi was the starter of this thread to begin with. (It's the avatar). Anyway, when I looking into lessons a couple of years ago, I found that the average going rate was $35 to $45 per hour, one hour a week. Some people wanted even more than that. I don't know how things have changed in that area over the last couple of years (I guess I'll find out soon, I plan to start looking again) but $800 for a whole semester sounds pretty good, yet there are a couple of things to consider first. How many hours a week would you be taking lesson? How many weeks does the semester last? That's what you need to know to break it down.

I studied at pre-college Juilliard before coming to college, and extra lessons with my teacher were $200/hr. I think $800 is GREAT for a semester!!

All very well, but bach2bass6 still hasn't reported back to give us an idea of what $800 worth of lessons entails. It may be value for money, it may not.

$200 per hour! W W!

I feel very fortunate paying my $50/hour and having the incredible teacher that I have. Of course my daughter and I attend the lesson together. She get's the lion's share of the lesson most days. I usually get about 20 minutes.

Mark