I was talking with another teacher in the area whom I admire and who has been teaching for many, many years. We were discussing teaching students who are in need. She had mentioned that there is a correlation between students who take music lessons and those who stay out of trouble, as there was some research done on lessons given in inner city schools.

Anyways, I've often wanted to be available for those in need since I can afford to do so, but I find that they will often not even approach the idea of lessons, knowing they cannot pay for them. What kind of person would ask, "By the way, do you give free lessons?" But I also wanted to avoid attracting those who just want to pay nothing for lessons, but certainly could afford it. This teacher told me that she was friends with some teacher sin the local schools and they had referred students to her who were especially gifted in music and had a desire to play, and an instrument to practice on (free ones can be obtained if you just have a few guys to move it). Since most classroom teachers know the economic situation of a student's family (if they are on a paid meal plan, for instance), they would be able to determine someone who could really benefit.

Have you ever done this? What has been your experience with it?

I did this several years back in Texas, and it worked pretty well:

http://www.musiclinkfoundation.org/

Find the Musiclink coordinator for your area, and they should be able to help you identify qualified students.

The other nice thing about Musiclink is that it helps avoid things like "Hey, I heard you give lessons to people who can't afford it!" (A problem, because everyone thinks they can't afford it.) Musiclink requires that students qualify for free or reduced lunch programs at school.

It's a great program - definitely check it out!

Morodiene,

I just want to say: BRAVO!! to you for your altruism. What a wonderful idea. You can make such a difference in a young person's life.

That would cut out homeschoolers, as well as poor kids with too much pride to admit their poverty. I see that there are other possibly criteria, such as an income under $35,000 for a family of four.

Can this be accessed outside of the public school system?

Morodiene - wonderful!

Home school families also have access to this apparently, according to the form for Parents to complete:

web page

I do not give free lessons, but I do teach scholarship students at a local church. This church operates a "Neighborhood Arts Centre" where students whose families earn less than $30,000 per year can take piano, voice, strings, dance, band instruments, or art classes for half-price ($7.50 per half hour), with the church paying the teacher the other half. This has worked out well, with less-privileged students learning & performing along with students from families who make upwards of $100,000 per year.

And I've found that it's important to charge SOMETHING, because people tend to value what they pay for, and it's a point of pride for lower-income parents to be able to hand the teacher a check.

I've done this with tutoring but I'd like to offer a word of caution. Many students or their parents feel uncomfortable when they get something for free and they will soon stop taking lessons out of embarassment. Also, for many people, free lessons diminish the value of the lessons in their minds and you will soon find them not taking it seriously and missing or cancelling lessons. I've found it is best to accept some kind of payment be it a reduced "scholarship" or barter of some kind. For instance, barter can be baked goods, fresh flowers, babysitting or chores. Somehow, when they "give" you something, it is more comfortable for them and they feel they have to be serious about it because they are "paying" for your time.

That's a good idea, Deborah, about the bartering idea.. This was a concern I had with giving free lessons. I'd like to offer this to someone who really is in need and someone who would appreciate lessons, but if they give me something in return, even if it's not money, it would probably make them feel better about the whole thing.

Funny that this topic should come up, as I had a situation in the last 24 hours that is somewhat similar.

One student's mom came to me after our first class of the new school year (which was yesterday) and said that they'd have to stop lessons after September, due to financial considerations. Because I know this family and a little of their circumstances, and because I absolutely adore the student, I thought about it the rest of the evening, then sent them an email offering them the rest of the year at no charge. I was hesitant as to the wording of my email and wondered how they'd respond. When I received a reply today I knew I'd made the right decision. The mom was elated and the little girl thrilled.

I am also of the mindset that something 'free' isn't valued as much as when one has to pay for it (which makes my reaction in the above paragraph out of the ordinary for me).

One project I've done the last few years is to offer a semester of group piano lessons at no cost to students who are affiliated with a local homeschool group. Parents pay the same enrollment fee as all of my beginning students (for materials). After the semester is over parents can decide if they'd like to continue at the regular rate or not.

I would be very careful with the various gov't groups and other programs that are out there for those less fortunate. Our community has a Toys-For-Tots-type drive each year at Christmas for underpriveleged kids. Of course, the goal is to make sure every child has a toy to open at Christmas. Well, the lines are blocks long and it's disheartening to watch many of the recipients drive away in their SUVs, toy in hand.

By the way, "free" lessons don't exist. What we're really talking about is full or partial scholarships for students. The lesson itself still has a cost in terms of the time, expertise, and materials used.

The teacher can be the donor, but doesn't need to be. You could find a patron, ask that a music store donate the materials, or find other ways for the teacher to be compensated.

Oh, and check out the possibility of a tax write-off. Charitable donations are tax deductible, after all, and that includes scholarship donations.

Kreisler, on the business side, could you convince the tax man that if you charge $40/hour, and give a charitable lesson for $10/hour, that you have given a donation of $120 / month? (30 X 4)

I'm afraid you cannot deduct free lessons as a business expense, keystring (at least, not in the US).

The value of your time is non-deductible. To be deductible, the nature of the donation has to be money or property to a qualified charitable organization, not an individual.

Source: ( see page 6 , of the following).

To me, a bartering arrangement seems the most mutually advantageous scenario. However, if someone is extremely disadvantaged financially, it begs the question "Where will they find the funds to purchase a luxury item (piano to practice on)?"

The musiclink seems like an excellent idea, but I balk at having to provide a social security number in order to offer my services. My wife & I don't provide it to physicians, dentists, or other organizations which request it, in fact, we limit it to the IRS and Social Security Administration.

This is where the funds of that organization that has received several million dollars of donations would come in. This organization pays for festivals and such. In the order of needs, instruments, instrumental maintenance costs, and also transportation costs are the most pressing. Festivals are costly and not necessary at all, though nice perhaps.

What happens if one of these students ends up being a prodigy and ideal for a career? He will need good equipment at some point.

I think that if there is a will toward this, creative heads could come together along with some expert heads (financial & legal experts) to create a charitable organization to get at this purpose.

Musiclink also provides instruments for students, apparently. Not only that, but there are always free pianos that you can get if you can haul it away. They may not be great instruments, but better than a keyboard!

*Forsees a post by Gyro in the near future*

I think Musiclink is a great idea if you are willing to do this, Morodiene, and how admirable and generous of you to give your time in this way.

I have somewhat of a different philosophy though. I see some families that are very able to work take advantage of programs like this and of teachers like yourself. Not fair to other parents that work like heck to provide lessons for their children.

I'm sure there are situations where a program such as this is helpful, but, I would definately screen my family somehow, making sure they are truly in financial hardship, et, both parents really can't work or are just not making enough money and really can't make anymore for lessons, etc... other wise you are paying them to have it easy.

When my children were younger, we were low-income, but we always found a way to make it happen, by working and budgeting, never asking for scholarships, when it came dance lessons or music lessons. We were also wise to not have a lot of children, because we knew we could not afford it.

Don't get me wrong there are some instances where families are deserving, but I feel they should compensate in some way...

Teachers are givers.

And I applaud them all. Especially those who give beyond their scheduled paid lessons.

I would not be where I am with the appreciation of music and playing, if when needed, my childhood teacher did not offer to my mom and myself, free lessons one year. My lessons cost $3. Yet at one point, not known to me, my mom told my teacher that she could not afford them for a while. And my teacher still taught me.

I did not find this out until much later. And I so appreciated that she continued lessons. Had I known, I probably would have freaked out (or practiced a heck of a lot more, or maybe even quit in embarassment)

She also gave piano pedagogy classes to those in HS that were interested. I was one, and started teaching way back then. She sat in our teaching lessons once a month and we had coaching (always after the lessons). What better education could one have?

To this day, what she gave me brings tears to my eyes and I pledged long ago to offer to other young musicians what she gave to me.

A case of what comes around, goes around.

Thank you to my teacher, Edna Smart!

I too have done this numerous times and am offering my time and studio currently with a couple of my families.

I just do not believe in advertising this, otherwise there can be problems, imo.

For the most part, although I have never asked, after they got back on their feet financially, I was reimbursed, in some way, for time that I had spent with no pay.

I did not want to accept and did say it was not necessary, but it was offered.

I thought this honorable.