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Hi,
I would like to ask teachers specifically in Australia as I would like to know how do you determine your fees. All my students are beginners so they are charged at the beginner fee, but I am not sure to increase the fees the following year according to CPI index. Also, because most of them do not take exams, we just follow a basic series (like Alfred) and I would like to know how to increase the fees accordingly (When I had learn my lessons it had been exam based so as I go higher my fees increase)

Thanks for any pointers!

Hi scmay,

I'm very curious -- why would you have a different, and presumably lower, fee for beginners? Is your time and skill less valuable when you are teaching beginners? I would think the opposite - if you are a good teacher, laying in a good foundation for the student, then your fee should be commensurate with other good teachers.

Do you mean to say you charge a Gd 8 and a beginner the same amount of fee?

I would agree with John.
The fees you charge, should be for your time, and instruction, regardless of the students' abilities.
If you advertised your scale of fees, you may well find that you get only beginners.
This may, or may not suit you, and could possibly alienate prospective clients who feel they are being penalised for their previous hard work and application.

I use the fee recommended by the Music Teachers Association as a guide, as well as the average fee in my area. I believe I'm towards the higher end of that average. I certainly don't have a different scale for different levels, though I know some teachers who charge more for advanced students rather than less for beginners, if you follow the difference there.
When I raise my fee I inform students in advance. I never enter into discussions of the "why do you charge so much?" type.

John, I would just like to confirm that you are currently teaching in Australia. Because this is new to me. In my home country, it has always been the norm, as you go to higher level you naturally pay more fees.

I am with AMTR and I only note that they had given me an estimate figure of the avg hourly rate. Not sure if you're referring to that, if you could point me to the info you mentioned would be great!

I'm confused. Do you mean Australia is your home country? If so, I don't think this is the norm at all, based on my experience. Standard fee regardless of level is the norm here, I would have said. But perhaps you are referring to some other country as your "home country"...?

I agree. To me lower fees for beginners means inferior teaching. Nothing is more important that the first couple years. It sets the foundation for everything that comes later.

Charging a higher hourly rate as a student advances is a new one on me too.

I wonder if scmay means that the fees increase because the lessons are longer?

Every area will have an average fee based on supply and demand. Find out what that fee is by searching the internet or calling a few local teachers.

It's perfectly normal to increase fees each year by the rate of inflation as long as the market will stand it.

scmay, I have never heard of tiered fees. I have always charged the same for all students. If anything, beginners are MORE work because you have to teach them absolutely everything, there is more instruction than playing for awhile.

As far as how I know how much, I called several places that gave lessons and found their fees. When I was new at it, I undercut their fees, but now I'm right up there with them. I typically increase my fees every 3 years or so. Sometimes I have people paying different prices, if I intend to raise my fees soon, then I will start new students at that price instead of raising it later.

I don't live in Australia; you'll note that next to my name, it says I live in Olympia, Washington, which is in the USA.

I posed a question as to why your services would rate different fees based on the age of a student, or rather, the level of a student, and not on the quality of product you are providing. This would seem to me to be the natural order of things, not what you are doing.

There are many posters here who do live in Australia (Becky - where are you?) and can confirm your statement.

I am in Australia, and I have never heard of a scale of fees.
Perhaps for very advanced teaching, coaching for competitions, etc, there may be higher charges, which is perfectly reasonable.

My best advice to the OP, would be to find out the average for your area, and to set fees based on that information.

Do not undercut by too much, or you will regret it down the track, and probably attract other established teachers' rejects.

Work out what you expect to earn, in line with the hours you are prepared to teach, and set your fees accordingly.

In case it wasn't clear from my earlier posts, I too am in Australia, and I've said that the norm here would seem to be same fee per hour regardless of level. The example I quoted of a teacher (singing teacher, actually) who charges more for advanced students (that is, more than her normal hourly rate, not that she has a cut rate for beginners!) is an exception.

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I don't live in Australia; you'll note that next to my name, it says I live in Olympia, Washington, which is in the USA.

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WA in australia means Western Australia which is why it may have led to some confusion also i've never heard of tiered fees. if i charge a lower rate for some students it's only because they can not afford nesc. to pay the same rate as some of my other students

Yes indeed . I have no idea what some of those US state abbreviations stand for.

Thanks for the info. Corrected!

BTW, for Americans, Olympia is the state capital. I meet an amazing number of people who do not know this, much to my surprise.

Ok, now I got that sorted out...in that case does it mean that a Gd 8 student also receive 30mins as compared to a beginner student?

Or do you all actually mean that you have a fix rate ($X per hour), and depending which level you are on (beginners 30mins, advance 1 hr) you pay accordingly?