Can You Raise Your Piano Lesson Price Too High?

Can You Raise Your Piano Lesson Price Too High? by Wendy Stevens ComposeCreate.com #piano #lesson #price #rate #tuition #policy

Can You Raise Your Piano Lesson Price Too High?

I had an experience about four months ago that made me so upset I couldn’t write about it for months. I knew I was too angry at that time to communicate anything good. But I learned a serious lesson in pricing that definitely affects piano teachers and I think I’m finally calm enough to write about it now.

As you know, I have curly hair. What you might not know is that most hair stylists have no idea how to cut curly hair. It is a beast unto itself and none of my haircuts are ever the same. Every time I go into my hair stylist, we have to talk about what to do. My hair might look the same to everyone every month. But, my haircuts are always different. Sometimes we “piece it out.” Other times we “round it off.” Sometimes we cut the underneath side shorter. Sometimes we piece out the middle layer of hair if it’s getting too thick.

In short, curly hair is pretty high maintenance. So when you find a hair stylist that can cut your curly hair, you stick with her for life. I found one 20 years ago, love her, and have been happy with her for 20 years.

But then the salon raised prices too high.

Lessons on price increases from a hair salonOn December 27th, the salon where my hairstylist works sent out an email announcing that each stylist would be raising prices because “the cost of everyday living has gone up.” [Now, that should be our first lesson…never send out an announcement that you are raising rates 2 days after Christmas! It does not endear yourself to anyone.]

In addition, they also announced that they would no longer be cutting children’s hair AND that they were implementing a cancellation policy.

Now all of us can understand a cancellation policy, so that didn’t affect me at all. And I certainly understood a cost-of-living increase. So at first, my initial frustration was because they threw in my lap the difficult task of finding someone else to cut all three of my children’s hair. The vibe from the email was that they didn’t like kids and that kids didn’t go with their “culture.”

But what was really upsetting happened at the next haircut. My stylist and I had a great conversation about increasing rates while I was getting my haircut and I felt like I was right there with her since I’ve worked with a lot of piano teachers about increasing rates. But then, I went up to the counter to pay.

What was her rate?

Gulp. “What did you say my haircut cost?” Did I hear that wrong?

Nope. I kid you not. It was 40% more than my previous cut. Obviously, that is not a cost of living increase as the email had led me to believe. Had my stylist been seriously undercharging where a big increase would have made sense? No, not at all. What was originally a fairly upscale haircut price suddenly felt astronomically expensive.

My curly-headed sisters, who also had their hair cut by her, were also outraged. One of them refused to go back. The other ranted about it for a very, very long time.

Here’s what happened to me as the consumer:

It’s taken me a while to articulate what happened to me after that change, but here it is:

  • Can you raise your piano lesson price too high? by Wendy Stevens | ComposeCreate.com Lessons on price increases from a hair salonI was frustrated for months.
  • When I went to pay, I tipped less. [I’m embarrassed to admit that, but I’m being honest here. I just couldn’t bring myself to pay an additional 20% of this price.]
  • It bothered me every time I walked in the salon.
  • If I had known of any other people that could cut curly hair, I would have been very motivated to try them out, though I’m an extremely loyal person.
  • I did keep going, but every time I got my haircut, I questioned whether I was getting my money’s worth.

What happened to her as the provider?

In short, she lost a lot of clients. I used to have to book my appointments 3 months in advance because she was booked solid, but that seemed to change after she raised her rates so high. I found that there were open appointment times the next week and that was never the case before.

But here’s what you might be missing:

I definitely want piano teachers to charge what they are worth and make cost of living increases. However, making these changes can you make you wonder, “Can you raise your piano lesson price too high?”

Can you raise your piano lesson price too high? by Wendy Stevens | ComposeCreate.com Lessons on price increases from a hair salonYou might think this article is telling you that you shouldn’t raise your rates too high, but that’s not necessarily the case. While this was a very difficult thing for me as the consumer, my stylist actually wanted to whittle down her client list, work less, and still make a decent amount of money. The fact is, even though she lost a lot of clients, she was paradoxically achieving her goal!

Even though it was difficult for her clients, severed some relationships, and strained others, she actually achieved what she thought she needed for herself, her family and those closest to her.

I can admire that, even though the change was costly in more ways than just financial.

So here are the lessons for piano teachers:

There’s nothing like being on the receiving end of a price change to help you gain perspective. Consequently, I learned a lot of lessons about increasing rates as a piano teacher and here are just a few of them:

  • It is possible to raise your piano lesson price too high become out of the market for most people in your community.
    However, you may want this so that you can have fewer students, work less, or a variety of reasons. It’s not a bad thing to be at the top of your local market. You just have to know your goals and think about the effects of what you do on those goals.
  • Be careful that you don’t mischaracterize your email announcements about price increases.
    If it’s a cost-of-living increase, then make sure the amount makes sense. If it’s a “I haven’t been charging enough” increase, then make that clear. Don’t call a 40% increase a cost-of-living increase.
  • Know what the tuition range is for lessons in your area.
    Then you’ll know if you are already at the top end of the market before you raise your rates significantly without any changes in your service. Note that you can’t do this as an MTNA chapter because of the FTC order.
  • Don’t make an announcement about policy changes that affect people’s pocketbook close to Christmas.
    That’s just not a good time for most families. You could send out a policy change well before the end of the year (like the beginning of December, or maybe January), but for best results, the week after Christmas should just be off limits. Let your families relax and enjoy the season without worrying about their budgets.
  • If you get the sense that your prices are at the mid to top end of your market, do a risk evaluation before you make a big price increase.
    If you have a waiting list, a big price increase is a lot less risky. If you don’t have a waiting list, then acknowledge that you may lose students and ask if you’ll be okay with that. Do you need more time in your schedule but can manage with less money? Then, significantly increasing your tuition might be a good strategy.
  • If you do raise your rates significantly, make sure that you find humble ways to remind your families about what you offer or find ways to make lessons more valuable. A great way to do that is with a newsletter like this that goes out a few weeks before you raise rates.
  • Lastly, if you are a beginning teacher, the worst thing you can do is to undercharge when you start out.
    Don’t fall into the trap of doing this as you are setting yourself up for a very difficult change when you have to increase your prices to fair market value.

Yearly, small cost-of-living increases are safest

Raise rates too high? by Wendy Stevens | ComposeCreate.com Lessons on price increases from a hair salonI think one of the other mistakes this salon made was that they didn’t increase their prices consistently. If they had raised them slowly (whether that’s every year or every other year), to actually be commensurate with cost-of-living increases, then the reaction would not have been so costly. Every time you make a big increase, you run the risk of losing families. Sometimes those big changes are necessary, especially if you are undercharging, but small changes are safest for student retention.

In the end, you have the power to charge whatever people will pay. And it’s important to charge what you are worth and what is proportionate to the level of service that you offer.

So can your piano lesson price get too high?

Yes, but do not undervalue yourself. But if you sense that you are at the top end of the market, just be aware of where you are and communicate about your changes wisely and with empathy for your customers. In addition, top-of-market teachers need to make sure that you regularly and humbly remind families about how their child is doing and what you are doing to help the child (through emails, texts, newsletters, etc.). Remember that families are always re-evaluating the cost of a recurring service, so consistently affirming the value of piano lessons with you to current families is always a good idea.

Lastly, be sure to do a thoughtful evaluation before you raise your piano lesson price too high. Then, continue that careful evaluation before you make a tuition or policy change of any kind to make sure the change fits the goals you have for your studio and your life.

Have you had any experiences like this? Please share in the comments so all teachers can benefit!

59 thoughts on “Can You Raise Your Piano Lesson Price Too High?”

  1. Thanks for the thoughtful article. It is perfectly timed for me. As the year draws to a close I’ve been planning for next year, whether or not to raise rates, and if so, by how much. It’s a huge consideration. Your point that families are always reevaluating the worth of recurring costs is so true! Just this week I cancelled a (non-musical) monthly expense for my family because I didn’t think the $100 per month price tag was worth it. Thank you for the reminder to keep in mind the family’s perspective as we work towards our professional goals. It’s a balancing act.

  2. How does one determine the usual tuition rate in their area? I don’t feel comfortable calling anonymously and asking other teachers how much they charge. Also, what is a good time frame for rate increases, every two years, every five years?

  3. I have the same question is Sally. we have a music school in our area and I usually try to keep just a little bit underneath their cost oh, but it is hard to know what’s a charge. I love my family’s and they are like family to me. Yet I know I am a Craftsman that individualizes each lesson. It’s such a tough call.

  4. Wendy Stevens

    Hi Sally,

    Here’s a brief description of how you can do that:
    1. Do a google search for “piano lessons XX” making the XX be the name of your city and state. Then, see who’s studio websites come up. There’s bound to be a few of those teachers who put their prices online. If not, that’s okay. Just continue with this process
    2. Now go do lots of searches about prices for dance studios, taekwondo, sports, etc. THIS is what your competing against and since piano teachers notoriously undercharge for their services, you’ll need to put more stock in what parents are choosing to afford in this area than in your local piano teaching rates.
    3. Ask around to find out what people are paying for lessons.
    4. Remember that this research needs to done individually and cannot be done in your local MTNA group because of the FCC order.

    This is about you finding out the price range that people pay in purchasing services that are similar to yours. So it’s not going to tell you exactly what to charge, but you can use the range to determine what you think is appropriate.

    Finally, charging what you are worth gives you the ability to help those in need. You’ll have more time and more money to give to those that need it most when you charge what you think you services are worth.

  5. Wendy Stevens

    Hi Barb,

    Here is the answer I gave to Sally:

    Here’s a brief description of how you can do that:
    1. Do a google search for “piano lessons XX” making the XX be the name of your city and state. Then, see who’s studio websites come up.
    2. Now go do lots of searches about prices for dance studios, taekwondo, sports, etc. THIS is what your competing against and since piano teachers notoriously undercharge for their services, you’ll need to put more stock in what parents are choosing to afford in this area than in your local piano teaching rates.
    3. Ask around to find out what people are paying for lessons.
    4. Remember that this research needs to done individually and cannot be done in your local MTNA group because of the FCC order.

    This is about you finding out the price range that people pay in purchasing services that are similar to yours. So it’s not going to tell you exactly what to charge, but you can use the range to determine what you think is appropriate.

    Finally, charging what you are worth gives you the ability to help those in need. You’ll have more time and more money to give to those that need it most when you charge what you think you services are worth.

  6. Hope Mitchell

    Very interesting experience. I would not have been happy about the surprise/shock when I paid. That was very poorly handled.
    I,too, have curly hair and know the frustration of trying to find someone who can cut it to its curl, yet tame it. For the record, I LOVE your hair…it seems to go with your avant garde personality. But I hope you find a stylist who knows what to do with it. Enough challenges in life without that one!

  7. Thanks for the perfectly timed article. I am about to raise my rates because – gulp – I haven’t done it in 6 years!! Sigh. I know I can’t make up for lost time by raising too much. I was considering a 10% raise but even that amount concerns me, so I will still ponder. And fyi – I also have curly hair and feel your pain:-). Great article!

  8. That happened to me when signing up my daughter for cello lessons through a music store. We were doing lessons just for the summer, since she was in college and it was a special gift for her. I could have bought a package of as many lessons as I wished initially, but chose to buy just at couple at a time. When I went to pay for the next set, I found out, at the cash register, without ANY notice, that the price had increased a good deal. What a bad taste that left in my mouth!

  9. Wendy Stevens

    Hi Ellie,

    Well if you haven’t increased in 6 years, then I would guess that 10% isn’t too much. If you think about the cost of living increasing every year by about 2%, then that is about right. You can check to see how much it has been for the last 10 years by using the Cost of Living inflation calculator that’s linked to in this article.

    The key is communication and making sure that you remind parents of all of the services that you offer. So, here’s a few resources to do that:
    https://composecreate.com/students/wendys-piano-studio/studio-info/where-does-my-tuition-go/
    https://composecreate.com/how-to-increase-tuition-without-a-revolt/

    I hope that helps!

  10. Wendy Stevens

    I know. They were probably scared to raise it that much, but if they had just communicated and done so in an open and honest way, it would have been easier to take! Price increases will always be hard, but kind, honest, and timely communication goes a long way in making it less painful! I’m sorry that was your experience as well.

  11. Kathy Gault NCTM

    What a great topic, and a very insightful analogy. (Though as a lifetime owner of fine, thin, absolutely straight hair, I have to really try hard to sympathize when curly-haired friends complain — LOL!) I especially appreciate the suggestion to compare prices with those of other kid activities, especially sports-related. Sports are king in the USA and it sometimes feel like a hopeless effort to be moving, seemingly, against that tide of their perceived value and importance with something seen by many as a ‘frill’.

    That being said, it might be good to mention a small caveat here, about talking with other teachers about prices. MTNA has been put in a very difficult position by the FTC over this topic of comparing and discussing prices for services. The FTC considers such discussions ‘price fixing’ and it is forbidden by law, which is why we teachers need to use discretion when doing this kind of research. Of course anybody is free to talk about this, outside of MTNA-related activities and events. But MTNA members should know that this isn’t something that can be legally discussed at official MTA meetings. So do your research discretely. Non-member teachers are not bound by this ruling, but should be aware that ‘market research’ is ok, but ‘price fixing’ is not — in the eyes of the FTC. It’s a bit of a sticky distinction. Sad, but that’s where we are in 2019.

    And I am totally jealous of your hair. 😉

  12. Kathy Gault NCTM

    Oh, and I also wanted to add that part of our marketing to our families and the public in our advertising should be stressing the difference between what we are offering — private (or small group, whichever we do) education in music that is individually tailored to each individual student. Much different than ‘drop-off’ activities like once a week ballet, tae kwan do or even team sports like soccer. We need to make them aware of the great value of what we are offering — it is a ‘service’, yes, but it is more than that — it is education. And thus we should charge commensurately.

  13. It’s indeed pretty disturbing when we go in expecting a certain price and not given the full truth until the moment of payment. I’m so sorry! And your hair is always darling!!
    One challenge I have is when a student moves from a 30 min lesson to a 45 min lesson. In order to keep my hourly income, I should raise their price by half their payment. Parents never complain, but I struggle a bit charging that much per month. Any suggestions?
    I prefer 30 min-private or 60 min-group for the young beginners, but as they progress I like to adjust to a 45 min private. I just struggle with raising the lesson fee. They do know the price before they get “to the counter to pay”! ????

  14. Thank you for the interesting post, Wendy! Thought-provoking for sure. I understand the need to re-evaluate goals and priorities, such as the number of students/teaching hours we take on. But what a shame to trim down student numbers by pricing them out! I would feel absolutely horrible about doing this to my piano families/kiddos, even if it helped me reach my goal of teaching less but keeping income relatively the same. There HAS to be a better way to do this! Can we think creatively and come up with a solution that doesn’t alienate our families (and possibly damage the students’ future relationship with music)??

  15. Curly hair here, too! You are exactly right: most stylists don’t know how to cut curly hair, although they say they can. They can’t. Finding one who knows how is a challenge and worth paying whatever price they charge (because you’ll pay anyway to go to someone else to correct a bad cut). But a surprise price increase can undermine a customer’s trust, whether it’s haircuts or piano lessons. I think plenty of advance notice is key, preferably several months ahead for the following semester.

  16. Hi Wendy — I’m grateful for this article:). I’ve done rate increases for the last two years at 10% a year — I had left my rates at their current level for a lot of years—partially because a colleague who I had trained with and taught for, never raised her rates. She was an accomplished musician, choir director, a BA in music and had been teaching for 25 years. I finally decided after consulting other teachers that our area could definitely sustain regular rate increases. The first year it went fine, the second not so much: I had quite a sloughing off as I’ve termed it????????. In the end each family had different reasons for quitting and coincidentally they came at the same time. For me, it turned out fine because 1) I’m not the primary breadwinner in the family; 2) I got to work with 11 very committed students instead of banging my head against the wall about the other 5 that left and were being dragged kicking and screaming to lessons. It was a big “whew” for me in fact. I know that not every piano teacher will find themselves in this position. I think Wendy your advice is sage and we should all be aware of our competition’s rates. We shouldn’t undervalue our services either — what we are doing as private music teachers is almost unavailable these days: one on one human time with a child who gets our undivided attention for 30 or 45 minutes. We help these children understand that technology cannot do everything; we value them as human beings, and we think these little humans are worth investing our hearts and expertise in. These days that’s worth it’s weight in gold — to say nothing of the fact they’re learning to play the piano????????!

  17. Wendy, I love this article. I have curly hair too, so I understand your frustration. It is hard to find consistency in haircuts. You give us great tips for raising our prices and how best to handle the situation. It is possible to raise prices too high too fast. Usually it happens from not charging enough in the first place, realizing it, and making business decisions that won’t work. It is a tricky situation and I’m glad you wrote about your experiences.

  18. Thanks for presenting a balance here. We all struggle with tuition issues, I think. One thing that helped in my studio a number of years back was to allow returning students to remain at the same pricing for the first semester. This has continued for everyone who takes a minimum amount of summer lessons. This also works as an incentive for summer term and gives me a deadline to firm up “the studio policy” and pricing before the end of the school year. I also offer a discount for paying by the semester.

  19. Very thoughtful article. I appreciate your words of wisdom and think you are spot-on with your advice.

  20. Thanks so much for your wise words, again, Wendy! When I raised my rates last fall, I also went with “package” pricing. Something I learned from my husband in small business. If you add value to your tuition- in my case I am now including EVERYTHING with my tuition rate: Books, recitals, materials, etc- then people feel like they are getting a better deal. If your hairdresser had “thrown in” some free hair product, it probably would have felt better to you. Also, I like the simplicity of not billing parents for books and small stuff. Saves me a ton of time!! And that’s worth a lot to me.

  21. Wendy, I so love your honesty and transparency and always helping us piano teachers find the right balance! Regarding my prices: You have taught me that I can make my services more desirable, thus making my fee seem fair for both me and my families.. So… I make sure to remind my families that it’s not just the actual 30 minute lesson they are paying for, but the thought, planning and searching for the right music for that individual student. Also, I offer rhythm cups, and (every other Saturday) group lessons where we play games, rhythm cups, hand bells, and play our current pieces for each other. No other piano teacher in my area is offering this ‘smorgasbord’ of ‘off the bench’ fun. Thanks to my incorporating your sound advice, families in my area seem content with my pricing because they are reaping the benefits of the ‘extras’ and that their children are enjoying music. Because of incorporating the advice on your blog (and using your creative music) I am experiencing the feeling of getting paid what I’m worth and at the same time knowing that I am offering unique musical experiences that my students won’t get otherwise. Your advice on this topic has made this painful decision of pricing less painful. Thanks so much!

  22. Excellent point. It is way different than just drop off activities! It’s more like private tutoring!

  23. Hi Paula,

    Here’s an article about moving from 30 to 45 minute lessons that might be helpful:
    https://composecreate.com/a-guide-to-moving-students-to-longer-lessons/

    Also, there are many ways of looking at this, but a longer lesson to me is technically worth 1.5 the price, but you can charge whatever you want. And I’ve always thought I’d rather have the same students for longer periods (thus fewer students and parents to manage schedules and repertoire selection and lesson planning) than more students for shorter periods. So, I’m okay charging a little less than 1.5 times the price. But again, you can charge whatever you want, so if it doesn’t feel good to you, don’t do it.

  24. Hi Debbie,

    Definitely don’t think I’m encouraging anyone to “price someone out.” There will always be students who can’t afford lessons or your price increase. But if you are charging what your time is really worth in your market, then you should have more time and more money to give to those in need. So offering scholarships to underpriviledged students becomes much, much easier when you are in a better position to do so.

    We charge what we are worth so that we can give to those truly in need!

  25. Yes, a 10% increase would be tolerable one time if parents knew you were below what they thought they should be paying for your services. But, doing it twice, they would start to think that it was a trend happening every year and get scared. That’s why I tell teachers to make their price adjustment all at once if they realize that need to charge more for their services.

    I never tell teachers what the right price is because it’s so different from teacher to teacher and market to market. But, these general principles should help any teacher trying to figure out how to make the increases they see fit.

  26. Agreed. The worst thing I did starting out is to think that what I was doing was only worth $6 a lesson. Can you believe that!?

  27. I submit that the problem isn’t really the price increase. The problem is this sentence from your article, “I questioned whether I was getting my money’s worth.” If our customers don’t feel like they are getting their money’s worth, it doesn’t matter what we charge, it is too much. If we have to remind them what they are getting for their money, I claim that we are doing something wrong. It’s our responsibility to charge enough that we can provide so much value to our customers that the price tag becomes a nonissue for them without regard to what any other program (music or anything else) charges.

  28. Yes, very good idea Heidi! An all-in-one package is almost ALWAYS going to be better for parents. They have too much to do and gather already! Great idea.

  29. Kendra,

    That is just music to my ears and the exact reason that I try to share these things. I’m so glad that you feel like you are getting paid what you are worth and also that you have been so diligent to educate your parents about what they are getting. That is so important. And creative teaching is such a need in our society. It’s no wonder that you stand out from the crowd!

    Here’s the link to that “Where does my tuition go?” brochure in case someone else wants to use it to show parent what all they get in their tuition: https://composecreate.com/students/wendys-piano-studio/studio-info/where-does-my-tuition-go/

    Thanks so much for taking the time to share, Kendra!

  30. Hi Wendy, I totally feel your pain, and you don’t know how glad I am that you wrote this article! The exact same thing happened to me two months ago, except I did not get an email ahead of time announcing the price increase. When I went to the counter to pay, I was blown away by how expensive my haircut was. I had to try really hard to cover the surprised and shocked expression on my face! I’ve been dreading going back, because it’s definitely more expensive, and it was really upsetting! But, as you know, like you, I also have curly hair, and when you find a stylist you like, as we both have, it’s worth it to stick with her. Thanks for sharing the fantastic article an analogy, because you’ve really helped me finish working through my issues! 🙂

  31. Wendy Stevens

    Hi Melody,

    Oh yes, you know my pain and the difficulty of finding a curly hair stylist exactly! I’m so glad the article was helpful to you in working through your issues. My own response has surprised me…it took 4 months to get over it enough that I could write about it! But, you are right…when you find someone that knows what they are doing….

  32. Wendy Stevens

    Ah yes! Definitely a lack of understanding of parents about what they are getting is part of the problem. And the way parents feel is an important point. We can’t expect parents to know what all we do, so it’s good to kindly and humbly remind them so that they feel better about what they are paying!

  33. Women have more difficulty asking for more money than men do. This has been shown across the board in jobs of all types. And there is often income disparity that goes beyond the salary or hourly rate, as women tend to work harder than men in the same positions. I get this from my friend the economist.
    Around here, the men who teach piano at a fairly high level often charge $20.00 or more per hour HIGHER than I do, and I’m pretty highly paid. They get plenty of students and don’t worry about it.
    This is a gender disparity issue as much as a professional issue.

  34. Wendy Stevens

    Yes. Well said, Megan. Indeed it is. Society has to value what women offer and women themselves have to value it as well.

  35. Thanks for this article, Wendy. I too, admire your curly hair, but what a dilemma. Personally, I think I would have looked for another stylist because that was a ridiculous increase! Here’s the way I look at piano teaching. We are professionals with years of experience and expertise to offer. In addition, there’s a lot of behind the scenes work we do that most are completely unaware of.. So we must consider, how much must we pay for an electrician or a plumber’s services? Anywhere from $80- 100 an hour? Are we not worth that? I know that sounds like perhaps a crazy comparison, but I think we have every bit as much expertise and in most cases much more education. I realize that our services are not essential as those I mentioned above, but what we offer to enrich students’ lives is priceless. I no longer feel guilty about charging rates that are only half to two thirds of what plumbers et al charge. And, as per your suggestions, I have stuck to raising rates each fall and stay close to the CPI reported rate of inflation for the previous year.

  36. Dianne Saichek

    Thanks for this forum, Wendy. I live in one of the most expensive markets in the world (S.F. Bay Area) and haven’t changed my rates for years, for continuing students. However, new students are charged more, essentially subsidizing my faithful followers!
    This is working for me, but I have a small studio (12 – 15 students weekly), no group lessons. Occasionally I’m reminded of how important it is to be ‘another adult’ in the life of a young person. Occasionally, the parents also recognize this–especially when I give them notes with their invoice! Thanks for your teaching aids and the opportunity to confab with other private teachers. I’m taking your advice to do a bit of market research and hopefully I’ll be able to raise ALL rates in June! These guidelines and caveats will be useful, as are the comments of others on the music education journey.

  37. As a curly-haired person, I can totally relate and empathize with you that it’s a real loss to lose a hair stylist you can trust! I hope you’re able to find someone comparable for a good rate. This was such a great article for all of us teachers, thanks for always thinking about how to apply life lessons to running a piano studio! You’re awesome!! 🙂

  38. As a curly-haired person, I can totally relate and empathize with you that it’s a real loss to lose a hair stylist you can trust! I hope you’re able to find someone comparable for a good rate. This was such a great article for all of us teachers, thanks for always thinking about how to apply life lessons to running a piano studio! You’re awesome!! 🙂

  39. I am guilty of not charging enough in the beginning, as well as not raising rates every year (recommended elsewhere on this blog). I now have several families who have been with me for years who pay quite a bit less than my newer students. It definitely pays to charge the market rate from the start, and raise rates every year (unless there is a horrible economy as in 2007-9) —otherwise think about 10 years from now, what is the total effect of not charging what you’re worth? It all adds up.

    On a side note, I have only had one parent complain about my price increase, one year, I raised it two dollars instead of one dollar. They thought that was too much! They no longer study with me, but I suspect their new teacher charges a lot more.

  40. Wendy Stevens

    Good for you, Kathy! I’m so glad you no longer feel guilty about charging what you do. And it’s always a good idea to compare with other professionals, so I’m glad that gives you extra assurance. Thank you so much for sharing how you look it. Very helpful!

  41. Wendy Stevens

    Hi Dianne,

    Thanks for your comment and for telling me more about your situation. I love the point you make about: “Occasionally I’m reminded of how important it is to be ‘another adult’ in the life of a young person.” That is SO true and now that I’m in the middle of parenting, I can see how beneficial this is for my own children. It’s truly priceless when a teacher is passionate about what they do, excited about beautiful things like music, and cares about my kids! Thank you so much for the reminder to us all.

    I”m so glad the article was helpful!

  42. What a thoughtful (and beautifully-written might I add?) article. Always appreciate your insights.

  43. Thank you so much for this article, Wendy. You are absolutely right: What we are competing with, price-wise, is the other activities that our students do. In fact, I would argue that one of the ways to dethrone Sports as King is to charge what our lessons are really worth. (This has the side benefit of making the parents value the lessons more, and therefore requiring their children to put more effort into practicing.)

    I will never forget the story one of my business mentors told me, years ago, when I was trying a different career field. Her name was Diane. Up until a few years before, she had been an antiques dealer with her own shop in a popular mall. One week, she found a beautiful end table at an estate sale, got a fantastic price on it, and marked it up a reasonable amount to sell in her shop.

    It didn’t sell. It didn’t sell, and it didn’t sell. Diane couldn’t understand it. The table was in beautiful condition, rather rare, and the price was a real bargain. But the table still wouldn’t sell!

    So, becoming frustrated, one day she put a new tag on, for double the price. She had decided she didn’t want it to sell. Instead, she determined to take it home for herself later that day! But…

    …the very next couple that walked in saw the table, walked by and noted the tag, turned back to look at the table for sale, and then checked the price tag again. The price was high. Very high. They looked around some more, and came back to the table one more time. Sure enough, you guessed it — they bought the table. Diane said that, after that experience, she was careful never, ever to price anything too low. Not only did her number of sales not decrease, but they actually increased.

    It’s a little different with teaching piano or another musical instrument. My price is high, and the number of people who walk away from my price is more than I’d like. It’s very tempting sometimes to lower my price, but I have bills to pay: a roof over my head, electricity, etc., not to mention keeping my pianos in tip-top shape.

    Also, the price that the people who walk away want to pay is at or lower than what my parents paid back in the early 1980s. Sometimes less!

    Realistically, the people who don’t enroll because of price tend to be the people who have their children heavily involved in other (more expensive) activities and just want to round out their child’s education. They are so used to all practices being done on the field, in the gymnasium, or at the dance studio, that they assume their child needs to come to lesson only, and doesn’t need a piano at home. From their point of view, if piano lessons occur only once a week, it will be easy to fit them into an already-full schedule.

    However, I charge commensurate with what other activities in my area cost. I also require my students have lessons twice a week. As a result of both of these policies, I get very high-quality customers: 1) students who really want to learn, and 2) parents who know they are making an investment in their child, their future grandchildren, and their future great-grandchildren as well.

    One important thing I do to help the parents see the value they are getting: I require that the parents sit in on the lessons. The parents see the value of my teaching, and they also know what their child is supposed to practice at home. Children do need someone overseeing their practice at home. There are some exceptions, of course, and I was one growing up. In my early years as a teacher, I made the mistake of assuming all children love to practice! But even with those students I’ve had who love to practice, I find that having the parents involved helps the students practice the right things.

    For teens, I require that the parents attend, but I tell the parents that their role has changed. They are doing less practice supervision now, but their teens need them to be their cheerleaders and proud, involved parents. Teen-aged kids won’t believe their parents compliments if they don’t think the parents know what they are talking about. Having the parents at teens’ lessons avoids insecurity issues, and can be a stress-free way for the parents to stay involved in their kids’ lives. (A teacher does need to learn how to balance the relationship issues to make this work.)

    There have been four families for whom I made exceptions in my parents-must-attend policy. And 3 of the 4 exceptions I have made to my studio policy produced very bad outcomes, and proved to me that it is better to stick to my studio policy.

    Coming back to the original issue of tuition rates, I think we do need to charge what our service is worth. A worker is worth his hire. Also, in many people’s eyes, higher price = higher quality. If we know we offer quality, we should charge for it. (And, as you said, Wendy, then we can offer scholarships. I have done this many times, and the families are always grateful.) . Then, to prove that we are offering quality, we need to let the parents see what we do. For me, that means having them attend lessons. For other teachers, it might be something else.

    Thank you again for your excellent articles, Wendy. I always look forward to reading them.

  44. Wow! Very interesting. The comments are all helpful too. I’ve been pricing myself by charging less than my own local teacher because she has so much experience. Not significantly, but some because I have a teaching degree and teaching well is hard work. I will come right out and say that I charge $18 per half hour. Sometimes I’d like to charge more, but I think it’s easier to go up to an even number. It’s been at this price for the past three years. I am thinking of raising it to $20 in another year. I’m only finishing my 5th year of private teaching, so I’m still getting comfortable. That said, I do feel sometimes that all of the effort I put in to accommodate changing schedules means I should charge more. I don’t have a full schedule, so I can be flexible.
    I think what is hard about being in my own business of teaching is that I have to make all of the decisions. It’s valuable to meet with my local chapter, but I don’t ask anybody about their fee (as I know I can’t).
    I hope I wasn’t too blunt in sharing.
    I love your curly hair too Wendy! My 14 yr old has super curly and is still learning how to deal with it!

  45. Hi Sue! Thanks for sharing more about your situation. I’m glad you found this helpful. It’s challenging to know what to charge and definitely pay attention to your gut and other cues like prices of other services in your area. It’s great to be independent, but also challenging!

    Ah yes…those teenage years are challenging to figure out your own curly hair. I’m sure she’ll get the hang of it! There are a lot more online resources about how to care for curly hair these days that can help!

  46. Mary Anne Olvera

    Yes, the FTC has put MTNA in a difficult position regarding fees/rates, and teachers are strictly forbidden to discuss these topics at association meetings. However, while we are not allowed to discuss current rates, we are allowed to find out fees/rates when they are framed in a historical context. Those questions would be something like, ” In 2018, what was your 30/45/60 minute tuition rate”. It produces a bit of a dated framework, but it is very clear that we are not getting current costs, and at least gives us a general picture of what the area will support.

  47. Just this week, I decided to announce a raise in tuition just by $2 a month. I made up a small paper for each student to hand out to their parent on their way into their car to get picked up. It said, “Dear parents, I wanted to let you know that there will be an increase in tuition of $2 per month per student beginning in September. This will help to cover the costs of supplement music, copies, apps, games, and other various things that I am adding to the studio. Let me know if you have any questions at all. I also want to thank you so much for trusting me to teach your students piano. It’s so much more than just piano, and I value every minute I spend with them! I’m truly grateful for each one of them!”. I handed out my first paper, walked back inside the house, and this email popped up with the subject line,”Can you raise your piano lesson rates too high?”. I instinctively panicked. I just finished reading your article, and I’m just fine with my increase intuition. I just thought it was hilarious timing. Now, is it fair enough to raise tuition again just so that I can buy all of your new music all the time?

  48. Wow. That IS incredible timing, Jennie! And honestly, I had worried a little that it might happen to someone. But it sounds like you still felt confident you did the right thing even after you read the article, so that’s good. It applies to so few of teachers, but it seemed important to mention.

    Lol. I’d love for you to buy all my new music all the time! 😉

    Thanks for your comment!

  49. This has been interesting to read. I live in Canada (just east of Toronto) so some of the rate setting issues don’t apply but many still do. I have set rates for a 30 minute lesson, a 45 minute lesson and an hour lesson (all based on an hourly rate). I don’t always raise my rates yearly because I also take into account how many of my students need to increase their lesson time for the coming year – I base that on their playing levels. I know I’m not the highest rate teacher in my area but I find this process makes it easier to make the decision as to when to change rates.

  50. Hello all,
    I live in an economically depressed area of the United States. In January 2023, I announced a price increase of $5 per student for piano and voice to start February 1. In addition, I explained that I would also be charging an annual supply fee of $60 per student for piano and voice (some students take both) to help students branch out into new repertoire pieces (especially written by Wendy Stevens) because it was a missing part of my studio. They would have two months to pay the supply fee. Finally, to top it all off, the students and I began planning for the Spring Video Recital to be filmed at the end of April and received compliment cards and Certificates by the end of May.

    I had 26 students in January, lost 3 by February but picked up 2 more students that filled 4 places because they took both piano and voice.

    I can tell you that even the summer months with families stopping and starting up again in August have not brought on a financial pressure crunch for us at all.
    I had one student pay a year in advance and another student’s pastor paid 6 months in advance. With these extra funds in reserve, I was able to bless all my students with extra fun times, rewards, and much more. It’s been our best year yet!

    My students range from emotional and physical handicaps, the stress from divorcing parents, dyslexia, fragile X, Asperger syndrome, and even adopted children out of drug-related and abusive situations. Music is a beautiful therapy for all! Each person needs (even craves) exhorting, encouragement, and a continued experience of success in their life. Thank you, Wendy, for helping me help them this year! Your “Beautiful Places” Series has brought peace and comfort to many of all ages.

  51. Thank you for sharing all this, Rebecca! It’s always interesting and helpful for teachers to read about your experience with increasing prices. I’m glad that you didn’t see much change in your studio. And I’m so glad that you have the opportunity to help so many students with so many different needs. Thank YOU for using ComposeCreate resources and music to teach your students!

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