The Worst Advice You’ll Ever Get About Piano Teaching

I’m not into sensational headlines. They really irritate me and I feel a little manipulated and therefore used by them at times. So, I want you to know I chose my headline carefully here.

What Is Worst Piano Teaching Advice You’ll Ever Get?

Here it is:

You don’t really know if you’re good at it or not, so you can’t charge very much.  You can always increase your fees later when you know you are good.

It’s not the first part that’s so bad. It’s true that when you start to teach, you don’t really know if you are good at it or even if you are going to love it or not. It’s also true that you probably can’t charge as much as someone with much more education and experience.

What’s so dangerous about this advice though is the second part: “You can always increase your fees later when you know you are good.”

It’s true that you can do whatever you want with your fees, even increasing them later as you increase in experience. BUT, the problem is that I have yet to see a teacher who is brave or emotionally confident enough to increase their fees effectively such that they end up charging what they are really worth. Because the fact is, when you start too low, the increase you’ll need to make to get “in the ballpark” just may drive your families away. I have heard story after story from teachers who are so distraught because they started way too low and feel like they can never recover.

Remember the GPA System?

It reminds me a bit of the whole GPA system in school. If you get a D in your first semester of classes, do you know how many years of classes it will take to get up anywhere near the top? We’re talking years, maybe even decades of classes to pull yourself up from too low of a start. And the emotional impact that coming up from behind has is really quite taxing.

I can give you a long list of teachers who are still struggling to get their fees into a reasonable ballpark that enables them to make a living.

Take Note and Deal with Insecurity

Please charge for what the service is worth at least. Find out what others are charging in your area and at least put yourself in the ballpark of those that appear business savvy.

For whatever reason, it seems that piano teachers struggle a bit more with insecurity than some professions. That’s another subject all together, but don’t let your self doubt keep you from making good business decisions.

And if you find yourself in the company of many teachers who know they need to raise their rates but know that it will be a steep increase, make a longterm plan for yourself. If you have a waiting list, by all means go ahead and make the big increase at once. But if you don’t have a waiting list and you need the income, then you might want to make your increase over a period of two years. There are many ways to do this, and the sooner you start making what you know your services are worth, the better you will feel…even if it means fewer students.

So what do you think? Do you agree that this is the worst advice anyone ever gets about piano teaching? If not, what do you think is the worst advice? Don’t forget that you can get posts like this one delivered right to your email if you sign up for the newsletter.

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3 thoughts on “The Worst Advice You’ll Ever Get About Piano Teaching”

  1. I’ve actually never heard that advice before but wow, it’s a pretty bad one. Haha.

    What this advice doesn’t realize is the fact that different price points attract different customers. Just imagine if Walmart raised its prices.

    Start too low and you end up attracting bargain hunters, parents who are very price conscious, and probably place piano lessons pretty far down their priorities. Look in your closet, do you value the dress you spent $100 on or the dress you bought for $10?

  2. Under charging is the worst! I’ve never done it, but I have friends who do. And it’s true what you say – they don’t seem to have the self-confidence to charge properly. But they are not just undervaluing themselves – they are undervaluing music. Charging appropriately is, in a way, bigger than the individual teacher. It can create a culture of lowered expectations in the community, although Kevin’s point is relevant as well. Charging appropriately means you will attract more committed students who bring with them proper expectations and respect for their lessons!

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