Music Lesson Studio Series – Part 3

How Much Should I Charge in Music Lessons?

In my last blog, I talked about determining time commitment of teaching private music lessons either part-time or full-time. Today, I’m going to be talking about how you can set up your own prices for hourly or half hour lessons.

Whether you have your own private music studio or a large music studio business, it’s very important to think about what price you will be offering lessons because you want to make your own income or profit. Or if you are a part-time instructor, maybe you just want have some extra cash on the side. At the same time, you also want to think about how much can students and their families can afford weekly lessons.

Here are some things to consider when setting a price for private lessons:

How Much Is Too Much?

Typically, many private instructors will charge anywhere from $20-$60 per hour. Although, it’s definitely possible to charge higher amount, if you have large studio business. Or if the area you live in has a pretty high cost of living, unfortunately, that may not be feasible to charge at a lower price. During the pandemic, everything was locked down, but classes and lessons were taught online. While teaching lessons online isn’t always ideal, it’s still possible to make a profit and it can be convenient for you and for your students.

According to Ensemble Music Schools, music lessons on average cost anywhere $64-$90 per hour.

Experience Level & Quality of Music Lessons

It depends on your years of experience in teaching and your musical experience. For example, you’re in your first year teaching music lessons, it would make the most sense to start out at a lower rate for a few years, until you build up enough experience. Overtime, you can gradually build up your hourly rate as you gain more and more experience.

Music lessons are essential! Music brings positive experiences and there are many benefits to music as we all know!

If you have an extra few minutes, take a look at this video below that explains how you can strategically raise your lesson prices.

Discounts & Price Options

Some private instructors may charge a consistent hourly rate or half hour rate per week or bi-weekly. Others might offer a range of prices depending on the age of the student.

Here are the prices that I currently offer on a part-time basis as an example:

       •     $20 for a half hour weekly = $80 per month

       •     $20 for a half hour bi-weekly = $40 per month

       •     $45 for a 1 hour bi-weekly = $180 per month

       •     $60 for 1 hour weekly =$240 per month

Here’s another helpful article on how you much you want to charge and what the average cost is.

Again, this is what I may charge when I open up my music studio again, but it will change overtime as I am teaching. The big takeaway is that every teacher will charge at different rates and pricing is subjective for everyone based on their own needs, experiences, quantity of time and quality music lessons as well.

I hope you found this article interesting and that it was helpful on setting your own music lesson price! If you have any comments or questions, drop them in the comments below. Want to read more of my blogs? Be sure to subscribe and stay tuned for more tips on running a music studio!

Photo by Josh Appel on Unsplash