Back to School!
by Alison Lund on 09/05/12
Another September, another crop of fresh young minds to subject to my pedagogical experiments. So far, so good: everyone has accomplished not only the laudable feat of not forgetting anything, but more to the point have figured out some new things for themselves. Yes, dear reader, there has been much voluntary composing and general playing of the piano in my absence. This warms the cockles of my piano teacher heart in ways that almost compensate for the sad reality that piano teachers do not in fact get paid over the summer months while their students are off frolicking on vacation.
Which brings me to the delicate subject of tuition fees. Most parents appreciate the massive bang for their buck they receive for $60/hour. However there is always at least one newcomer who, with varying degrees of subtlety (or not), questions why exactly it is I charge what I do This is a question with many social and personal ramifications for many, many future blogs.
For now, let it just be noted that I have been studying and practicing my craft for 32 of my 38 years. I choose to be a teacher because it is my vocation, and I do not begrudge a cent of it. However: there is no health insurance, paid vacation or sick days, retirement schemes, etc. There is barely even a union and there certainly isn't any enforced trade wage.
Because pretty much all my students go to school, my billable hours are a whopping 4 hours a day, and because they have a school vacation calendar, full time teaching is limited to 9-10 months of the year. $60/hour really doesn't go very far.
If you keep in mind that music schools do of course take at least a 50% cut, those teachers who work for them are making half as much with the same restrictions of billable hours and lack of benefits. Almost every professional musician I know is extremely intelligent and could be a doctor or a lawyer or a baker or a candlestick maker if they so chose. However, we are musicians, and your money is paying for what money can't actually buy: talent.
We are more than happy to share it. That is what we do. But please be aware that it is at a personal cost that $60/hour cannot even begin to approximate.
