The Cost of Piano Lessons

Many people are concerned about the cost of piano lessons being prohibitively high. Although everyone is rightfully working to save money, there's value and good reasons for not seeking out the least expensive piano teacher you can find.

With piano lessons, paying more for better quality means avoiding bad habits and learning in an efficient manner. The odds of getting a good teacher are much higher too.

The professional studio with two pianos adds to lesson effectiveness. This means it takes less time to achieve a particular level and thus saves you money, time and frustration in the long run. Our goal at the Pasadena Piano Institute is to make high quality piano education available to as many who want it, as is possible.

Tuition for Young Children

Our non traditional individual piano lesson is a 15 minute lesson costing $20. It's well worth the cost because the younger children are, the faster their brains are growing. This early exposure to music is incredibly impactful on future music study. Music is a non verbal language and this is the age when children learn language the quickest.

It's rare for a child under 5 to be mature enough for a traditional piano lesson so we modify the lesson to suit the child. We incorporate singing, clapping and body movement to cover musical skills like note and rhythm identification, ear training and finger numbers. We have large manipulatives for symbol identification. Clapping rhythms, marching and improvising at the piano are also useful. It works best to let the child's interest and focus guide what skill or activity we work on next.

Another benefit of having a young child in an individual lesson is that when we spot a learning opportunity, we can modify the lesson immediately to suit the individual child who is ready to try something new. Leaps of forward progress are not uncommon. In a group class, the teacher can't stop for one student so many individual learning opportunities are lost.

The earlier a child experiences hearing, singing and moving to music, the more musical neurons they will have grown which will help them in later years. We think it's so important to start as early as possible that we "go out of our way" to create a positive and educational experience for very young children.

15 minutes is a typical amount of attention span but we often find we can keep them interested for over 30minutes. For tuition purposes we call it a 15 minute lesson but with very young children their attention span is often unpredictable. More on their good days, less on a bad day. We don't charge extra when we go over 15 minutes and we will stop early if a child is having a bad day. When the time is right and the child is comfortable and consistent with 30 minutes we will increase the tuition.

Tuition for More Mature Children and Adults

Students improve faster when they have more contact time with an accomplished teacher. The traditional 60 minute lesson once each week is the "gold standard". and most effective amount of time. The tuition for a 60 minute lesson is $80.

We have found that maximum progress can be achieved when a student also has a chance to play with other musicians.

The Weekly Deal

To encourage people to choose a 60 minute lesson and participate on a team we have created the following weekly deal. We offer the traditional 60 minute lesson plus a team rehearsal, once each week for the same amount of $80.  

Button: Discover What Team Piano Is

Payment Terms

Whether you are taking a 15, 30 or 60 minute lesson we expect tuition to be paid in advance for the entire month. For example, you would pay for the next month at the last lesson of the previous month. Books are an added cost. There is no contract or minimum number of individual lessons required. Payment can be made by cash, check or Pay Pal.

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