Simpedia

Felicity E., Australia

I have been teaching primarily private lessons, not groups, as I teach in schools. I have students who have a 45-minute and sometimes a 60-minute lesson. This is expected in the education sector.

I charge around the going rate for the area. I find 30 minutes can be a struggle once students are reading and over Level 5. Many probably disagree, but I’ve found that it’s not simple just following the curriculum and hoping everyone progresses as expected, especially once they are developing reading skills.

Another option is to do one or two private lessons with students each quarter if in groups to attempt to iron out any kinks. If in a small group you could offer one or two private lessons a term with a student to help them along, it would likely be a 30-minute private. I’ve done that and students love it, the one-on-one time and time to look at some tricky bits that take up more time than you want to give individually in the group. Not as lucrative as a group financially but it’s another option.

Jeanne W., Connecticut

My experience is like Felicity’s. Except for one group, I only teach private lessons, and only do 45 minutes from day one. They work into using the entire time very quickly, and I feel the time is needed to get through the streams and then teach reading well when it comes. For my group, I’m feeling I’m not serving them well now that they’re well info Foundation 4 and reading, so we’re talking about adding a private lesson on the side at least once a month.

Pat M., Canada

All of my Level 5 and up private students attend a 40-minute lesson, and my Level 5 groups have between 45 and 60 minutes depending on the number in the group. I have found that we can get to all the streams with a longer time.

Sherrie A., California

I had a teenager who was ready to go from the beginning! By Level 3 we had to increase the lesson time to an hour so he had enough to practice during the week. He kept every single song, variation, and arrangement alive. Because I was moving soon, I did not increase the tuition, but I think I would in the future because it was a lot of work to prepare for his lessons.

Stephen R., California

After a while it feels like I’m rushing to fit it all in in a half hour. Level 5 or 6 students and up have so much they’re covering. Considering the first 5 minutes is reconnecting, then playlist review, there’s just not enough time for advancing students.

Felicity E., Australia

I’ve found that too. Longer group lessons may be your answer. Most people know that once you get better at something, you usually have to increase the time to push ahead. I have an hourly rate and I calculate my lessons roughly off of that.

Georgia H., Australia

I’ve been thinking of doing workshops every month or so. I mainly have private students and think they would benefit from a focused group lesson on Accompaniment, Blues, reading, composition, etc. Separate invoice depending on how long. This way they get to meet other students and play, learn, and experience more about on stream together. I am thinking of a weekend afternoon outside my normal teaching times.

Laurie Richards, Nebraska

It’s so much easier with shared lessons, because the lesson is longer to begin with. As far as fitting in all the streams in later levels, there are lots of teacher resources available to help. I suggest searching Simpedia for ‘fitting it all in’ and ‘time management’. I think you’ll find some very helpful posts.