Posted by Alan Herold on June 27, 2003 at 16:33:02:
In Reply to: How much do you charge for tuba lessons? posted by Jeremy Williams on June 27, 2003 at 11:32:07:
I spent 5 years at Ft. McPherson in Atlanta and charged $15.00. The going rate at the music stores was $17.00! I thought that was a bit high for middle school kids in an economically diverse area... especially when they are encouraged to pay by the month. If you charge that $17 by the month (like they do), you end up charging $68-$85 a pop. I know that many parents found that figure to be intimidating, but when charged "only" $15.00 per lesson, they had no problem with that (even though it came out to $60-$75 a month!).
You may have had low interest because you charged too little. Go back and charge $12-$13 per half hour, and then you are still undercutting the competition while charging an amount that a serious (quality) teacher would charge.
Do clinics at local schools to drum up business. Expand your offerings to euph too. Don't be afraid to take beginners! You'll end up learning a lot too. Take a couple beginner trumpet students... that's where I made most of my money when I started in ATL. After my name got out to a few directors, I got more low brass guys.