Here's a little about me, my process and my commitment to my students, which includes pricing. No prior experience is needed.
In this fast moving and complex world I am absolutely certain music is a deep source of inspiration and a positive outlet for coping with this new world. Music continues to light a fire to overcome my own trials. As a result I love sharing my passion for music with kids and adults in order to instill in them the same inspiration to cherish our victories and overcome our challenges.
First two lessons are $40 an hour to see if it's a fit and if there's a real commitment. After that I show my parents/students everything that comes with my commitment to each of my students.
1. I figure out their interest/motivation for wanting to learn guitar or piano. (Hobby, life long desire, sing and play songs with family, want to learn basics to write their own songs, want to be able to play songs by a favorite artist or just exploratory.)
2. From that I prepare materials for the first lesson. If they want to play one of their favorite songs I write it up and figure out the musical end of it. Then, I make accommodations, so they can be successful by simplifying the musical notation or chords etc....
3. Using the information I've gathered from the first lesson we decide what would be best to work on before the next lesson. This looks very different for different students. I always strive to be as efficient and as innovative as possible so that the service has the most value possible. There's an urgency there because you are spending your hard earned money.
4. I think about the lesson for a day or two and then send video tutorials that review what we learned to reinforce their learning. I always get tremendous feedback regarding the videos clearly explaining and being helpful. 5. I alter different resources, so they are customized to my students needs and ability and then send the material as a PDF. If students don't have printers or a big cpu screen to look at the material I print it out and have it ready the following lesson.
5. I taught public school for 20 years so I'm naturally patient, encouraging, know how to keep an excellent rapport and enjoy helping people learn. The music schools "Academies" charge anywhere from $76 an hour to $120. After the first two lessons I charge $60 an hour. If there's a real commitment and money is a real issue I always work with people who are committed, and show up regularly or are flexible in insuring that we do 4 lessons each month. I have a 24 hour cancellation policy and a required commitment to be flexible in maintaining that we do 4 lessons per month. I can't sustain myself without this commitment, but I'm very very flexible as well in making or finding time to make up a lesson because things do come up causing us to miss.
Gratefully,
Matthew Law