Price of lessons & instruments
Lately, I’ve been getting emails with questions and concerns from both parents and potential students about learning instruments. They have some valid points to make:
- There are “hidden” costs.
Well, sort of. The “hidden” part of things only seems to come into play if you don’t do your research and discover what’s entailed in owning an instrument. For instance, a lot of “average” people don’t know that a piano needs to be tuned two to three times a year and that it costs about $100 each visit. Any one who hasn’t been in and gets into the Violin family swifty discovers that you have to repace your strings a couple times a year. Depending on the member of the Violin family you choose, this could translate into $30-$400! Even the flute is not without it’s “hidden” costs. There are pads beneath the buttons that need to be replaced so they don’t harden up and make you sound squeeky. It’s not a wonder that the schools think they need to drop music from the curriculum. Even aside from all that, there’s always books, music stands, cases, benches, rosin, reeds… The list never seems to end! But, I’ll tell you, it’s worth it in the end.
Just keep going and find the most inexpensive solution you can to your “hidden” stuff. - You never know if you have a good teacher.
I’ve been struggling with this one, myself. A good rule of thumb (from my hard-learned school-of-tennis-elbow-knocks) is to find an instructor who PLAYS the instrument you want to learn. If they don’t play it, they don’t know the best ways to avoid hurting your body as you learn.
- It’s expensive to begin with.
Yes. It is. My initial investment (for inexpensive instruments) is: $300 ‘cello, $400 piano, $1500 ‘cello, $1200 bow, $1000 bow, and $200 bow. For instructors, I take care of the bill of myself, D, and D2. I lay out $220 a month for them to have 1/2 hour lessons and myself to get a full hour lesson.
- It’s expensive upkeep!
This is something I’m just discovering myself. LOL! It goes back to the “hidden” costs. New strings, tuning, new bridge, new bow, rehair of bows, new tailpiece, different rosin, cleaning solutions… Again, the list just never seems to end. (And that list was just for a ‘cello!)
- There’s little documentation to find out what a “good” instrument is.
Too true. I don’t know what to do about this, as I’m still trying to figure this one out. It seems that price has little to do with the quality/playability of an instrument. Museums pay millions of dollars for an unplayable Stradavarius violin. I don’t really get that - if it doesn’t play, how can it be worth anything at all?? I went for the lower-end instruments just because I’ve got kids learning on them and I wanted to make sure they were serious about learning before I spent an arm and a leg on a better sounding instrument. That - how it sounds to you, by the way, seems to be the biggest piece of this puzzle. If it sounds great to you and you like it, then just pay for it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a cheapy or if it’s $30k.
- Ebay stores rip you off.
This one, I have to disagree with. It’s always been a buyer beware kind of place and EBay does it’s best to correct problems of “e-theft.” I purchased both my own and D’s first ‘celli from Store4Strings out there, paid $350 (including shipping) and got a whole setup. I figured that a Chinese ‘cello was going to make little to no difference to me, considering I didn’t know how to play anyway and wasn’t sure if I really *did* want to play. EBay stores, in my opinion, are great places to buy “test” equipment from. Then, when you decide you really do want to continue, you’ve got something you can sell again (craigslist.com) so you’re really not loosing anything at all!
- What’s the difference between learning methods?
Hmm. Can’t help with this one. I don’t know what the different methods are about in the first place! I’m learning the Dotzsaur/Shroeder method, but that means very little to me, other than those are the authors/composers of the books I’m learning from. I think the different methods teach the hand movements in different ways. I also think that one method can be easy for one person but difficult for the next. I’d talk to my instructor, personally, to find out why s/he chose the method they did.
- Why would I want to learn the Suzuki method?
Again, no clue. From what I’ve read/heard, the Suzuki method is *very* good at teaching the body movements but leaves much to be desired in the creativity section of learning an instrument. It would be pretty crummy, I think, to be able to play beautiful music but never come up with any of my own!
- My parents are always after me to practice. They just don’t know what it’s all about!
Where it’s probably true that parents don’t know what it’s all about (school, homework, chores, practice, sports, friends, yadda, yadda), Look at my previous comments in this list to see WHY they’re so concerned that you are learning your instrument. They’re just trying to give you the best they can and, probably, it’s something they themselves want to learn. You might try teaching THEM what you know! That way, you can pester them back about practicing your instrument. ::grins::
- Can I just rent an instrument?
Yes. In most places, you can. A word of advice though: Purchase the insurance that they offer! It’s sort of like buying insurance on your car. No one is worried about what you’re going to do to the instrument - it’s what other people/animals/elements might accidentally do. I think that quite a few places also will offer a deal where you the money you spend on renting for a year will be applied toward the purchase of an instrument in their shop. This is good, but also bad because it limits you to their shop. I like options. I just purchased a cheap setup ($350), tried it for 6 months, then sold it for the same price I paid for it and purchased the one I currently have from a friend for $1500.
I hope I helped someone out with this list of questions and answers! They were all the same kinds of questions I had to begin with. Not knowing what, how, when, why, or from whom to purchase is as scary as actually making the investment to purchase! It doesn’t have to be, though. Start out cheap (rent one or buy a cheap one), find out what’s important about your instrument and get the answers you don’t currently have, THEN buy one that you’ll keep for a few years. Happy notes!