Now that you have decided to learn the violin, you will need to do some budgeting for affordable violin lessons. Before you decide on this, you need to understand what factors are involved in determining the fees for such lessons. Let me go through these here:
The qualifications of the music teacher. Music teachers can have a wide range of qualifications. These range from a basic grade 8 qualifications from an accredited world recognized music exam board (such as the Associate Board of Royal Schools of Music ABRSM, Trinity College London, Australian Music Exam Board AMED), Diploma music qualifications, to Bachelor’s of Music qualifications from any music conservatory around the world. Some teachers have Masters degree qualifications. Suffice to say that the higher the qualifications, the higher the lesson fee.
A professional level teacher commands a higher fee. By definition, this would be someone who has made a career from performing professionally as a violinist, and have years of teaching experience. For example, a violinist from the Singapore Symphony Orchestra would be able to impart flawless violin techniques and performance direction. The energy level during lessons will be much elevated accordingly.
The teaching experience of the teacher. Junior level teachers would have less than two years of experience, normal level teachers between three to five years of experience. Senior level teachers with decades of experience command a higher fee for private violin lessons as they know how to coach effectively, any type of violin student from any age group. During their teaching career, such experienced senior violin teachers would have taught thousands of students. As such they know which method to use depending on how the student learns music.
Full time coach versus part time teacher. A teacher who makes it his (or her) career as a full time music teacher, commands a higher fee versus a part time coach. Part time teachers may have other full time commitment — they could have a full time job or could be completing their higher level academic qualifications. So their fees may be lower.
Is the student beginner, intermediate or advance level? Beginner level private violin lessons are lower comparatively. Some teachers charge a flat fee based on the duration of lesson. For this situation, the fee may be fixed for forty five minute versus sixty minute lessons. But the teacher will mandate that the student go for one hour lesson once grade five level is attained. Other teachers employ a stepped up level fee according to grades.
The location of the lesson. If the music lesson is located at the teacher’s studio, the fees will be lower since the teacher will not need to spend time travelling to the student’s location for lessons. The distance between the teacher and student’s place also make a difference too. If a teacher needs to travel an hour to a student’s place for lesson, the fees would be higher to account for time and travel costs. In addition, if the lesson is arranged at a music studio, then the student will need to factor in the rental costs of the studio. For affordable violin lesson, you may wish to consider going to the teacher’s location or a music school for lessons.
Private violin lessons versus group violin lesson. The fee for the former will be higher as compared to the latter. However, don’t expect the lesson fee to be half of that for a group of two students, versus one to one lesson. Usually, expect to pay seventy percent of the fee for one to one coaching, if there are two students in a class. If the group is bigger, the lesson fee per student will be lower. Do note that there is a trade off in the pace of the lesson as well as the quality of the attention from the teacher, if you decide to enrol in group classes.
Check out Stradivari Strings for affordable violin lessons. Contact us at +65-98137769 to find out more about the range of teachers available. Chat with us to find out more in terms of locations as well as lesson scheduling. We can arrange lessons either at your home, our teacher’s studio or at our music studio at Sultan Plaza.
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