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Another big problem: This is a teachers' forum and most teachers here teach school-aged children, not adults. If we teach adults, it's an extra, not a primary source of income. Generally, we have completely different parameters for adults, recognizing that they have inflexible schedules, at times, and other obligations they cannot avoid. Adults, who are most welcomed here, still need to keep in mind that as students, they represent a very small fraction of piano students. Perhaps 1% or less.

Better teachers, even if forced by economic circumstances, to teach out of home studios, are going to operate professionally and in a business-like manner.

The thing that bugs me in these forums are these quick statements about what the attitude of students is supposed to be. Since nobody is a mind reader, it would be good for the attempt not to be made - about anyone, whether student or teacher.

I would have also liked to see professional reasoning, rather than economic reasoning. A professional will recommend certain things because it gives results. A dentist wants to see you twice a year in order to prevent cavities. She doesn't say "I need the steady income that your regular attendance gives me." Continual lessons for at least a year is needed for any real progress to happen. Why not say that, and demonstrate professional interest in your student's growth, which is probably your priority in the first place? I bet that teachers and non-teachers would be on the same page immediately. This strife is needless.

There you go again, quoting out of context.

[quote=keystring]

But there is also the economic reality in that to have any kind of financial stability - a teacher need to be able to rely on filling a number of hours each week with full paying students.


In addition to teaching music - I also work as a therapist in private practice. The reality is - I care deeply about my clients and about supporting them to do the work they need to do. But I also know that to continue in this work - I need to ensure that I see a certain number of clients per week - and if they fail to show up - then they need to pay for their sessions. Yes... the 'results' conversation would be that regular therapy is much better than dropping in and out... but I also have to talk about economic realities when chatting with other therapists... and that I care about my clients is assumed by those I'm chatting with.

You addressed this to me. (?)

Do you charge a termination fee if your client wants to see somebody else and wants to stop coming to you? If you wanted to use the argument that I've marked in bold at the beginning of your post in your own profession, then you would have to charge a termination fee (if you're defending this policy).

Failing to show up is a different matter altogether. That's a specific time reserved for them and you pay for a reservation, its as simple as that. So lets not confuse matters as people seem to be confused already by throwing about analogies that make no sense whatsoever.

LimeFriday - I was talking about teachers explaining their reality to clients, i.e. responding to those who are not music teachers. You do not explain to a client that you want them to commit to x months because you need the income. You explain to the client that it is for his benefit, and it must also be true. Shop talk is another matter.

No. It was primarily addressed to Liszt.

Thank you for a thoughtful and insightful post. Of course, music is our primary product, but the OP brought up the issue of what to do about leaves of absence and early departures. When I am teaching, I am totally focused on the student and their musicianship, not worrying about whether they are going to quit next month.

OK... in order to avoid confusing people... let me put it a different way. When I run a group program that runs for 6 months or a year - participants can pay the fee up front - or they can pay monthly. If they decide a few weeks into the program that they are going to drop out (for reasons other than ill health or family emergency) then yes - they pay a termination fee. It's part of what they agree to upfront. This might be because they decide that the program is not for them and they want to go elsewhere... see someone else.

My analogy is more about the number of clients/students being spoken about in economic terms... and putting in place various policies in order to maintain a viable living. No therapy clients wants to know about the economic realities of their therapist... and what seems to be going on here in part is an objection to students and families being exposed to these realities.

We are in total agreement about some things... but I think your arguments against a policy such as a termination fee is a denial of the economic reality that teachers running a business as their only source of income face.

It may be tough at first, but I strongly urge you to transition to some form of tuition plan, where students pay by the month, term, semester, year, or what ever. I have annual tuition, but students can opt to pay in monthly installments. They have X scheduled lessons through the year, at lesson times which are theirs alone. They can either take the lesson or skip the lesson. Monthly payments are ironed out to be flat rate through the year, although some months have 5 lessons, most have 4, and a few, like December, will have 3.

If students have a reason to quit prior to the end of the year, such as a family move, then they owe an early termination fee, which absolves them of paying the entire tuition.

I also have an annual enrollment fee, which covers a number of odds and ends, helps with the recital, tuning the studio instruments, etc, etc.

If they need to take a month off, all they need do is continue paying their tuition, and their lesson slot is held (obviously), but if they quit, pay the early termination fee, then come back two months later with a change of heart, I will work to fit them in, but under no circumstances can I make any guaranty that a particular lesson time will be available. And of course, they would be required to pay a new enrollment fee.

We've had many discussions on this, and you would enjoy/profit by going back through the archives and reading the many teachers' inputs.

keystring, I'm actually quite happy you "bring us back to reality" from time to time. It reminds me that it's important to emphasize to all that private piano teaching is more than just piano teaching. Teachers must be competent in three areas, unlike their public school or university counterparts, we are a stool with three legs - proficiency in our instrument, proficiency in teaching, and proficiency in running a sole proprietorship.

I think you can add a fourth leg to that stool: public relationship to the public at large. This is a tricky one, and I think most of us are ill equipped for it. People write forum posts hastily and make lots of assumptions. Posts that are local and personal come across as being global statements. Between the two we have a colossal mess. Do we decide to give others the benefit of the doubt, or are we naive fools ready to be taken for a ride? That fourth leg is a wobbly one. A statement about what constitutes low finances becomes a global statement about the world at large - which would be absurd. A position taken locally in your own area is seen as intransigent, hard headed and hard hearted, and applicable to everyone everywhere. What is meant, what is said, and how it is understood are three separate things.

In any case, I'm familiar with the scenario you describe as any freelancer is. We must be expert in our field, as well as needing to deal with the administrative financial side. As teachers you have it harder, because you have a relationship of trust and close interpersonal interaction in teaching, and then you also have to be the hard nosed financier. Usually a secretary or accountant takes care of that part.

It is also difficult to be good at a second occupation, which financing and administration are. I know that this is a weak area that you are trying to address. Doing so publicly can be pretty tricky business, fraught with misunderstanding, and maybe misapplication.

If I may say so, in regards to arguments about what colleges and other institutions do: I would think that looking at other freelance professionals might be closer to the mark. Private teachers are not massive institutions, and the job is individualized and flexible rather than an unwieldy mass program such as courses of studies for 30 to 300 students. I don't think that people can relate the two. Teaching has its own merits and its own priorities. In any argument about a year of tuition, I would think that the craft itself needs that amount of time. Can you really give a student enough if instruction is sporadic and only half a year? If not, then stating that a year is needed in order to get results is something that I think the non-teacher would find reasonable. Even if some stability and predictability are needed, that is probably what students would relate to

In regards to policies, I imagine that they are there in order to not be taken for a ride, and have something to reach for. I would hope (imagine) that if someone falls into dire straits and is not being frivolous, flexibility would appear. You are not institutions that are stuck by the laws they create.

Private teachers are not massive institutions, and the job is individualized and flexible rather than an unwieldy mass program such as courses of studies for 30 to 300 students.