It is common for children nowadays to attend piano lessons weekly because it is what many would consider a necessary skill. However, it does not come without a price tag. How much does it really cost for your child to attain a Grade 8?
Piano Lessons
Suppose that it takes one year to get to the next grade. Weekly private lessons for beginners cost about $40 and increases as your child moves on to higher grades. Considering this, the average cost of your weekly sessions will be about $55. This means that the cost of piano lessons will set you back by:
52 weeks x 8 years x $50 = $22 880
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Buying a Piano
Getting a piano is vital if your child is serious about learning how to play it. Without one, he or she will be unable to get ample self-practice. A new upright piano will cost at least $7000, while a second-hand one is at least $3000.
Exams
The ABRSM Grade 1 practical exam costs $185 and gets more expensive as the difficulty increases, with the Grade 8 practical exam costing $480. Meanwhile, the theory exams cost from $105 for Grade 1 to $195 for Grade 8. Taking every exam once will cost $3640.
| Piano Lessons | $22880 |
| New Piano | $7000 |
| Exams | $3640 |
| Total Price | $33520 |
The cost of getting your child to learn how to play the piano can accumulate to about $33520 in eight years or $4190 per year. Adding to it is the time your child has to spend on getting adequate practice, and the effort you have to put into chaperone your child.
With all these in mind, it will pay to find out if your child is truly interested in learning the piano first before purchasing one and committing to private lessons. An alternative is to enrol your child in a group class for beginners as it is a less expensive way of gauging your child’s interest. Yamaha’s beginner piano course for children costs $385.20 for 11 lessons over three months.
| Type of Piano Lesson | Cost per Year |
| Private | $2080 |
| Group | $1540.80 |
Comparing the two types of piano lessons, the group option is definitely more affordable.
Despite the high price tag, being able to play the piano well is definitely an asset – you can easily earn $30 per hour by teaching others to play the piano! This means that your child has the option to work part-time as a piano teacher in future. Even with only one student, that’s already $1560 per year. Of course, the main purpose of learning how to play the piano is definitely not to “recuperate your loss”.
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