My favorite way to teach piano to beginners is 40-minute lessons.
Here’s why you should try 40-minute lessons and how to price them.
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I Started Teaching 40-minute Lessons By Accident
Here’s the tale of how 40-minute lessons became my go-to piano lesson length.
It all started by accident years ago. I didn’t raise my prices for the longest time, and when it was time to upgrade my lesson rates, I noticed that my 30-minute lessons and my 45-minute lessons were disproportionately priced.
In order to correct this wrong without overwhelming the 45-minute students, I actually decided to reduce the time from 45 minutes to 40 minutes so I only had to increase their rate a little bit.
Long story short, the 40-minute thing stuck.
Why Not 45-minute Lessons?
Most piano teachers you talk to will agree that 30-minute lessons are not ideal. Like it or not, we all do them. But you might be thinking, “Why not 45-minute lessons though? Why 40-minute lessons?”
Fair enough question!
There’s nothing wrong with 45-minute lessons. I did use to teach 45-minute lessons and they’re great. I have nothing against them.
But for some reason, I find that 40 minutes is just perfect. Those last 5 minutes of the 45-minute lesson, you can start to lose them a little bit. 40 minutes is just right.
Are 40-minute Lessons Trickier to Schedule?
I have found that blocking my schedule in 20-minute increments rather than 15-minute increments is just as easy.
Also, if you do 40-minute lessons you can schedule yourself a little 5-minute break and then start on the next quarter-hour. Just another option.
You can offer 40-minute lessons for slightly less than 45-minute lessons, which may give your studio a little competitive edge.
But perhaps the biggest pull to 40-minute lessons versus 45-minute lessons is that I now have the option for my students to take:
- 30-minute lessons,
- 40-minute lessons,
- 50-minute lessons, or
- 60-minute lessons.
You see, that jump from either 40- or 45-minute lessons to 60-minute lessons is a lot of extra time. But 50-minute lessons can be just right for my intermediate students. So I like having that extra option.
Still Just Teaching 30-minute Lessons?
Now if you’re thinking, “Wow I only teach 30-minute lessons. I haven’t considered 40- or 45-minute lessons!” I hear you.
For years and years I only taught 30-minute lessons. It’s kind of the norm. It’s like the entry level point. It’s the usual.
But this is one of the reasons I started my own studio 10 years ago after working in a music store for years. I wanted the flexibility to not have to do just 30-minute blocks.
If you’re only doing 30-minute private lessons right now, I encourage you to do a little experimenting, perhaps in the summer when you have a little more flexible schedule.
Benefits of 40-minute Lessons (Or Longer Lessons in General)
Here are some of the benefits of extending your lesson from 30 minutes to 40 minutes.
1. Laid-back Lessons
The lesson itself feels a little more laid-back with 40-minute lessons.
You’re not feeling like, “I have to get these four books in–Technique, Theory, Lesson, Performance! We have to get it all in!” You’re automatically a little more chilled because you have that little buffer of time in 40-minute lessons.
2. Time for Warm-ups
I always have time to actually hear my student play their warm-up, which I think is really invaluable and sometimes tempting to skip over if you only have 30 minutes.
3. Time for Theory
In 40-minute lessons (or longer), we have time for theory.
We have time to talk about theory. We have time to do theory, correct theory…talk theory!
In my 30-minute lessons, theory sometimes goes by the wayside much to the detriment of the student’s understanding of new concepts that are being introduced in the Lesson book.
4. Additional Project
40-minute lessons versus 30-minute lessons warrants an additional project.
Whether it be the student…
- starting to improvise,
- tackling a new genre they’ve never played before,
- having another supplemental book,
- working towards a festival competition or recital,
- working on that big classical piece they’ve always been dreaming of playing,
- working on a composition project, etc.
In the longer lesson, we have time to do the core things that they’re going to need to up-level. Plus, we have the time to do that extra thing that really lights them up.
5. Higher Income With Less Work
And the final benefit for longer lessons is: it’s a higher income for me as the teacher with having less students.
Because as we all know, whenever you’re planning a recital, or trying to do scheduling, doing admin work…the more students you have, the more work outside of the lessons.
If you can make your desired income with a smaller roster of students, you’re able to really invest emotionally, mentally and time-wise into those students.
You’re going to be making a little bit more money with less students.
How Much Should I Charge for 40-minute Piano Lessons?
So how do we price 40-minute lessons? Don’t overcomplicated it!
Here’s what I do:
- I take my 30 minute tuition price and I figure out the per-minute rate. Example: If your 30-minute lessons are charged at $30, your per-minute rate is $1.
- Then I multiply that number by 40. Example: If your per-minute rate is $1, your 40-minute lessons will be charged at $40.
So my 30-minute lessons and my 40-minute lessons are usually the same (or very close) per-minute rate. And then if I need to adjust the monthly tuition for the 40-minute students so that it’s a round number, I will do that.
Usually I give them a tiny bit of a discount but not much. It’s basically the same permanent rate as the 30-minute students.
More Guidance on Pricing Piano Lessons
