How Much???

I have on occasion had enquiries where the enquirer has questioned my price.

Let me just break down where I am in terms of what the cost covers.

Firstly the MU suggests that I actually charge £34 ph. I don't, I'm £30 which is about 10% cheaper than the average music teacher, not including those in London who charge London weighted amounts.

Now to what you are getting.

I have a fellowship and BA Hons in Music Performance. Let's just consider what a Degree and a Masters level qualification cost. £27K for a Degree and £6k for a Masters on top. A very select few have a Fellowship from The London College of Music in electric Guitar, so already there is scarcity value to what you are accessing.

Next, I have a dedicated location that I teach from, situated in a part of the city that has easy motorway access for those travelling from out of City. It's heated, lit and has usual facilities. Full public liability insurance. A computer system loaded with guitar related materials.

Students get to use the latest sound equipment, amp modellers. for those that can't bring guitars, I have many top pro level instruments that they have access to. Students often ask what the difference between a Les Paul and Strat or other top level instruments... well they get to try and find out for themselves. Those wanting to know the difference between different types of effects, I have them all.

On top of that I have state of the art webcam and Microphones for those using Skype to access me from farther afield and fibre optic internet to offer the highest streaming speeds.

Get to the lessons, I have 1000's of backing tracks, and 10's of 1000's of pieces of sheet music that can be printed out via Laser printer. The latest versions of music writing software to provide all the ancillary materials to help with learning. I also have all the syllabuses for the grade systems, across the 3 exam boards. The average grade book costs about £15. Each board does 8 grades across electric, acoustic and bass. I'll let you work out what that little lot amounts to ... ( it's over a grand) Most exam boards renew their syllabuses every 3-4 years.

Physicially you get access to a lot of stuff.

Add to that 35 years experience of being a guitarist. 3500+ gigs around the world from pubs to arenas. Recording experience and industry knowledge.

There are 'name' guitarists who lack teaching experience who will offer you skype lessons from their laptops from wherever they are on tour at present for over £100 an hour. I think my rate is pretty good value when it is broken down as above :)

cheers.