So you want piano lessons or guitar lessons for your son or daughter – you live in Portland and go online to see what there is to offer. What are you going to come across?
1. National musician classified ad sites
These are sites where musicians pay to be listed as teachers. The giant machine of the company website ensures that they will receive some visibility when people search for say, piano lessons or guitar lessons in Portland Oregon. This is a completely hands free connection the company has with the musician, there is no guarantee that they will be a great person or even someone you want to meet. So these piano teachers or guitar teachers are from Portland, Vancouver, Gresham, Hilsboro etc, but the company is located in, say, San Diego CA. Total disconnect.
2. National or regional music lessons website
Again with these you are going to find music teachers who are hardly affiliated with the company they work for. TakeLessons.com is a great example of this. Huge, every city in the country, including portland, clackamas, vancouver, beaverton, lake oswego etc. They charge a ridiculous amount for lessons and pay the teachers a pittance. If I were to review takelessons.com I would give them a huge thumbs down, and many of the teachers who now are a part of the Musicality Network were badly burned by takelessons. For instance, takelessons will charge 60.00 for a lesson, and pay the teacher 15.00 or 17.00 for that lesson (In contrast to the 25% takelessons teachers receive, the Musicality Network pays it’s teachers 80% of the lesson cost), resulting in a huge profit for the company, which is completely detached and fulfills the function of swiping your credit card each month. This is a slick money making operation with a dubious cost scheme. Avoid.
3. Random people on Craigslist
This can get scary. Who is this person? Can you trust them? Maybe…they don’t have a picture up just a bunch of text saying all the bands they’ve played with…I wonder if they are the right person to teach my 7 year old daughter piano…hmm…probably not. On the other hand this other person doesn’t list their price…should I waste a phone call to find out how much they charge? Doesn’t seem too appealing…does this person have felonies I’m not aware of? How can I run a background check on this individual?
4. Local Academies/Music Schools
These are going to be brick and mortar locations (you have to drive there). They make you pay for many lessons ahead of time, typically a whole semester. They charge a lot for lessons, and they have a set curriculum they teach, and they hope you like it because that’s all they have to offer. Hopefully the teacher they assign to your kids gets along well with them and lessons go well. This option is better than takelessons or random Craigslist guy. But let me propose a better lessons solution for you.
The Musicality Network
Started in 2009 out of a desire to help get kids excited about learning music lessons on whatever instrument they play. Music lessons can be boring. They are often boring because the teacher is boring. Our motto at Musicality is: “Great People make Great Teachers”. What does this mean? It means that your child is not going to get excited about music if there’s no personal connection between them and their teacher. If they don’t enjoy the time they spend with the teacher, if the teacher can’t help them have fun, and enjoy learning, then lessons will be drudgery. We strive to avoid this problem.
Our teachers are pre-screened and background checked. You can see pictures of all of our teachers, and read short bios about each of them. See one you are interested in? Great! We’ll put you in touch! Not sure? We can recommend a teacher in your area.
Lessons start at just 25.00 each (half hour lessons when you purchase a ten pack). If the teacher comes to your home for lessons that’s an extra 5.00. So you could be paying just under 30.00 per lesson to have a teacher travel to your home and do lessons there. This is a great deal! Not only are you finding a trustworthy, friendly music teacher with great character, you are working with a local, Portland area company which treats it’s teachers right and pays them well. We pride ourselves on how much our teachers receive for lessons. Our teachers are worth it!
In conclusion, music lessons involves a relationship between you and your child and a teacher. Don’t make the mistake of guessing or taking chances – go with a reputable local company which is known for having the best quality instructors. Thanks for taking the time to read!
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