One of the biggest concerns I hear from parents with multiple children wanting to learn music, is that they simply cannot afford the cost and therefore, have to make really hard decisions. 

They either do not provide piano lessons for any of the kids in order to be fair, or they just pick and choose one or two kids at the expense of the others. 

None of these decisions are made lightly by any parent, and I think it can be really heart breaking and unfair. 

So in this post I decided to address this issue by giving you some really innovative, yet easy to implement ideas to make private music lessons for a large family more affordable. 

Here they are.

Focus On One Instrument

Yes, this is a big one. instead of having each child learn a different instrument, try to have all kids learn one instrument, like the piano or the guitar.

This has multiple advantages, like being able to have one music teacher for all the kids, and having to only invest in one instrument (thus giving you the opportunity to save on the cost while also being able to invest in a higher quality instrument). 

Also being able to share materials like music books etc, thus reducing the cost again. 

Get A Head Start With Online Music Lessons

This is very important. 

As you know, online music lessons can be very inexpensive when compared to private one on one music lessons. 

So why not get a head start with online music lessons first, learn the basics and then move on to private one on one lessons. 

For instance learning to read music notes and play the piano can take you up to six months in some cases, and even with all that, kids may still not be sure how to read music notes accurately, so why not take my Read Music Notes and Play Piano in 5 Days course (this course is absolutely FREE) first and then move on to private piano lessons?

With online courses, often you just make a one time payment and the entire family can learn at once or at different times, can you imagine the culminating savings you will be making with such a strategy?

Want to know other music courses your kids can try out to get a head start with other instruments? Read my post on 5 Best Elementary Music Courses For Kids. 

Buy Second Hand Instruments

Yes, this is another big one. 

Instead of buying brand new instruments for your children, why not buy them second hand or rent them, or source them for free? 

Don’t know how to source them for free? Or where to rent them? Then read the following posts and find out, 9 ‘No Fail’ Ways To Fill Your Homeschool With Musical Instruments, and Desperate To Learn To Piano, But No Piano/Keyboard At Home?

Buying second hand instruments also have the added advantage of letting you sell the instruments at approximately the same price that you purchased it for, if your kids change their minds and don’t want to learn that specific instrument anymore. 

Share Materials

Having kids share the same materials and resources, can also be a huge cost saver. 

Another idea is to have younger kids, use the same books that were used by the older kids, again saving you a ton in terms of costs.

Ask For Family Discount

If you can have one teacher or you go to one specific music studio, then ask for a family discount because you have multiple children working with the same teacher or learning from the same studio. 

Also scheduling all the music classes together on the same day can work out to a significant cost saving for you, if you transport the kids to and from music lessons. 

On the other hand, if your music teacher visits you at home, scheduling all the kids back to back will help the music teacher save on transportation costs, which he/she can then pass along to you. 

Have Older Kids Help Younger Kids

Sometimes, having older kids who learn music, teach their siblings at the start can be a very good idea. 

This will help the older siblings to retain what they learn and help you save on music class costs. 

However, things to keep in mind are, the older siblings should be proficient and actually know what they are teaching the younger sibling, they should also be patient and willing and be forced into it. 

Practice, Practice, Practice

This goes without saying. 

Children who don’t practice piano or any musical instrument regularly, take a much longer time to master the instrument and thereby increase the overall cost of music lessons over a lifetime. 

On the other hand, kids who practice are able to move ahead with lessons faster and master the instrument sooner, so it goes without saying that practice is ultra important. 

Do your kids hate practice? Read these posts, and learn how you can have them begging for more. 

9 ‘No Fail’ Tricks For Happy Practice With Multiple Ages, 

3 ‘Absolute Must Know’ Tricks To Have Your Kids Begging For More Piano Practice, 

5 ‘No Fail’ Ways To Make Piano Practice Fun.

Supplement Learning With Online Courses

Besides being a great primer, online courses can also be a fantastic supplement to ongoing music lessons. Why not check out my 1 year Homeschool Piano Curriculum and have your kids use it concurrently with their existing piano lessons, so they get ahead faster? 

With my course your children will not only learn to sight read music notes, they will also learn composition, music theory, history of music, develop their musical ear and learn rhythm and beat, all while expanding their repertoire of songs. 

Group Classes

Instead of insisting on one on one music lessons, look for group options where two or more kids can learn together. 

Pairing up the kids will help you reduce the cost, because the time spent by the teacher can be reduced. 

If you don’t have kids that can be easily grouped together or paired up, look for kids in the neighbourhood, or homeschool co-op or the local church group, who may be a good fit with your child/children for group classes. 

Double Up On Time

This is another great way to reduce the cost of music lessons for your children. 

Instead of having one 30 minute session per week, why not have a 45 minute session bi-weekly. Thus instead of paying $30 weekly you will only pay $45 bi-weekly.

Now, your question may be, will that be sufficient? 

Won’t my child/children miss out and fall back if they have bi-weekly classes, instead of weekly classes?

Not necessarily. Weekly classes or bi-weekly are very arbitrary in nature. If your children practice what they learn, then there is no reason why they can’t gain as much from bi-weekly classes when compared to weekly classes, while also saving you a ton of money. 

Barter Your Services

Now, with this one you have to be quite creative. 

Maybe you can barter some of your services, like babysitting or house cleaning or accounting and bookkeeping or even tutoring the music teacher’s kids, in exchange for him/her teaching your kids music. 

So what do you think? I would love to know if you have other ideas on how you can reduce the cost of music lessons for your family and which one of these ideas you are hoping to implement.