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A tuba is worth what someone willing to pay.
The same is true for a lesson.

I just think Phil Meyers should stop charging that.

Well not charging that, but I think that people should stop paying him.

A good point was brought up here: Will you get $400 worth out of the lesson? If you're not going to put $500 worth of effort into absorbing everything you're being taught in that lesson, then you're not getting your money's worth. However, if you are able to gain and build on what you take out of that $400 lesson, than it was worth it. Personally, I've got a long way to go on the tuba. I wouldn't dare pay $400 for a lesson... no sir... I'm lazy, inconsistent, and need to practice. SO... I can get a lot out of a $50 at this time in my life. One day down the road if I were planning to pursue a career in performance, I damn well hope I could get up to needing a $400 lesson.

my two cents...

$400 lesson. To this I simply say:
"Don't hate the player....hate the game"

If these guys get the price that they ask, fine. If their market group supports them, then they are making enough people happy to be worth the money.
If I were younger with better learning potential, I might use a teacher of this magnitude. I would first research him and his students to convince myself that this is a smart move. Don't mind paying if I get lots-o-bang for my buck.

Doc wrote: Do you want cheap horse-piss beer and shitty tubas, or do you want great beer and the best tubas? There's a lot of ground inbetween, but if you want the best, it's usually going to cost more. That's reality.

I'll pay for good beer, but a lot of jug wine tastes better to me than the high-priced brands. Guess that makes me unsophisticated--either that, or some oenophiles are just afraid to admit the same thing.

$400 lesson. Is TO teaching tuba now, too!?

Have you taken a lesson with a top 5 principal tuba player recently?

??

Scooby Tuba wrote:Phil Myers charges that to discourage people from haranguing him for lessons (which he doesn't particularly enjoy teaching).

That was my first guess too. It's saying 'no' without actually saying 'no.'

It's simple economics people. Supply and Demand Graph yo.

There's some curve that I would rather not even considering figure out which explains the correlation between the price of lessons and the number of people willing to pay that price for those lessons. The curve is downward sloping (aka as the price of a lesson increases, the demand for those lessons decrease).

Now, lets say he wants only teach a certain number of lessons, that translates to the graph containing a supply curve which is actually a horizontal line. No matter how much he charges for lessons, he will still supply that many lessons. You simply look at the graph and see where the demand curve and the supply curve intersect, and you get the appropriate price that he should charge. If he supplies less, the price increases, if he supplies more, the price decreases.

Econ 103 baby.

Ron,
I would happily pay you $50 for an hour lesson.
Respek!

I also ONLY teach lessons that are two hours long; that's it, 'cept the rate is less than qouted.

Also, if I had as many students coming to me as Joe and Phil, I would charge MUCH more than them!!!!! (Props to those who manage their time effectively.)


CJH

Is there any way to factor in the cost of living? I know in Silicon Valley the prices are jacked up pretty high and so for the privately teaching tubist to live, the price would be high.

I believe Jeff Anderson of SFSO is charging $200 as well. I also heard that some 14 year old kid or whatever's parents thinks their kid's a prodigy and makin him/her get lessons from Jeff Anderson.

High lesson prices by major symphony players has been going on for years and it is not just in New York. Yes, it is supply and demand but look at who is paying these prices. Is it the regular students? No, they are covered through their schools. If they come back for a refresher lesson, I really doubt if they will be charcged the full rate.

There are students who take a lesson or two from these guys so they can write on their resume "studied with _____ and _____ and _____ ." These are the people that get major players ticked off. There are those who claim to be students of them but they don't remember the day they passed through their studio. This has been going on for years, it really cannot be stopped. Making them pay a high price for the lesson keeps the number of these people down.

Hey
FWIW,
Chris Hall's lessons are somewhere in that ballpark ($$) , but they are usually 2 hrs+ and he will only give you lessons every other week (so you have time to absorb the info and to give you time to practice to make the changes) and IMHO worth the money. You figure, if you had one every week at $75 for an hour vs. a 2+ hr every other week for $150, it works out to be the same. I learned a bunch from Chris and am glad I had a chance to take some lessons from him.

tuben wrote:My question is not to the value of a $400 lesson from anyone, but what is the return on that investment. Can a $400 lesson with Alessi really reap more rewards than four $100 lessons with someone the caliber of Dave Zerkel? (note: I don't know what Mr Zerkel charges, just using for comparison)

For $400, you could get 10 lessons from me. If I teach a two hour lesson, the rate goes up to $60.

Dave "who doesn't think his time is worth a dollar a minute" Zerkel

David Zerkel wrote:

tuben wrote:My question is not to the value of a $400 lesson from anyone, but what is the return on that investment. Can a $400 lesson with Alessi really reap more rewards than four $100 lessons with someone the caliber of Dave Zerkel? (note: I don't know what Mr Zerkel charges, just using for comparison)

For $400, you could get 10 lessons from me. If I teach a two hour lesson, the rate goes up to $60.

Dave "who doesn't think his time is worth a dollar a minute" Zerkel

I'd argue that point, even though I only had one lesson with you before my time in Atlanta ended.

Along the lines of "everyone would go to them for a lesson if it was cheaper," the fact that these guys charge so much is almost a favor to everyone else in the area who is trying to keep a private studio. Many young kids take lessons for say $25 an hour with a local college kid or a young pro who's just starting out. How fair to them would it be if the major orchestral player charged the same amount? We wouldn't get any students. So it's a favor to themselves to keep the demand on them down, but it's also a favor to anyone else trying to teach because it keeps us in business.

Tim Ayer

tuben wrote:

David Zerkel wrote: For $400, you could get 10 lessons from me. If I teach a two hour lesson, the rate goes up to $60.

Dave "who doesn't think his time is worth a dollar a minute" Zerkel

****, at those prices I'll bring the beer!!!!

You'll be seeing me soon!

Robert I. Coulter

One of the most underrated teachers/players we have in our industry, IMO.

Hmm...$400....Well, if you're a young player with alot of money Ron's a fantastic player with alot of knowledge that you're not gonna find anywhere else!

I say, go for it! You'll definitely learn.