Getting Paid

[Ike Harris]

Just curious how some of you other unsalaried guys make sure you get paid for lessons in a timely fashion. Haven't quite gotten that one right yet.

Ike

[Marc Piane]

I make my students prepay

[damonsmith]

I do market rate hours and severe discounts for the month - non-refundable, paid at the last lesson of the preceeding month or by the first by paypal or whatever.

[Staccato]

Guitar lessons are prepaid at a local school for the entire calendar month (or remaining lessons that month for a newbie).
Bass lessons are prepaid at a local store by the lesson, or month. Get paid ahead of the lesson!

[Mark Perna]

I haven't taught for awhile but I just took the money at the end of the lesson. I never really had a problem with that method.

mark

[Fletcher Lanning]

I'm not a BASS teacher but I'm a bass player who teaches voice. Unless I have some prior arrangement worked out (monthly rate, set bill date, etc.) I always expect to be paid in cash or check at the end of the lesson. Most people I've taken lessons from operate similarly.

[fergus currie]

Cash at the end is the norm. You can do deals like 10% discount if they pay all the months lessons upfront. But the key is to be flexible and treat the students wallet with as much respect as you can. If they can't make it this week ask them to bring it next week and pay before the lesson. If it goes any further drop them like a hot brick and don't look back - no legal stuff, just cut your losses. I have ended up giving some 'free' lessons this way but you get more respect from the ones that stay on!
FC

[Bassius]

Here's a copy of my studio policy etc. feel free to use it

Denson Angulo Bass Studio Policy list/contract.
Tuition: Lessons are $60/hour or $30/half hour and are paid for monthly ($240/$120/month). Payment for lessons is due on or before the first lesson of each cycle. If payment is late (week two etc) a $25 late fee will be assessed. To gain the most benefits of studying with me it is highly recommended that the student take a minimum of six months of lessons.

Lesson Attendance: Each student in the studio is entitled to four lessons each month, at the same time each week. If the student has legitimate reason to cancel the lesson and I am given at least 24 hours advance notice, the student and I will arrange a make-up lesson. If a student does not give me the required advance notice (barring extenuating circumstances: IE injury, disaster, etc) the lesson will be paid for and there will be no make-up lesson. If a student misses two consecutive lessons without contacting me, they will forfeit their lesson time to someone on the waiting list. No tuition refunds will ever be issued. In the event that I am unable to teach a lesson, I will return the same courtesy of 24 hours advance notice. In the event that there is a fifth lesson in a month, that lesson will be counted as a make-up lesson if it is required. If a make-up is not required, the lesson is optional upon student request. I ask that each student arrive five minutes prior to his/her scheduled lesson time. This will ensure that students will receive their full-allotted time. If a student is late, that is time that they have missed. I will not run any lesson past its scheduled time.

Make -up lessons: If one or more lessons are missed during a monthly cycle, make up lessons will be done on an availability-of-schedule basis. Regularly scheduled lesson times will not be used as make-ups. Make-up lessons can be scheduled whenever the student and I can meet. Credits toward proceeding months will no longer be issued. Lessons are payed each month at the beginning of the month. Example: In March, a student misses one lesson at the end of the month, April will be paid for in full and the student will receive five lessons that month, four from April and one from March. The make-up lesson is scheduled at an alternate and convenient time.

Practicing: Practicing is vital in the development of any skill, especially music. Practice may include anything that contributes to the learning of the bass. For example: listening to bassist, practicing scales, researching the history of pieces, listening to jazz, focusing on new techniques during ensembles, etc. I will ask each student to report his/her practice time each week. Students who do not practice will be warned, then if the problem persists, they will be required to give up their lesson time to someone on the waiting list. No refunds will be issued.

Discontinuance of lessons: If there is need to discontinue lessons, notification must be done one month in advance. Failure to do so will require tuition to be paid for the month in which lessons were dropped abruptly. Examples: Student notifies me on May first that they will not be taking lessons in June (good). Student notifies me on May 24th that they will not be taking lessons in June. That student is required to pay for June (bad).

By signing this policy I agree to uphold and adhere to it:

Parent/Guardian or Student (if over 18)_____________________________date_________




it's worked for me for a while now.

[damonsmith]

That is a good policy, Denson! I go cheaper with monthly lessons. I guess we have to decide how much we want to teach vs. gig vs. straight day gig.
I prefer to teach rather than take "working" gigs and I make decisions soley based on the music or project for work during concert hours.
So I make a pretty drastic discount for the monthly lessons. $240 would be nice - I find I am able get a steady stream of half that - the consistency is just worth it in the end.
I took plenty of high end lessons, myself, but I took them less frequently. My students tend to stay with me for a good while.

I do think when the economy picks up I am going to go with contracts and that 30 days notice clause. For now I am just trying to hold on to what I have!

[fergus currie]

Hi Denson,

As a student I would have run a mile reading the regulations here, but a lot of it makes sense for a dedicated teacher with a heafty work load. As a bass teacher I don't ever remember a time where there was a waiting list for lessons though. I guess I have a slightly more relaxed attitude.

BTW, I was expecting to read a $20 fine for not practicing too.

You are being paid to impart knowledge to young minds. If you feel that knowledge is not being taken full advantage of then a personal interest in the students problem would be a nice way to go before binning him.

In Europe there is a feeling that Americans 'Lawyer up' too easily and it sound a bit like this in your contract. If you are working for a school then the policy is the school's.

I teach orchestration at a music college in Athens and I never discuss fees with anyone except the accountant who issues my paycheck, and if I was a raise I talk to the director. If the students don't turn up I report it to the office and they deal with it but I get paid.

When I teach privately at my home I'm much more flexible than any college office. I often go over time by 15-30 minutes and let the students pay when they can. I don't have a fixed dead line which is the same for everyone.

Once again I stress that if yours is a school then contracts are good but as a private teacher individual fexability is the only way to keep students from giving up terrified of a payment scheme which looks like a mortgage contract.

[Marc Piane]

Originally Posted by fingers

I make my students prepay

I should amend this by saying that most of my students are through a music school. The few I have outside of the school I deal with on a case by case basis. I agree with Fergus though. Private lessons are all about relationships and there is nothing like money and policies to strain them. That said though we all have a few bills to pay with this money so if a student has a problem forgetting to bring $ to the lesson I have them prepay to protect myself.

[Chris Fitzgerald]

At this point, I only teach through the university because of time restrictions. In my previous teaching experience - first guitar, then piano, them bass, then all three - I always had people pay by the month at the beginning of the month. I agree that this kind of private teaching is all about relationships, so if somebody was late once in a while, or cancelled once in a while, I didn't consider it a big deal. If it became a habit or a problem, I dealt with it on a person by person basis.

In the end, each teacher has to find their own way to connect with students in this regard, and accept the things that come with this way of connecting. My grandmother used to say, "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar", so I always tried to err on the side of giving people the benefit of the doubt when possible. I occasionally got burned by a few, but the improved relationships with the rest and the good word of mouth always seemed to make up for it.

[Eric Hochberg]

While Denson's contract is full of good points to keep in mind, I agree with Fergus that it's better to keep things unencumbered and friendly, at least until problems arise with a particular student. I had a case last year where it got to the point that I did submit a list of rules to a HS bassist to follow if he wanted to continue studying with me. He agreed to abide by them, and then promptly flaked out once again. Most of the students I've had over the years have behaved reasonably well, made their lessons (although not without lots of rescheduling, very common for busy HS kids) and paid for them promptly.

On the original post, money due after each lesson or prepay for a group of lessons. If I know the family and feel confident in them, monthly billing after the fact has worked for me, too, if that's what they prefer.

[Marc Piane]

The other part of that too is I sometimes have to cancel or reschedule because of gigs etc. If the student and I have a relationship that isn't super rigid and I cut them slack once and a while it is way easier to expect them to repay in kind.

Bottom line is that is the whole reason why I teach privately. Flexibility. I taught school for 6 years and loved it but the school and gigs schedule were starting to conflict.

[damonsmith]

I lay it out from the beginning that the low monthly rate is about consistency for both of us - I make regular study affordable - they pay me on time. With that rate I am very strict about payment, but I make it very clear that I will be.

If they want to be flighty they can just pay the full price!

[Bassius]

thanks for the input.

the agreement is to save my income from taking hits every month. All i do is bass. i teach at home and uni, and i gig. I've had far too many parents of younger students take advantage of my good nature at the expense of my bank account. That contract is there to make sure i have checks coming in every month. which is what this thread is all about. I'm not mean or anything. I dont have students freaking out and running away. Private teaching is 1/3 of my income. I dont have a cushy tenured teaching gig. I need to get paid without delay. Paperwork such as this works. And to respond to Fergus, we americans are used to it. but legalese just scares some people i guess...

[damonsmith]

Originally Posted by Bassius

thanks for the input.

the agreement is to save my income from taking hits every month. All i do is bass.

Agreed. I ended up taking a part time day gig because of flakey students. I just won't deal with them anymore. Being strict about it upfront seems to make them value the whole thing more, as well.

I have kept on broke, serious students when they were unable to keep going because of money, but that is another agreement and I know what to expect.

With my artistic focus being in the avant garde sector, I do enough musical freebies!

[Sam Sherry]

Originally Posted by damonsmith

I have kept on broke, serious students when they were unable to keep going because of money, but that is another agreement and I know what to expect.

Exactly. In the legal trade we refer to this as working pro bono. When somebody is able to pay but stiffs we refer to that as working pro bozo.

[fergus currie]

Understandably we all want to get paid for the work we do and when a lesson gets cancelled we should get the cost of the preparation at least.

I just feel that giving 'temporarily free' lessons while a student finds the cash to cover them gets me a better name 'on the scene' than being a strict money-grabbing ogre ever would. I know I'm going to have to qualify this.

I have collegues who will not give lessons unless they are pre-paid. They get a bad name but they have a fast car and a big house, not from teaching but because they do everything like this. On the other hand there are teachers (like myself) who are more flexbile and have great relationships with students long after they stop having lessons - their names become synonymous with high moral standards and positive creative dispositions, as well as tollerance and fair judgment.

Pro bono means 'for free' not deffered payment, or getting 'stiffed'. Here we are talking about flexibility in payment rather than not getting paid at all.

Either way, when you start teaching someone they already know they have to pay. If they mess you about you can drop them. It's that simple. Why terrify them with a contract? It is just an attempt to show that you're serious. If you can't do that without a contract it doesn't say much, does it?

FC

[Marc Piane]

Originally Posted by fergus currie

Why terrify them with a contract? It is just an attempt to show that you're serious. If you can't do that without a contract it doesn't say much, does it?

Man. Right on. This should be a sticky or something. +1!!!