<p>I am a serious musician and was admitted to Harvard among other choices, and am wondering if anyone out there has had experience taking lessons at NEC while at Harvard (especially, but also at other local colleges) -- not the Harvard/NEC program, which I did not apply to. Any information would be helpful.</p>
<p>I don't know about NEC in particular, but you should have no trouble finding a top-notch private teacher in Boston as long as you are willing to pay the going rate and are not looking to get academic credit for the lessons. Many of the musicians from the Boston Symphony as well as the faculty at places like NEC, BU, MIT and Berklee also teach privately on the side.</p>
<p>Also check out the Longy School of Music. It is right next door to Harvard, they have some excellent faculty and have a Continuing Studies division that offers private lessons on voice and a variety of instruments at all levels.</p>
<p>I wouldn't say you would be able to get lessons for credit or free lessons, if that's what you were after. However, as a resident of the Boston area, I can confirm that it is very easy to find private teachers in the city, as BassDad said there are many great music schools about whose faculty teach privately on the side. What genre/instrument? Some teachers will be easier to find than others (if you're a jazz/pop guitarist, you'll be able to pick from basically of the Berklee guitar department, as all 30+ of them teach privately, just about). Any lessons would most likely be arranged between you and the teacher, though, not through the colleges themselves.</p>
<p>My understanding is that the "Harvard-NEC" program is something that you can apply for after freshman year, so it could be fairly important to contact the piano dept. at NEC and indicate that you hope to do this and would like a recommendation for a teacher.
<a href="http://music.fas.harvard.edu/mmperformance.html%5B/url%5D">http://music.fas.harvard.edu/mmperformance.html</a> </p>
<p>You may also want to contact the music dept at Harvard, in particular Prof. Robert Levin who does teach Harvard students and is a very well known performer himself. I know of undergrads who have studied with him, and since you are an admitted student, I think the dept. should be interested in helping you find a good solution.<br>
I saw that you also posted questions about Columbia-Julliard. Do you have some other good possibilities for combining music with your liberal arts programs?</p>
<p>If you are interested in piano lessons, Patricia Zander at NEC is an amazing teacher.</p>
<p>My S was a prospective student for NEC, and arranged a trial lesson when visiting campus. The teacher charged $150. This was about 5 years ago. This was the most we ever paid for a lesson. Teachers generally set their own rates, but if a trial lesson costs this much, I'd hate to think what regular lessons cost. (S didn't end up applying there, though.)</p>
<p>I have no knowledge of the Harvard music department, but if there is any way you can arrange lessons for credit through the department, it might be worth looking into.</p>
<p>$150 seems a bit much, particularly five years ago. The current rates at Longy are $1100 to $1500 per semester (15 one-hour lessons). Since the school must be taking their cut from that, it would lead me to believe that very good private teachers can be found in the $60 to $80 per hour range.</p>
<p>I am not familiar with how Harvard handles the situation, but some schools charge rather high fees when students take more than a certain number of credit hours in a given semester. If the lessons fit into the curriculum without racking up extra charges, that is certainly worth taking advantage of. If the extra charges are required and the additional credits are not needed for graduation, it might still be cheaper to get a private teacher.</p>
<p>For example, at Oberlin, semester hours over 17 for Conservatory students or 16 for College students are surcharged at $950 per hour. (Yes, there are some workarounds like taking orchestra for 0 credits instead of 1.) A student who was already maxed out in hours would have to pay $3800 per semester for weekly full hour (4-credit) lessons if taken through the school. That translates to over $250 per hour for that lesson. Even if the lesson only pushed the student two hours over the maximum, that still corresponds to over $125 per hour. Private lessons would still be substantially cheaper in that situation.</p>
<p>In NYC the going rate for a well trained, experienced teacher is $125-150 an hour, and some "in vogue" teachers charge $200-300 an hour. It is not likely that it is that much less in Boston, so $60-80 may be unrealistic to expect. Good luck.</p>
<p>From what I understand, the Harvard/NEC program costs $6000/year (pay to NEC) in addition to the Harvard tuition. That is not a small number.
But there is apparently a subsidy program for taking outside lessons for students who otherwise can't afford music lessons:
<a href="http://www.fas.harvard.edu/%7Eofa/programs/music/mlsp.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~ofa/programs/music/mlsp.html</a></p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions! Harvard offers only $300 per semester subsidy for lessons, based on financial need...I won't qualify.
I am also strongly considering Oberlin double degree program, but still exploring my options.</p>
<p>Wow, I am out of touch on private lesson costs then. A few years ago, my daughter had a series of lessons with the principal bass of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He is also the main teacher for that instrument at Curtis Institute and is generally considered among the best pedagogues in the world for classical bass. At the time, he charged considerably less than $100 for lessons that tended to run well over an hour. I guess I didn't realize what a bargain we were getting.</p>
<p>Lorelei's numbers (which correlate pretty well with the $6K that NEC charges for the joint program with Harvard) suggest that Longy School rates might actually be very attractive if you can find a teacher there that you like.</p>
<p>The fees seem to have more to do with how interested the musician is in teaching. I am aware of one NY Phil player who charges $300 per lesson because he can. He teaches at a couple colleges, and isn't really interested in having a regular private studio. People come to him for single lessons, or short term. It's all the teaching he wants to do, and he only wants serious students. At $300 per hour, you can bet they're serious!</p>
<p>On the other hand, I know several performers at the same level who charge significantly less - because they love to teach and love to help young players. I was shocked that one such demi-god only charged $45. The price doesn't always reflect value, but rather, values. Around Atlanta, I don't know anybody who charges much more than $60, and some charge much less. I had noticed that Emory charges a pretty hefty fee for private lessons. If my D had ended up there, we decided she would skip the lessons via school and continue with her current teacher.</p>
<p>"The price doesn't always reflect value, but rather, values." Nicely put!</p>
<p>Wow Binx! When my son was applying to undergrad school he also took a private lesson with an NEC applied teacher (different instrument, I know). The teacher charged him $50 because he was a prospective student. The regular price was $100 (we knew that from others who had taken lessons with him) but that was in 2002.</p>
<p>If you have the option of the double degree program at Oberlin and you really want to pursue music, then that's a fantastic opportunity. Harvard and Columbia are tempting, but even if you find a good piano teacher, you will not have the same possibilities for studying with other musicians and performing that you will have at Oberlin. Practice rooms and practice time will also be a problem. On the other hand, as a pianist, you won't need a large ensemble, and you will certainly find other musicians at both those schools. Difficult but wonderful choices, forte2X, good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>My son is a music student in the Boston area, and I am very familiar with both the piano studios and rates (Feel free to PM me.). I don't know anyone who charges more than $85 privately. We have paid $88-90 through Longy or NEC. </p>
<p>Also, we just returned from a trip filled with private lessons (not one over $75). My son had a practice lesson at NEC a few months ago for $100, but he was there closer to an hour and a half.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I had noticed that Emory charges a pretty hefty fee for private lessons.
[/quote]
Binx,</p>
<p>Just as a point of information, if a student at Emory University is a Music major or double-major, the private lessons are free to the student for his/her primary instrument.</p>
<p>Good point, NorCalDad. My D was not going to major in music at Emory. At Emory it is easy to double major, and anybody wanting to continue lessons would be smart to consider adding music as a second major to avoid the fee.</p>
<p>Something else to think about, for those pursuing music as an EC - my D received music scholarships from most of the schools she applied to, whether or not she was listed as a major (she waffled about her major). I remember that the scholarship from St. Olaf, where she did NOT apply as a music major, was conditional upon her participating in ensembles and taking private lessons. But the private lessons cost $680 per year for non majors, effectively reducing her scholarship by that much. At Miami-Ohio, where she is in as a performance major, the violin teacher said the lesson cost for non-majors was something like $85 per semester.</p>
<p>We have just come back from a college tour. We paid the teacher at CIM $100 and the teacher at Northwestern $135. The teacher at Michigan saw my S for about 20 minutes and did not charge for it.</p>
<p>Here in the Baltimore/DC area, rates vary widely for private teachers. My S's first teacher in Washington was quite expensive when he went to her and has subsequently become absurdly expensive She has a private studio at home with no affiliations and is charging $150/hr! Luckily we had already changed teachers before this happened. She is known for having students who win competitions - they're not actually that well trained, but they practise for competitions and they do win. My S won a number of competitions while studying with her. There are a lot of competitive parents here in Washington who want their kids to win these competitions at almost any cost.</p>
<p>He now studies with a very well-known teacher at Peabody Prep in Baltimore and she charges only $60/hr for private lessons (it's about $70 when you pay Peabody). She loves teaching and is not particularly money-oriented. My S plays so much better now with her, but he doesn't win competitions any more. Nevertheless he is a more mature and stable musician today and will be much better positioned for getting into conservatory and for a career in music (hopefully!)</p>
<p>FYI: I've heard that lessons with Victor Danchenko in his private studio at home cost $200/hr.</p>
<p>My S's first horn teacher has a neat policy about lessons. He "grandfathers" the fee. When S started with him -- 10 years ago -- he charged $40, which I thought was high. (But we only went every 2-3 weeks, which helped.) But when he left for college, 7 years later, we were still only paying that much. He raises his fee every few years, but only charges the new students the higher fee. So he gets his raise, but we don't live in fear! I think he's up about $60 now.</p>
<p>Now I just wish I could find a college that did this. Imagine -- a tuition price guaranteed for four years! (But most colleges know they've got us over a barrel, once our kid is in the door.)</p>
<p>So sorry this has strayed so far from NEC lessons! But I do think it's interesting hearing what different teachers charge.</p>