My son has several trial lessons scheduled in January. (piano)
I would like him to leave a good impression in trial lessons, and I would like him to bring something to professors.
None of them asked for money, but when he did trial lesson with professor at ithaca (he didn’t ask for fee either), we prepared amazon gift card and he was happy with it. I think it’s least I can do since their time is very important too.
This time, I prepared a wine, and perhaps also amazon gift card. Is there anything more appropriate?
In most cases, music school professors are paid a salary and my impression is that they generally consider meeting and giving lessons to prospective applicants as being part of their job; they don’t expect payment or gifts for their time. In some schools or situations, teachers are not salaried employees and are paid for just the services they provide. These instructors may charge for the lesson and will tell you the rate when you make the appointment. We experienced this at schools with a large adjunct faculty, like the New School. Some, like Berklee, are union houses and the instructors will generally charge you for their time. Whatever the situation, I would treat it as a professional situation.
I honestly don’t think that giving the instructor a gift is going to sway his impression, though it probably will not be detrimental. Just unnecessary. That said, I would definitely NOT offer wine or alcohol. I think that’s borderline inappropriate.
I think what instructors appreciate most is a student who shows genuine interest, asks questions and listens; someone who inspires the instructor to want to take on.
Personally, I would not give gifts. My daughter gave handwritten thank-you notes on nice stationery. I think that would mean more than a gift more than likely purchased by a parent…my 2 cents, but probably worth less than that.
Agree with the above comments. I would definitely avoid gifts.
Besides being prepared (obviously), bringing cash or a signed blank check is the most important. My daughter found that teachers were all over the place in terms of what they charged or did not for trial lessons. Everything from nothing to $250. And there was no correlation that we could see between the prestige of the studio or school and the amount charged.
Being prepared is the biggest thing, having your rep list and being prepared to talk about yourself (I can’t talk about all teachers, obviously, but the sample lessons my son had they often asked what he considered his strengths and weaknesses, and would ask ‘what do you consider your signature piece, that shows you at your best’). As others have said, having cash or a blank check is important, because every teacher is different. I wouldn’t give a gift unless there were special circumstances, like someone called in a favor to get you the lesson or the teacher went out of his way to be able to do it.
When my D arranged trial lessons (in March and April after her acceptances), she asked what the fee was in advance. She felt awkward at first, but realized it is part of being prepared.