How Much Do Saxophone Lessons Cost ?
How much does it cost to learn saxophone ? How much do saxophone lessons cost ?
The answer to this question is not quite as cut and dry as perhaps you might like…….however it is not as vague as “How long is a piece of string ?” either.
How much do saxophone lessons cost – Short Answer
They can range in price from zero / free / zip / zilch / nothing / nadda to anywhere upwards of $200 / $300 / $400 / $500 per hour.
Ok, so that’s quite a large price range !
Let’s put a few things into perspective here.
At $500 per hour, we are talking about a highly skilled, highly specialised, laser-focused virtuoso musician who is in high demand and who is beyond an expert at what they do. They are probably celebrities, or teach celebrities and have an incredible track record over a period of decades.
If you are a brand new beginner saxophonist, it is extremely unlikely that you will want to, or even need to pay this kind of money to learn how to play the saxophone.
At the other end of the spectrum, you can get saxophone lessons for free. Youtube is an amazing resource to learn pretty much anything in the world in space – including learning how to play the saxophone.
The upside with Youtube is the price. “Free saxophone lessons” has a nice ring to it !
The downside is that you are likely to get what you pay for. Or, at best you will find it difficult sorting the wheat from the chaff….finding the good saxophone lessons will take lots of time and effort. THEN you actually get to start learning saxophone, which takes time and dedication.
How much do saxophone lessons cost – Long Answer
The reality is that the price can vary by quite a bit. But by narrowing down what it actually is that YOU want you will find something that is more suitable for you.
Most one-on-one saxophone teachers in most large cities in the Western World charge between $25 to $150 per hour.
The average cost is somewhere closer to $55 – $75 per hour for a one-on-one saxophone lesson at the teachers location – their house or their studio.
So, don’t forget to factor in travelling time and associated travelling costs to get from your house to where they teach from.
I charge upwards of $65 per hour for my one-on-one students and I am looking to raise my rates. My students come to me.
I actually charge slightly more than half for a 30 minute saxophone lesson and slightly more than 75% for 45 minute saxophone lessons. On a per minute basis, it’s therefore cheaper to have a full hour lesson.
Group Lessons.
Another option is group lessons.
Perhaps you can team up with a friend or two who also want to learn saxophone, and share the cost of the teacher together. The pro’s here are this makes things cheaper for you. The downside is that you also get to share the lesson time, which means less time for you specifically. Therefore it will likely take longer for you to achieve your musical goals.
At the end of the day, have you really saved any money by sharing a saxophone lesson ? Most likely you have not.
You can teach yourself how to play the saxophone.
Youtube and countless hours of googling will get you on your way.
But, what you save in money, you waste in time spent searching, watching, trying, randomly finding good / bad / mediocre saxophone lessons. Some free online saxophone lessons are fantastic ! Others, however, are not…..
Another option is face to face one on one online saxophone lessons – via Skype or Zoom or Facetime or any other video conferencing app.
These are also great, because you get one on one lessons, with almost any saxophone teacher you might like almost anywhere in the world – and you don’t have to travel. The downside again is the hourly rate: again at upwards of $50+ per hour.
Dedicated Online Learning.
A saxophone lessons course on Udemy or Skillshare are other avenues worthy of exploration.
These courses cost between $10 and $70 – Udemy often have a sale or a coupon code that make their online saxophone lessons courses cheaper.
The courses on Udemy (not limited to just saxophone lessons !!) are a “once off” purchase.
The courses on Skillshare (again, not limited to just saxophone lessons) are a Netflix model – you get access to ALL of the thousands of courses on Skillshare for a monthly fee.
These courses can be a fantastic way to start learning how to play the saxophone. They will get you started and are usually great value for money. I highly recommend them.
Saxophone Lessons Membership Sites.
Another option for ongoing regular saxophone lessons is a Membership model on a very small number of individual saxophone teachers websites.
In fact, at the time of writing, there are only a very small number (less than a handful) of such sites – this one being one of them 🙂
(For some reason, there are heaps of online guitar, bass, piano and drum Membership websites, but a ridiculously small number of saxophone lessons Membership or courses websites.)
The Membership model sites charge between $10 – $50 per month, and even less for an annual membership.
This represents a significant saving when compared to one on one in person sax lessons !
Music lessons Membership websites generally have heaps of lessons for your to dive right into, usually with more being added every week. Even if you completed two lessons each week, you would still be pushing it to catch up and finish all of the available lessons within a year.
Many students attend their saxophone lessons once a week. At $60 per lesson, that works out to be approximately $3000 per year.
A Membership music lessons website annual fee works out to be approximately $120 – $500 per year, depending on which site(s) you choose.
If you are serious about learning how to play the sax, then an online saxophone lessons membership is a no-brainer.
You get the on going and regular lessons, you get your questions answered, you can get feedback and suggestions and tips, you get downloadable bits and pieces like music or cheat sheets or backing tracks, you get videos created by professional teachers, you can play and learn your saxophone when ever you want, you save significant time and effort and travelling and dollars – yet you get the same support and results as you most likely would with a “regular” teacher.
Some of these Membership model websites have community groups – forums or facebook groups – where you can talk to and interact with other members. This means that the members can ask questions, get answers, and help each other, as well as being guided by the main teacher on the particular site. Having someone – or more than one person – to ask can be very beneficial to your learning experience and outcomes. Giving and getting support from a community of like minded people, or the main teacher, or both, makes for a better learning experience for everyone.
Conclusion
How much does it cost to learn saxophone ? How much do saxophone lessons cost ?
It depends on several factors. Time usually equals money !
However, by using the leverage and power of the internet, you can get sensational and extremely helpful, useful, beneficial and targeted saxophone lessons to suit your needs and musical requirements, with a teacher that you can build an ongoing relationship with.
You can get access to wonderful saxophone lessons for significantly less than you might think: immediately if you wish 🙂
I hope this helps,
Thanks,
Matthew
Not a member yet ? Join us and get access to the always increasing library of saxophone lessons and PDF cheat sheets.
P.S. If you would like simple step by step instructions to help you learn how to play the saxophone:
- all neatly organised in the one convenient location,
- all provided by an experienced saxophone teacher who can help you to play the music that YOU want to play quickly and easily,
- with a forum community to ask questions and receive (and give) answers
then check out our saxophone lessons membership options. Get started on your saxophone journey today !
Remember – I can help you learn How To Play The Sax 🙂
YES – I want to Have Fun, Play Sax, Be Awesome and Repeat !
HowToPlayTheSax.com – where saxophone lessons come to YOU !
🙂
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I want to sign up but still haven’t bought a saxophone.
Can you suggest a beginner saxophone to buy? I looked at the internet and there are a lot, would it be better to buy an alto or tenor as a beginner saxophone? not too expensive hopefully,
Hi Evaristo,
Alto saxophones are arguably the best beginners saxophone to start on.
I wrote a blog post about this very topic here:
https://howtoplaythesax.com/how-to-play-the-saxophone/best-beginner-saxophone/
However, ultimately the best beginner saxophone you can get is the one that you can afford. If you are not as abundant with huge piles of $$$$ as perhaps you might like (aren’t we all ??) then as long as it is in good condition, any saxophone is potentially better than no saxophone.
Please be aware that a cheap saxophone often comes with a cheap and not so good mouthpiece. A Yamaha 4C mouthpiece on a cheap saxophone will make your saxophone journey so much easier.
I wrote a Yamaha 4C Mouthpiece review blog post here:
https://howtoplaythesax.com/how-to-play-the-saxophone/yamaha-4c-alto-saxophone-mouthpiece-review/
I hope this helps 🙂
Thanks,
Matthew 🎷