Yet again, we oboists get a mention in an article. This time it’s about high school kids and nutrition. Go figure.
You can use a basic formula of 18 calories per pound of kid. So if you have a 150-pound point guard, a 150-pound running back, a 150-softball pitcher or a 150-pound oboe player they need to get about 2700 calories every day. And to breakdown this total, you can go 60% carbohydrates (maximum) and 20% each of protein (minimum) and fat.
Um. Okay. It’s good to be acknowledged. I guess.
And Here We Go Again …
There’s a new article (at least I’m assuming it’s not the same as the one I linked to before) about playing unusual instruments for college perks. There are some funny little things in the article, as always. (One quote: He said the bassoon is “not that popular,” and requires “perfection in different areas.” … um … different than what? Or is he suggesting that it requires perfection in more than one area, which would be the same with any instrument? Ah well, he’s fifteen. I’ll give him some slack!)
Reading the article, though, assured me that I’m actually not overcharging. And we live in one of the costliest areas of the United States. As the article says (if one is to believe that proper research was done):
Even before a child enters the college sphere, parents can spend upwards of $15,000 on music lessons – an average of $50 per 45-minute lesson – from around age 7 or 8 until 18, Conley said.
Be aware: the less popular instruments are likely to cost more. One local retailer quoted a price of $3,000 for a low-end bassoon. Reeds, which experts say could last from five minutes to five days, cost around $15.
But let me repeat what I often say: Please play oboe because you love the sound, and you can’t imagine playing something else. Don’t choose it for the college perks. Trust me.
Enough for now. Time to get to Santa Clara University to teach!
It is SO time to give myself a raise. I’m $50/hr. Sheesh.
Isn’t pricing what we do difficult, though? And I wonder what the going rate is in large cities, too. I know that up in San Francisco they charge MORE than what is quoted in the article. I’m guessing New York would be even higher. A friend of mine living in the very expensive Palo Alto charges more than I.
I find figuring out what to charge a challenging thing; I only raised my prices this past week, and for my current students I’ve given them until next SEPTEMBER to adjust to the new cost. I do wonder if they’ll all stick around. Time will tell.
I think that as long as we don’t apologize for the changes (heck, my landlord sure never apologises!), we give fair warning, and we do a “if you have any questions don’t hesitate to call me” clause, it’s not a problem. I’ve only had two moms complain in all my years of teaching. Ironically, their kids were practicing the LEAST of any of my students, so I didn’t feel too guilty about it!
Well, guilt is my middle name, so I did feel guilty about raising prices. But I’m used to that feeling. 🙂
I certainly did give fair warning, and of course I did tell them to contact me if they had any difficulty with the raise. So far no one has emailed or called. We’ll see.