4 Ways for Piano Teachers to Save Money on Materials

We are lucky to live in an age with so many wonderful resources at our fingertips, but we piano teachers seem to constantly struggle with how to provide our students with the best materials without breaking the bank.

Before we dive in, I want to address one mindset shift that I think is vital for every teacher to make: It’s not our responsibility to spend our own money on student’s materials, and our students and their parents should not have a problem paying for them.

To some of you this probably seems obvious, but others of you may disagree or have a problem with this idea, so hear me out.

Parents are used to spending money on materials and equipment for their children’s activities. Joining a baseball team means buying a bat, a glove, cleats, a uniform...taking a dance class requires shoes and costumes...art classes require art supplies. This isn’t a new concept for most of these parents.

Secondly, there are a variety of ways that you can have parents pay for books and music.

1. Send them titles and have them purchase them on their own.
2. Purchase the books and music and have them reimburse you.
3. Charge an annual or semesterly “materials fee.”
4. Factor music costs into tuition. (This is what I do, and it does not mean I’m paying for books out of my profit. It means before I take my profit, I set aside a certain amount of money from tuition to cover music for each student, and I’ve set my prices to cover this expense without cutting into my paycheck.)

Yes, we want to be building a library for ourselves, and it’s okay to factor these costs into our tuition rates. Encouraging your students to build their own music libraries is encouraging them to invest in themselves. And we shouldn’t hesitate to get the perfect resource for a student because we’re worried about asking their parents to pay for it.

With that out of the way, whether you’re stocking your own library or buying music for students (that has already been covered by tuition), it’s really nice to be able to save money on music.

Here are four tricks that I’ve found really helpful over the years:

1. Shop Promotions and Sales

Did you know that Alfred Music frequently has a promotion running for piano books? Join our mailing list to stay up to date on the latest promotions. It’s a great way to save on method books, new releases, and previously released favorites.

Sign up for all the email lists. I know we all get too many emails, but I have all of my music-related ones sent to my studio email address so it’s much easier for me to sift through them. Publishers and online retailers are always sending out promo codes and deals.

2. Shop Local

If you’re lucky enough to have a local music store, ask if they have a discount or loyalty program for teachers. Most of them do. I get a small discount on everything I buy at my local store, and by supporting them, I am also supporting the great professional development programs that they’re able to host.

They may not have everything in stock that you’re looking for, but they probably have the ability to order almost anything, and often you’re not obligated to purchase what you order before you see it.

3. Shop Second-Hand

There are lots of options for buying music second-hand. Online retailers often have good deals on second-hand music books. There are “buy, sell, trade” groups for music teachers on Facebook. Just be sure to double check that all the pages are there and that there’s no writing in the book from previous students.

I often come across unexpected things at library sales, garage sale, thrift stores, antique stores, and estate sales.

Obviously second-hand shopping doesn’t work for everything, and you can’t really go into it with expectations, but it’s always nice to keep a look out for things you might find useful. These are especially great places to find the classics and out of print music.

4. Make a List

I have a decent library of my own music that I’m always adding to as I come across new things, but when it comes to buying music for my students, I like to make a list to be sure I’m not getting extra things I’ll never use. If there’s a sale on a certain series that I love, I might stock up, but I keep in mind the levels of my current students and where they may be in the near future. I didn’t stock up on extra advanced music when most of my students were beginners.

At the start of each term I’ll make a list of what each of my students definitely need going into the term. Are they getting close to the end of their lesson book? I’ll go ahead and get the next level. Do they need some new supplemental music to work on? Something for the recital? A theory book? I’ll always have the opportunity to get more later as things come up, but this gives me a good starting place and keeps my shopping focused.

Do your students pay for their own music? What tricks do you have for saving money on music?