How much would you pay for a piano accompanament?

Question:so, for my flute solo for contest my good friend's mom said she would be able to accompany me on piano. this was a huge relief bc the lady who i usually have do it is professional and charges around $60. my friend said that her mom said to "pay her what i thought was a good price" how much do you think would be appropriate?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: so, for my flute solo for contest my good friend's mom said she would be able to accompany me on piano. this was a huge relief bc the lady who i usually have do it is professional and charges around $60. my friend said that her mom said to "pay her what i thought was a good price" how much do you think would be appropriate?

I am an accompanist. And no.... we don't do this for free. It's a service to the soloist, and it requires a lot of hours of practice to prepare.

The "reasonable rate" depends on a lot of factors. Where you live sometimes determines that. There is a pretty high demand for good accompanists where I live. It can also depend on the difficulty of the music. I play for a lot of high schoolers going to solo contests. Here's how I charge: $40 covers the actual performance. Then, they pay me $40/hr for the times we rehearse together (I get nothing for my own private practice time to prepare for those rehearsals). The more generous students will also pay me that same $40/hr rate to cover my travel time to and from the performance.

That rehearsal rate applies if they come to me to practice. It's more if I have to go to them.

The quality of your accompanist can make or break your solo performance. If somebody is willing to do it for free, then they probably don't make a habit of investing a lot of time into preparing for it. Now, on the other hand, many schools (such as our local high school) pay for this out of their budget, so the students aren't even aware of what the accompanist is getting paid. Our high school covers contest day and two in-class rehearsals. Any student who wants more rehearsals than that arranges it directly with me and pays for it themselves. (I do give the high school a discounted rate, because they hire me to play for as many as 15 kids at one contest. The rates above are based on an individual hiring me like you're doing for your solo.)

If you live in a rural area that doesn't place a lot of emphasis on music performance, then these rates might sound pretty high. I live in the DFW metroplex. The high schools in my area usually end up having to hire two or three accompanists for regional solo contest, because there are so many students participating.

So you're a student needing accompaniment for contest? Isn't there anyone else in school that can do this for you for free? If not, I would think covering her gas and lunch would be fair. If it were me, i wouldn't charge any more than my expenses. You're just a kid, and it seems wrong to profit from you in this way. Maybe that's just me.

Depends on a lot of factors! How good she is how much time you take for rehersals etc! The standard for professional accompanists is about $60 an hour (in australia It could be different in another country) Keep in mind also that alot of exam students get accompaniment for free through friends, teachers etc! I have a friend , who is another music teacher, who does all of my students and she does it for free!

Maybe you could think about what she reallly needs! It may not be money! For example if she has 5 children then you could babysit for her so she can have a night off! Or maybe she needs someone to help her with the gardening or the kid's homework! Think about what would be helpful for her! As I said it may not even be money! Instead of money you could give her a gift voucher to a store that she likes!

Good luck with your flute contest

I pay my guys no less than $100. So you got a good price.