How much should I charge for making piano recital programs?

Question

I made 20 cute little programs for son's recital. I spent $15 in materials & it took me three hours to design & put them together. The teacher wants to pay me. I don't know how much to say.

Answer 1

$20 bucks sounds fair, or u could be nice and give it to her for free so she owes u a favor in return unless u know the teacher won't do something in return then charge her $20

Answer 2

First off, choose this with your teacher, but... I have several problems with it... 1) Too many Romantic pieces... I have this problem too, Romantic pieces are my favorites... But really you need more variety... I'd say knock out the Brahms with a Beethoven Mozart or Haydn sonata... Choose something else (I'd recommend the Liszt or the Rachmaninoff) and get a Bach, Scarlatti, or Handel piece. Bach prelude and fugues work great! Scarlatti has some great sonatas... Handel has some awesome suites, as does Bach... There's tons of Baroque pieces, you really should have them... So balance it out a bit... Try to have a piece from each period... I know, I'm guilty of this too, but trust me, it will be a much better program.. 2) Too much Chopin!... Sorry pal, but I recommended you drop one of them... Probably the Andante and Polonaise...Fill it in with some different pieces, Baroque and Classical ones maybe, or how about some Impressionism? Some Faure or Dvorak would be neat... Medtner or Scriabin would sure bring down the crowd... There's always Schumann my favorite composer, or Grieg... A 20 minute slot, you can use several different pieces in it... That's what I'd do, drop the polonaise and andante... Heaven knows there are too many people who play too much Chopin out there... 3) They're all rather, don't be offended, but predictable pieces... All slightly overdone pieces and pieces that are heard too often... The Brahms, Liszt and Rachmaninoff especially... Come up with more original, spicy, and brand new pieces! ESPECIALLY because you're going to be giving a recital to Freshmen... Introduce them to unusually performed pieces... They don't want to hear the same stuff over and over again do they? Especially because I would bet that most of them have played the majority of these over-done pieces... Well, that's my two cents... Good luck on your performance! --Schumiszt

Answer 3

You didn't expect to get paid for doing this, as you were doing this for your son. The teacher is trying to show you how much she appreciates your effort. She is probably taking the money out of her pocket. You should tell her you wouldn't accept any money for what you did. Tell her it is a small thank you for the things she does for your son. You'll feel better for it.