Creating Value Through Special Features

Creating Value Through Special Features

What makes a music lesson special, memorable, and effective? What is it that you’re buying- knowledge, experience, or time? We all have different goals and expectations going into music lessons, and considering these questions will ultimately help define our perception of value. Getting special features, more time, additional expertise, and an exceptional experience will drive the value up without any extra burden on your wallet.


When we sign up for lessons, we’re reserving time from an expert who can help us gain an understanding of their craft. Often, the cost associated is predicated on the time spent. More time can often lead to greater value, but at some point there are diminishing returns. 

How can one create added value from the purchase of time? The answer may lie in how we can facilitate the learning process well after the lesson is over. After the teacher is gone, how can we stretch the value of that time spent with them? 

Lesson notes are a great start to ensuring direction and purpose after the lesson is over. Without the teacher by your side or onscreen, students can struggle and experience misdirection. It makes sense that confusion may set in after the lesson is over, when students try to recall concepts covered during the lesson time. Lesson notes, practice information, instructions, and helpful evaluations can be instrumental in making sure students stay on track. It can also give parents valuable insight into their child’s learning stride and their deportment during the lesson. 

File sharing makes it easy for teachers to share pieces of music, practice sheets, etudes, and more, long after the lesson is over and without cluttering your email inbox. Even though the lesson may have been only one hour, teachers can send information and share files the following day(s) at no extra cost to students. 

The Repertoire Tracker can help students track progress on a variety of assignments. Now, students can see saved information regarding their learning trajectory without the teacher being there. Parents can use this helpful tool to understand what is being worked on, the progress made, and achievements reached! Students can even watch past performances of their material to critique and learn from.

In our group online classes, we have recorded video class summaries available to attendees, so they can have video documentation on the class long after the class is over. Now the information will never be lost! Take a group class and feel confident knowing that afterward, you can have all the information available to you when you need, so you’ll never be lost without it. What better reminder than the teacher actually walking you through all the same concepts covered in class? 

Guitar lesson with notepad


Granted, more knowledge and expertise may drive the cost of lessons as well. A variance in experience may create proportional variance in lesson cost. Taking that a step, further, how can we create added value from the purchase of high level experience? The answer there may lie in how we can pool resources, networks, and extensive knowledge bases of many teachers for the benefit of the student. 

Forbes Music works closely with teachers to create the best experience possible for every student. Through weekly calls with each teacher, we can help talk through challenges, obstacles, and solutions aimed at making the most of each lesson. From scheduling conflicts to behavioral strategies and lesson content, our team has the skills and training to optimize each lesson regardless of circumstances. 

Lesson curation is a major point of emphasis at Forbes Music. We share lesson strategies and helpful tips with teachers to improve the overall experience of both teachers and students. Learning to engage students, communicate difficult concepts, and provide clear, cogent paths forward for students are a few things we cover each week with every teacher. 

We employ the use of shared teacher resources, giving all Forbes Music teachers access to content and resources to help facilitate and improve how teachers deliver excellent lesson experiences. From links and downloads, to knowledge bases and methodology reviews, we’re arming teachers with the information they need to succeed. While students may work directly with one teacher, they’re really getting the expertise of many!


Beyond the time, the resources, and the knowledge bases, the overall experience goes a long way in determining the value. Significant time and brain power, followed by an extremely poor encounter will ultimately lead to a low value experience. Conversely, a positive encounter for a short period of time with someone of little expertise will more than likely lead to a low value experience as well. What produces a great experience? 

A smile goes a long, long way. We’re here to make lives better and promote happiness through music. Lessons free from judgement or hassle provide a comfortable learning atmosphere for any ages, regardless of skill level. Our concierge service is here to make your scheduling, invoicing, and billing easy and simple. If you need lesson materials and method books, we’ll even purchase them for you and have them shipped directly to you!

From first contact to routine scheduling, we make the process frictionless. We take the worry out of the process by creating workflows to get you dynamic teacher options quickly, and get you scheduled as soon as you’re ready. Teachers are thoroughly vetted and schedules are well maintained to keep consistency. 

Don’t forget about easy access! Our online portal gives families and students access to their lesson calendars, profiles, transaction history, Repertoire Tracker, shared files, lesson notes, and more! We even have opt-in email and SMS lesson reminders and alerts so you don’t ever miss a beat!

It Works

Getting more than you paid for is always a nice feeling. Music lessons and classes are such a great way to bring joy into your life. But finding ways to add value so the learning continues well after the lesson is a skill we’ve mastered at Forbes Music. We can stretch the time, pool our resources, and give students easy access to information that ultimately makes the experience special, memorable, and very effective.