They charge you $69 / hour for instruction. They pay the poor teachers around $20 / hour. Any reputable teacher in an area will have a following and will usually charge in the $50 - $60 / hour range, and it all goes to that teacher.

Most of the teachers I have encountered are HS grads, some with college degrees, most do not. I mean if you are a professional music teacher are you going to work for $20 / hour? And their lesson centers in Best Buy? They are all about the "upsell" - buy an instrument, only buy books from them, etc, etc...

So, here's the real deal: Your child wants to take lessons? What is your first reaction... it should be ask their teachers, friends, neighbors, but go to a website and put a teacher in a "shopping cart" and check out. They claim to have "certified" teachers. Well, they interview that teacher for not very long, do an on-line "training" which is all about selling and marketing and has nothing to do with educational values. I actually asked a rep from Takelessons and asked if they follow the guidelines set forth by the MENC standards and rubrics for music instruction and they said that they dont follow any "other schools" program. Even when that "other school" is the Department of Education that has a very detailed list of what private lessons should be consistant of (www.menc.org)

Are they a scam, you decide, are they trying to rip you off, you bet. And yes, their website is flashy, but like any prostitute, sex sells.