Should bagpipe lessons be free?

In another bagpipe community, there is a lot of discussion about charging or not charging for bagpipe lessons. Let’s be honest here: “”There ain’t no free lunch””. When I started my program almost 20 years ago, I started a free lesson program. What I got was a lot of people that I had to push to make things happen. I admit that I was the unusual student. I was hungry and wanted to do this bad. I practiced an hour a day to make it happen sooner than later. What I have found in the last 20 years of doing this full time is that most people aren’t like me. The average person that I teach is over 30 years of age. They are also curious about whether or not they can do this. Because I know that, I can tailor the program to fit that profile. Charging tuition makes people accountable. It reminds them that they need to do something to validate their investment. The consequence is that they do in fact learn to play. I would venture to say that the person who gives free lessons, doesn’t give away hours and hours per week doing that. Let’s face it. If I wanted to be rich, I’d be in Real Estate!”