A music lesson agreement sets the session rate, schedule, and cancellation policy that any private-lesson arrangement needs — plus two clauses a general tutoring form has no equivalent for: who provides the instrument and pays if it’s damaged, and how recital or performance participation works. Download the ready-to-fill template below, or read the field-by-field checklist first.
A complete, ready-to-fill PDF — 12 clauses, blanks for every detail, and a signature block for both parties. Free, no email, no account. Read it and adapt it before you use it; the cover page explains what it can and cannot do for you.
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This document is a general-purpose template provided for information only. It is not legal advice, it does not create a lawyer–client relationship, and nobody has reviewed it against your situation.
Laws differ by country, state and province, and they change. A clause that is standard in one place can be unenforceable — or illegal — in another. Terms that are ordinary between two businesses can be void in a consumer or employment context.
Read every clause before you use it, fill in every blank, and delete anything that does not apply. For anything high-value, unusual, or that you could not afford to lose a dispute over, have a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction review it before it is signed.
These are the fields and clauses a music lesson agreement needs. Leaving one out doesn’t necessarily void the agreement, but each gap is a spot where the family and instructor can end up disagreeing about what was actually agreed to.
Instructor, Student & Parent/Guardian names
Full legal names and contact details for the instructor, the student, and — where the student is a minor — the parent or guardian who signs on their behalf.
Instrument, level and format
The instrument being taught, the student's current level, and whether lessons are in person or online.
Session rate & payment terms
The per-lesson or package rate, invoicing frequency, payment deadline, and any late fee.
Lesson schedule
Day, time and length of the regular lesson, and how much notice changes the recurring day or time.
Cancellation & make-up policy
How much notice cancels a lesson without charge, what happens to a late arrival, and how the instructor rescheduling a lesson is handled.
Instrument provision and damage
Whether the student brings their own instrument or the instructor/studio provides one for lessons, and who pays if a provided instrument is damaged or lost.
Recital or performance participation
Whether recitals are part of the program, whether participating is expected or optional, any fee, and a media-release note if a performance is public.
Termination
How much notice either side gives to end the arrangement, and how prepaid fees for lessons not yet given are handled.
Signatures & date
Both the instructor and the student (or parent/guardian) sign and date the agreement. It isn't binding until both have signed.
A subject-tutoring agreement covers the session rate, schedule and cancellation policy that any private-lesson arrangement needs — but it has nothing to say about two things that are specific to music instruction: whose instrument gets used for the lesson, and whether the program builds toward a recital or performance.
Most arrangements default to the student bringing their own instrument, in which case the instructor has no responsibility for its condition. But where the instructor or studio provides an instrument — common for beginners, or for instruments a family doesn’t want to buy before committing — the agreement needs to say who’s on the hook if it comes back damaged or doesn’t come back at all. The template above allocates that to damage and loss beyond ordinary wear from normal use, not to any imperfection, and carves out damage caused by the instructor’s own negligence or a pre-existing defect.
Recitals raise a smaller but real set of questions: is performing expected or optional, is there a fee on top of the regular lesson rate, and — if the event is open to the public or gets recorded — does the family’s consent to photos or video need to be settled in advance. The template addresses all three in one proportionate clause, rather than leaving them to be negotiated the week of the recital.
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Not legal advice — for high-value loaned instruments or unusual liability terms, have a local attorney review your agreement.