Studio Information and Policy
(As of August 8, 2023)
Welcome (or welcome back) to the studio! I’m happy to have you inquiring about, or returning to, piano lessons!
BEFORE COMMITTING TO LESSONS, please read the studio information and policy below THOROUGHLY, as well as the rest of the website, and please let me know if you have any questions (or see any typos…ha ha)! I look forward to working with you! :)
FOR EVERYONE (current/prospective students, and parents/guardians)
This studio information and policy, and the website content, is designed to answer most your questions. Always check these areas to find answers first before inquiring with me.
The studio policies have been created:
to help students become independent musicians as quickly as possible with a solid foundation of musical skills and knowledge
to help provide you with the greatest return on your respective investment of time and money
Termination of lessons will be considered for any student or parent/guardian/attending adult who does not respect and adhere to these terms. Please share this Studio Information and Policy and website with others who may be responsible for your/your child’s lessons, so they are also aware of the terms.
OUR COMMITMENTS TO EACH OTHER
My Teacher’s Commitment To You (the student and parents/guardians)
I will teach students the fundamentals of music, how to read music, and how to play the piano, by providing regular assignments to help increase students’ skills and knowledge; by kindly pushing students to their fullest potential; by holding students to the highest standards and excellence; all in an environment that’s encouraging, supportive, humorous, and low-stress.
I will select the materials and resources students need to make progress and will tailor them, as needed, specifically to the goals and learning needs of each individual student.
I will provide you with links for the specific materials to purchase.
I will provide you with at-home practice tips, when needed.
I will provide performance opportunities that allow for constructive feedback.
I will help you find a piano and provide guidance with your online set up and video/audio equipment, when needed.
I will communicate with you in a clear and transparent manner.
Student’s Commitment To Yourself, Your Teacher (me), and Your Parents/Guardians
Have all CURRENT piano books, assignment book/notebook, materials, metronome, and a PENCIL with you at each lesson and during your practice time.
Keep your fingernails trimmed short every week (for correct hand position and to prevent injury).
Make sure you understand your weekly assignment and please ask questions when you don’t.
Do all your written work each week and send to me by Sunday - late evening.
Practice your piano playing assignment AND flashcards daily (1-2 times per day – totaling 30 minutes) until it all becomes very easy for you to play.
Keep track of your practice time each day by writing it in your assignment book / notebook.
Let me know what music goals you have and what kind of music you’d like to learn.
Be on time for the zoom call, but please know that sometimes your lesson may start late or run late if you or students before you need some extra time to work through something in more detail.
Keep on trying! And make practicing fun for yourself, too!
Parent’s/Guardian’s Commitment to Your Child (the student) and To The Teacher (me)
The involvement of parents/guardians is VITAL to your child’s success with piano lessons. Please always support, guide, and encourage your child at home. Be available during her/his practice time to help with questions, to listen, and give encouragement. Ask your child to share what s/he has learned each week and have them perform for you when they feel ready.
Designate an adult as the at-home Piano Coach for all beginner child students (and younger child transfer students). The Piano Coach needs to be present at each lesson to write down the assignment and help with each practice session during the week to:
make sure your child follows through with all their responsibilities listed above (in the “Student’s Commitment” area)
help them with flashcards daily until they’ve learned all 30 of them. Students need you to hold up and flip the flashcards for them. (More details are available in the CURRENT STUDENTS area of the website.)
make sure all electronic devices used during the lesson and practice have been charged or are plugged in
make sure all apps and devices have completed updates before joining the zoom call
make sure video/audio equipment is working and shows a good view of your child’s hands on the keyboard. (I can help you with this.)
take photos of their completed written homework and send to me by Sunday - late evening.
Make sure your child has a good-quality piano available to her/him on a daily basis. (see details below)
As the parent/guardian, you are responsible for making sure your child gets her/his practice done every day until they are motivated to practice daily on their own.
Please note, child students typically don’t go to the piano to practice on their own until: it has become a habit for them, they see the benefit of it, or they start enjoying it on their own.
Kids usually need extrinsic/external motivation for a while before practicing becomes a habit and they develop their own intrinsic/internal motivation. So please use extrinsic/external motivation including daily, weekly, monthly, and semester practice rewards, when needed. (More practice tips are available in the CURRENT STUDENTS area of the website.)
Make practicing fun!
If something is going on at home, school, or otherwise, that is affecting your child and her/his lesson and/or practice time, please let me know so I may be sensitive to the situation.
If your child has certain learning preferences or needs, please let me know what they are so I may accommodate them when possible.
Please keep background noise quiet during the lessons as the microphones can be extremely sensitive and greatly amplify sounds that might not sound very loud to you (even when in another room or outside). That can make it difficult to hear the student playing or talking.
Feel free to play the piano with your child when they want to! This is a wonderful way to bond with your child! Always make it fun! If you can’t read music, have them show you what to play.
UNDERSTANDING PRACTICE
The physical act of playing the piano CANNOT be learned exclusively through the knowledge obtained during lessons. It also requires the consistent and correct repetition of the physical skill on the piano at home during the week. And this at-home practice is where the majority of a student’s progress comes from. This has nothing to do with the intelligence of the student, it is simply how the human brain works with learning piano.
MY PRACTICE EXPECTATIONS
You have asked me to teach you/your child how to play the piano. In order for students/parents/guardians to receive the greatest return on your respective investment of time and money, I intend to teach you/your child how to be a functional pianist. Functional pianists can play the piano well for themselves and with others, and perform in front of a group, as well, if so desired.
As students become more advanced, they can have the skills to be able to accompany groups or soloists, play in bands/orchestra, play at church or for musical theatre, and have a great foundation to learning other instruments easily.
With this goal in mind, students enrolled in 30-minute individual 1:1 lessons are expected to practice daily (5-7 days per week) for 30 minutes each day, for every week that they are enrolled in lessons. (It’s okay to take a break during studio vacation times and illnesses. The 30 minutes may be broken up into smaller chunks of time, for example: 3 x 10 minutes, 20 minutes + 10 minutes, 2 x 15 minutes, etc., - whatever works best for the student. Beginners will start with fewer minutes per day. Advanced students and adults may have different practice schedules.) This will provide the student with the fastest progress, and again, provide everyone with the greatest return on their respective investment of time and money. (But please read below for other options! :) )
THE REALITY
I also understand that students (of any age) are very busy with school, other activities, and life, in general. These students may still want to spend time learning the piano, but only have the time, desire, or ability to commit to 0-4 days per week of practicing, and may have no interest in becoming a functional pianist. In that case, the students make slower progress at the piano and the lessons become more of a supervised practice session versus a regular lesson where we need the full 30 minutes go over new information and work on refining pieces. Lab-style lessons are best suited for students who prefer this less-frequent practice schedule. (Lab-style lessons are sort of a blend of group and individual lessons where 2-3 students work independently on their own pieces, but can meet at the same lesson time.)
YOUR PRACTICE/RESULTS EXPECTATIONS
Different amounts of practice will produce different results, so you can expect the following results based on the number of days the student practices:
Practicing 0-4 days each week = NO to VERY SLOW progress.
Practicing the weekly assignment only 0-4 days per week keeps students stuck in the more “difficult” phase of learning a piece of music because the physical skill has not been fully developed yet. It’s usually the 5th+ days of correct practicing that helps solidify the physical ability that week. And when practicing is only 0-2 days per week, students often don’t retain the knowledge and skill they developed in the previous week/s. (These students are best suited for lab-style lessons.)
Practicing 5-7 days each week = the fastest progress
Playing the weekly assignment will become much easier and usually more enjoyable by these days. This is the same with any sport, dance, or other activity (even dieting and regular exercise) that is practiced/played 5-7 days per week - you achieve the best results with that amount of work each week. (These students are best suited for private 1:1 lessons.)
ACCESS TO A PIANO AND WHAT KIND OF PIANO TO HAVE
All students must have DAILY access to a piano. If your child lives in two (or more) homes on a regular basis, please have a good-quality piano available in each home. (I’m happy to help you find an appropriate piano.)
Acoustic pianos (with 3 pedals) are best, but an electric/digital piano with 88 WEIGHTED keys, 3 pedals, and a solid base is an equally good substitute. Any piano/keyboard that does not meet these criteria is acceptable only for the first few months of lessons. I am happy to help you find a new or good-quality used piano if you aren’t sure what to get. Some are even low cost or free!
Where to buy a piano? Knapp’s Music in Bangor, Facebook Marketplace ads, Uncle Henry’s, Craigslist
VIDEO SET UP FOR ONLINE LESSONS
The best set up for online lessons is a two-camera set up. One camera will face the student so we may talk face-to-face, and the other camera will show a view of the student’s hands on the keyboard so I may see what they are playing. You can find more details in the CURRENT STUDENTS area of the website about what the cameras should show and what video equipment you may purchase, if needed.
If you only have an option for one camera, that set up will be of the keyboard. Talk with me for more details.
THE SCHEDULE FOR LESSONS AND STUDIO BREAKS
Regularly scheduled lessons will be held from 10 am to 5 pm on the three most requested days of the ‘Monday through Thursday’ week. (For example, last year, the most requested days were Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.) Changes may be made at my discretion.
The STUDIO SCHEDULE (of both lessons and breaks) is listed on the website in the “CURRENT STUDENTS” area.
YEARLY SCHEDULE: School-year lessons are held EVERY WEEK from September through late June except for: Christmas vacation, February vacation, and April vacation. Thanksgiving week lessons will be moved to earlier times on Monday and Tuesday of that week. Summer lessons are optional.
FOR STUDENTS WHO HAVE MONDAY LESSONS
For those who have lessons scheduled on these Mondays:
Labor Day/September
Indigenous Peoples Day/October
Veterans Day/November
Martin Luther King Day/January
Memorial Day/May
…you may move your lesson to a different time and/or day that week so you can have the Monday holiday off. Please feel free to reschedule (through Acuity Scheduling) any of those Monday lessons for a later time in those weeks, or simply send a video of what the student has worked on during the week and I will provide feedback through email, text, or video.
TUITION, COSTS, AND PAYMENTS
Lessons are offered and priced in three single-semester ‘packages’ listed below. PLEASE NOTE: The number of lessons, and tuition amount, can vary depending on school schedules.
FALL SEMESTER: September - late December (about 16 weeks)
SPRING SEMESTER: January - mid-June (about 23 weeks)
SUMMER SEMESTER: Late June - end of August (about 10 weeks)
The Fall and Spring semesters are very structured, and we’ll meet every week except for the 3 breaks listed above. PLEASE NOTE: The Spring semester is more expensive because it is about 6-7 weeks longer than the fall.
The summer term is extremely flexible. You choose how many lessons you would like to take, which could be anywhere from 1 to 10 lessons. You can schedule around camps, vacations, or even a simple day trip to enjoy the nice weather.
TUITION
Please check with me for tuition amounts as it varies depending which program you are in. (I am continuing to develop new programs and lesson options.)
Please note that tuition covers much more than just the time spent in lessons. It also goes toward the time and expense of any/all of the following:
Answering questions received through phone calls, texts, & emails
Researching teaching materials, online apps, music literature for students; and the cost of applicable materials
Lesson planning and unfillable missed lesson time
Professional development, continuing education, and professional association meetings
Recital expenses (hall rental, recital preparation, programs, etc.)
Instrument maintenance
Any other miscellaneous related time and expenses
PLEASE NOTE: Tuition may increase a bit each year to keep up with inflation.
COST OF BOOKS AND MATERIALS
The cost of music books and/or other materials that I purchase for you will be charged separately from tuition, and payment (through one of the payment methods below) is due when materials are received. If you prefer, you may make purchases yourself from a music store (such as Knapp’s Music) or online. I will let you know which items you’ll need to purchase.
A metronome is required. Apple products may download the Simply Metronome app (by Mango Future). (I’ve found that a simple metronome provides much more flexibility and is much easier for students to use.)
PAYMENT
Payment of tuition for the entire semester or entire group lesson period is due about one month before the first lesson of each semester in which the student is enrolled (I will announce the date each semester). You may pay by cash, check, Venmo, or ACH.
Tuition payments are non-refundable. Coverage of any bank fees, as well as the amount of the check, is expected on any returned checks.
LESSONS CHANGES, CANCELLATIONS, AND RESCHEDULING
ONE LESSON PER WEEK
Students will have one lesson each week. If you cannot attend your regular lesson time, you may move freely (using Acuity Scheduling) to any open time in the schedule during that same week. No lessons will be carried over into a new week or into a new semester.
TO CANCEL, RESCHEDULE, or SCHEDULE ANY LESSON
All lesson changes are done by you through Acuity Scheduling and MUST BE DONE AT LEAST 6 HOURS IN ADVANCE of the earliest lesson time.
If you do not see a certain lesson time open, that means it is not available. (You do not have to contact me to see if there is anything else available.)
If you do need to cancel your lesson, please do actually cancel it on Acuity to free up that time slot for someone else to use.
Once Acuity Scheduling is set up, it is fairly easy to use, but for anyone who has difficulty using a computer and/or online software, please let me know.
MAKE UP LESSONS
If a student is unable to attend her/his regular lesson time, and also cannot attend at another free time in the schedule within the same week as the missed lesson, you may take a video of what the student has accomplished for the week and send it to me for feedback. This should be done within 24 hours of the missed lesson time and day in order to maintain the consistency of weekly lessons and feedback. I will provide the feedback through email, text, or video, as deemed suitable. There will be no scheduled make up lessons. Make up lessons are only done by video recordings.
Please know that what is most important is the overall long-term progress and improvement of the student’s skills and knowledge. The majority of this occurs during consistent practice time at home 5-7 days per week, therefore, rest assured that missing one or two lessons here or there; or doing a video/feedback exchange from time to time, is of no concern and will not derail the student’s overall progress. Further, I am genuinely interested in helping each student become as good as possible, so I have a vested interest in creating an environment that helps them succeed in spite of whether we meet at the same time or not.
SEASONAL SPORTS/ACTIVITIES CONFLICTS: Students are welcome to change their regular lesson time when it conflicts with a seasonal sport or activity if a time before 5:00 pm is available. If there are no times available before 5:00 pm, students can do a video/feedback exchange during that sport/activity. They will be able to go back to their regular lesson time once the sport/activity is done for the season.
IF I HAVE TO CANCEL ANY LESSONS:
I will give you as much notice in advance as I can and I will make them up.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO TERMINATE LESSONS:
You may do so after the end of any semester.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
There will be several performance opportunities throughout the year. My studio will have two Student Showcase performances (recitals) during the year - usually held in mid-February and mid-June. Students are expected to perform, but no one is ever required.
Other performance opportunities include the Penobscot Valley Music Teachers Association (PVMTA) recital in mid-November, the All-Souls Church recital in May, and the Monster Piano Concert held biennially.
COMMUNICATION
Please know that you are welcome to contact me at any time with any questions or concerns. EMAIL IS THE BEST WAY TO REACH ME INITIALLY because it’s the most efficient and it allows us to have a record of our messages (if needed). We can then schedule a phone call if we need to talk more in-depth. I will respond as quickly as possible on Mondays through Thursdays, but emails that arrive on Fridays through Sundays may not receive a response until the following week.
Please note: I try to send as few group emails as possible because I know you’re busy and our e-mailboxes are already full. Also, please read and respond quickly (to emails/texts/calls) because sometimes there can be over 60 other people waiting for your response (especially when planning for the recitals/performances).
PHOTOS AND VIDEOS FOR THE WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
A picture says a thousand words and a video says even more! Pictures and videos of students performing are fun for both current and prospective families to see and something that students can be proud of. I’m always looking for photos and videos of happy students to add to the website, post on the studio Facebook business page (and my own Facebook page), and to use for promotional material, so please send them to me throughout the year! I will always ask for your permission before using them.
STUDIO POLICY UPDATES
Policy updates can occur at any time of the year and I will notify you of any important changes. Generally, however, I will usually make updates to the policy during the summer months with the intent to have the updates done by August 1st - prior to your registration for Fall lessons.