Studio Policies

Punctuality and Attendance

Regular lesson attendance is essential to a students’ musical progress. Students are expected to arrive at lessons with all their music and materials and leave their piano lessons at their scheduled times. Please avoid scheduling conflicts during your child’s lesson as refunds will not be given for missed lessons. 

Make-Up Policy

The time for your lesson has been reserved for you and due to my limited availability, makeup lessons for student cancellations cannot be guaranteed. However, student's will be allowed 2 rescheduled lessons per year (1 per semester) for extreme illness to be scheduled during regular teaching hours or one Saturday a month will be set aside for rescheduled lessons.  ​If a student is too sick to attend in person but well enough to have a lesson, lessons will be given online over zoom to avoid cancellations. Students may always choose to opt for a Zoom lesson at their normal lesson time rather than cancelling, should a virtual lesson be more suitable to the student’s circumstances. 
Instructor Absence: If the instructor has to cancel for any reason, a make-up lesson will be arranged at a convenient time for both parties.

Tuition Rates for 2024-2025

Tuition is a flat monthly rate based on 38 teaching weeks, following the Houston County School calendar, for the year 2024-2025 from August through May. Some months may have 3 lessons and some may have 5, but tuition remains the same. Summer lessons are required but the summer months of June and July are scheduled weekly based on teacher and student schedule.  There are no lessons fall break, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or spring break.  Please refer to studio calendar for lesson weeks. ​Holidays do not affect monthly tuition.  Students are responsible for purchasing all piano books and materials.
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45 minute private lessons are given for Beginner level: $145/month
60 minute private lessons are given for Intermediate/Advanced: $190/month

Tuition Policies

​Tuition is due by the 8th of the month and a late fee of $10 will be added to the next bill for payments received after the 8th of the month.  Those who are chronically late with payments may be dismissed from the studio.  Payments may be made by cash, check, or Venmo.  Tuition is not reduced for absences of any kind. 

Practice and Assignments

"Talent is not inborn, every child acquires ability through experience. 

Achievement is the product of energy and patience."

-Shinichi Suzuki

Students should establish a routine of uninterrupted practice everyday. Building a specific time for practicing into your child’s routine helps ensure that regular practice sessions become a habit. Ideally, your piano should be kept in a quiet area free from distractions. The discipline of regular daily practice is expected and absolutely essential to students' success as it leads to progress which fuels motivation. Notes from the weekly lesson detail short-term goals and relevant practice strategies for each lesson assignment. Length of practice will vary based on student's level of advancement. 
          Weekly assignments, which may include listening to pieces and theory pages, should be viewed as "homework" and completion and thorough preparation of assignments is expected for each lesson. Assignments are posted in the practicespace app and students are expected to use it to track their practice. I expect students to practice daily and stress that learning something new takes hard work, devotion, and repetition. Students are expected to keep a record of their daily home practice.
          For beginning 5-year-old students, practice should consist of 10-20 minutes per day with the goal of 100 minutes a week.  Older beginners should strive for 30 minute practice sessions. Intermediate and advanced students must increase practice time to 45-60 minutes.  The higher the level, the more time required for practicing.  More important than the length of practice, however, is the concentration of the student when practicing.  Short daily practice sessions can be far more effective than sporadic longer sessions, particularly for children. If your child's schedule or attention span is limited, try a few separate "mini practice sessions" per day; perhaps 10 minutes before school, 10 minutes after homework, and 10 minutes before bed would work better for your child than a single 30-minute practice session right after school. 
​Students and parents are encouraged to contact me during the week with any questions or confusion regarding the week's practice assignments. 

Parents' Share

Each parent is responsible for encouraging the student in all aspects of their music study and aiding the student in scheduling regular, uninterrupted practice time. ​Success in learning to play an instrument depends in large measure, on parental involvement.  Please check your child's assignment book regularly to know what they are supposed to be working on. Parents are expected to be actively involved in practicing with beginners and young children until they reach an age where they can be more self-directed in their practicing.

Materials

Parents are responsible for purchasing all required music books for their student. Each student also requires a 1" binder with dividers for their lessons to keep sheet music and other printed materials necessary for the learning process. 
Depending on the student's note-reading ability, an additional purchase of a note-reading app may be required.

Equipment

Students must have a piano at home for daily practice before beginning lessons. A well-tuned acoustic piano is preferable, but a digital piano with 88 weighted, touch-sensitive keys and a pedal is acceptable. While digital keyboards have their merits, they simply do not offer the same range of touch or musical possibilities as an acoustic piano. To maintain optimal condition, acoustic pianos should be tuned yearly and kept in an environment free from large fluctuations in temperature or humidity.
Feel free to contact me with any questions regarding your family’s search for a suitable piano. 

Performance Opportunities

All students are strongly encouraged to participate in performance opportunities given in the studio.  There will be a recital in the spring for parents and family to attend.  Students are expected to participate in the recital which gives them an opportunity to practice performance skills as well as audience etiquette. Additional performance opportunities will also occur throughout the year. If your student desires to take the RCM Exams, please let me know as they require more time for preparation. 

Communication

It is very important that parents and teachers communicate regularly.  Please feel free to contact me via e-mail or phone regarding your child's progress, concerns, or difficulties.