Practice Policies
Practicing:
Practice supplies (at home):
- Daily practice is a requirement for all students.
- Students may be required to keep a log noting their daily practice time.
- For beginners, the required minimal daily practice is 20-30 minutes. For intermediate level students, daily practice time is 30-45+ minutes. For advanced students, the minimum daily practice time is 45-60 minutes. These are minimum times for students who hope to make satisfactory progress.
- Young students will need significant parental assistance and supervision in practicing. Pre-teen students will still require some parental supervision, support, and encouragement.
- Please read these helpful tips on effective practicing.
Practice supplies (at home):
- Acoustic/Digital piano (acoustic instruments should be tuned at least once a year)
- Digital piano must have 88 weighted keys piano with pedal attachment, sturdy frame (not X-stand), and adjustable bench. See http://techland.time.com/2014/01/23/the-definitive-guide-to-digital-pianos/
- Metronome (recommended: Korg KDM2)
- Dictionary of Musical Terms (or access to online music dictionary, e.g. http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/)
- Pedal extender for students who can't reach the pedals (inquire at lesson)
Lesson Policies
- Students are expected to arrive on time for their lesson. Lessons that started late due to student tardiness will not be extended and will end at the regularly scheduled time. You may quietly enter the studio up to 5 minutes before your scheduled lesson time.
- Supplies to be brought to each lesson: music/theory books that we are currently using, Piano Prodigies assignment book, video recorder or phone with video capabilities
- If student is showing continuous lack of preparation, disinterest, disrespect, or is not valuing our time together, I reserve the right to terminate our lessons. Students who are late or miss more than 3 lessons per school year may be terminated.
Communication
Studio membership is limited and it is the instructor's goal to provide personal, thorough, and quick-response times to communications. The instructor may be reached by email and phone call (text messaging may be used for short inquiries). Please do not use Facebook and other messaging platforms - these accounts are not checked regularly enough to make them a viable form of communication, and will not be accepted for lesson cancellations.
If instructor is away for performances, she will accept videos to demonstrate practice progress, and will provide video or written feedback.
If instructor is away for performances, she will accept videos to demonstrate practice progress, and will provide video or written feedback.
Cancellations
When you register for lessons, you are reserving a specific weekly time for the duration of the lesson contract. The studio runs at full capacity and makeup lessons are not guaranteed. The instructor will make an effort to reschedule lessons cancelled with over 24 hours notice, however this is at the discretion and availability of the instructor. Lessons cancelled within 24 hours will not be made up.
Please always provide notification of the cancellation (phone call, text message, and email are the only accepted forms of notice). When the studio is given advance notification of a cancellation, students who have missed one or more lessons will be invited to take that opening. Please note that this "make-up" may be shorter than the student's regularly scheduled lesson and/or may be shared with another student at a similar level.
Student Illness: If a student is ill (cough, sneezing, fever, etc.) please do not bring him/her to the lesson. If the student is feeling up to it, a virtual lesson may be scheduled at the student's original lesson time. Otherwise, you will be placed on a makeup list (see above).
Severe Weather: Please call or email to discuss options. We may be able to schedule a virtual lesson at the student's original lesson time (see below).
Instructor Cancellation: In the event the instructor cancels a lesson due to professional reasons, health, or unforeseen circumstances, students will receive notification and the lesson will be rescheduled. I reserve the right to offer online lessons in place of studio lessons if circumstances require it, and call upon a short-term substitute if needed.
For one-time lesson swaps due to conflicting events such as sports, travel, medical appointments, etc., parents are encouraged to exchange lesson times with other families in the studio. If two or more children are taking lessons and one is unable to attend his/her lesson, another child in the family may use this lesson time.
Please always provide notification of the cancellation (phone call, text message, and email are the only accepted forms of notice). When the studio is given advance notification of a cancellation, students who have missed one or more lessons will be invited to take that opening. Please note that this "make-up" may be shorter than the student's regularly scheduled lesson and/or may be shared with another student at a similar level.
Student Illness: If a student is ill (cough, sneezing, fever, etc.) please do not bring him/her to the lesson. If the student is feeling up to it, a virtual lesson may be scheduled at the student's original lesson time. Otherwise, you will be placed on a makeup list (see above).
Severe Weather: Please call or email to discuss options. We may be able to schedule a virtual lesson at the student's original lesson time (see below).
Instructor Cancellation: In the event the instructor cancels a lesson due to professional reasons, health, or unforeseen circumstances, students will receive notification and the lesson will be rescheduled. I reserve the right to offer online lessons in place of studio lessons if circumstances require it, and call upon a short-term substitute if needed.
For one-time lesson swaps due to conflicting events such as sports, travel, medical appointments, etc., parents are encouraged to exchange lesson times with other families in the studio. If two or more children are taking lessons and one is unable to attend his/her lesson, another child in the family may use this lesson time.
Financial Policies
- No refunds or credits will be issued due to missed or canceled lessons.
- A late fee of 5% will be added to any payment past due, and payment will be required by credit card at th enext lesson.
- A $200 early termination fee will be applied for any student who discontinues lessons during the year (this amount will be withheld from any tuition refund)
Media Release
- Photos of students may be posted online and used by the instructor for promotional materials (if an individual photo/video, you will be notified and asked for permission). The instructor may also post videos and audio recordings of student performances. Identifying information of students will be excluded or limited to first name only. If a parent wishes to exempt their students from any published media, they may do so by providing a written exclusion request.
