2024-2025 General Studio Policy

Class content:

The majority of each lesson will be devoted to learning new pieces. Most beginning to elementary students will learn pieces from the Faber Piano Adventures method, supplemented by pieces from other sources. Intermediate and advanced students will learn from a variety of collections, with a general focus on classical music.

Other components of the lesson may include the following:

Music theory. Pages of theory homework will be assigned every week; just like any school homework, these theory pages must be completed in a timely manner.
Scales, studies, and technical exercises.
Listening/Aural Skills
Sight Reading

Yearly events:

There are a variety of yearly events that a student may participate in. At the beginning of the academic year, a list of events will be distributed out to every student. Students are expected to select and commit to their chosen events and prepare accordingly. Registration for these events will be done throughout the year. There will be no refund for these events regardless of preparedness.

Lesson Materials:

Lesson materials (for example, books, binders, and worksheets) are expected to be brought to every lesson. New lesson books should be purchased in a timely manner (purchasing from a local music store or online music retailer is highly encouraged!) Lesson books are not provided by the studio.

Home Piano:

You are required to have a piano at home to take lessons.

An acoustic piano is strongly recommended, as they offer a much wider range of control and depth of sound than a digital piano. An acoustic will feel very different from even the best digital pianos. Students tend to develop better playing technique earlier, and tend to remain with their piano studies for longer, when they learn on one.

If this is not an option for you, a digital piano is acceptable as long as it meets the following: 1) Full keyboard (88 keys); 2) Fully weighted, touch-sensitive keys; and 3) Pedals. Please note that electric pianos are generally marketed in two categories; digital pianos and keyboards. Do not purchase a keyboard, as they tend to be low-quality

Practice Policy:

Learning any instrument takes a lot of hard work, and will not always be fun.

Students are expected to practice 5-6 days a week, for an adequate amount of time for their level. This is to make sure that students develop a consistent, routine practice schedule without several days’ gap between practice sessions. Otherwise, improvement will be slow, and students will lose confidence.

It is important to create a distraction-free environment for practice. Please schedule an hour of quiet time daily for a student to do so.

If a student does not practice or prepare well for three weeks in a row without a reasonable excuse, I’ll reach out to you with a warning and an invitation for discussion.

Communications Policy:
I will send out weekly lesson assignments to the email given on your enrollment form. These emails may
also contain other correspondence related to the students' learning, such as requests for new books and
practice concerns. It is your responsibility to read these and pass them on.

Health and Safety Guidelines

If a student is sick, do not attend the lesson in-person. Please request an online lesson or reschedule instead. I reserve the right to turn away a student who shows up to their lesson with clear symptoms of illness. In these cases I may offer a make-up lesson depending on my availability, but this is not guaranteed.

Please be courteous and wear a mask if you are sneezing. I reserve the right to ask a student to wear a mask if I feel it is necessary. I may also wear a mask if I feel it is necessary.

Online Lessons:
An online lesson conducted through Zoom may be requested if a student is sick (or a family member is
sick), if I am sick, or if there is inclement weather. Requests for online lessons for any other reason will
not be considered. If you cannot attend your lesson, please request a make-up lesson or permanent time
change.

I do not offer regularly occurring online lessons.

Attendance Policies:

Please contact me for details.

Tuition Fees and Rates:

Please contact me for details.