New Students

Every new student starts with a trial lesson. It's a chance for us to meet, play a little, and talk about what you're hoping to get out of lessons. The trial lesson is $40.

What Your Rate Covers

Your lesson rate covers more than the time we spend at the piano. It includes lesson planning, choosing repertoire for each student, recital preparation, and Certificate of Merit support.

Payment

Lessons are billed monthly in advance, based on the lessons scheduled for the coming month. Payment is due on the 1st. Most months have four lessons and some have five. I accept Zelle and cash.

Your Weekly Time Slot

Each student has a regular weekly lesson time reserved for them alone. That time stays yours as long as you're enrolled and attending regularly.

Cancellations and Rescheduling

Cancel with at least 24 hours' notice and we'll reschedule into an open slot within the following two weeks at no extra charge. I'll do my best to find a time that works.

Cancellations with less than 24 hours' notice, and no-shows, aren't rescheduled or credited.

Illness is the exception. If your child wakes up sick, just let me know and we'll reschedule, or hold the lesson online if they're well enough. Please keep sick students home.

If I ever need to cancel, that lesson is always rescheduled or credited.

Practice

Practice is what turns lessons into progress, and short daily sessions work far better than one long stretch the night before. As a general guide, beginners need about 15 to 20 minutes a day, five days a week. Intermediate students need 30 to 45 minutes. Students preparing for Certificate of Merit, competitions, or auditions need an hour or more.

Younger children usually need a parent nearby to help build the habit in the first year or so. I'll always send you home knowing exactly what to work on.

Books and Music

Families purchase the method books. I'll tell you which ones and where to find them, and they last a while. Everything beyond the method books, meaning the repertoire I select for each student, I provide.

The Studio Year

I teach year-round, observing national holidays and breaks including Thanksgiving week, winter break, and spring break, and closing for two weeks in the summer. Single-day holidays are rescheduled within the same week whenever possible so students don't lose lesson time. There's no charge for weeks the studio is closed.

Summer lessons continue at the same rates and on the same weekly schedule. Families traveling during the summer can schedule month to month. Students who continue through the summer get priority scheduling for fall.

In-Home Lessons

Lessons at your home are available on a limited basis, depending on my schedule and your location. They require an acoustic piano or full-size weighted keyboard in good working condition. A travel fee starting at $20, quoted by location, is added to the lesson rate.

Recitals and Certificate of Merit

I present a holiday recital in December or January and a spring recital in May or June. Students who want to take part in MTAC's Certificate of Merit program are prepared for the annual evaluations in performance, technique, theory, sight reading, and ear training.

Preparing for Certificate of Merit, Competitions, and Auditions

For students working toward Certificate of Merit evaluations, competitions, festivals, or auditions, I strongly recommend two lessons a week during the preparation period. Twice-weekly instruction gives us dedicated time for repertoire alongside technique, theory, and sight reading. It's available year-round or just for the months leading up to an event, depending on my schedule.

Referral Program

If you refer a family and they enroll, you earn a lesson credit applied to the following month's tuition. One credit per new student.

Withdrawal

Sometimes lessons need to stop, and that's completely fine. I just ask that you let me know two weeks in advance, before your final two lessons, by email or text. Those last two lessons are billed as usual, and anything you've paid beyond them is refunded.