Studio Policy

Annual Schedule

The studio year begins on the Monday after Labor Day and runs through the following August. Students with a “standard” lesson package will receive 36 lessons annually and will be scheduled for a weekly time during the school year. Students with a “high school” lesson package will receive 20 lessons annually and will be scheduled for approximately every second week. Summer lessons run from June through August and are scheduled on a flexible basis. All studio vacations are indicated on the calendar in the studio portal.

Payment

Annual tuition is collected in full at the beginning of the school year or in 4 or 12 installments. Tuition may be mailed, given to the instructor at a lesson prior to the due date, sent through online banking, or paid online with a credit card or PayPal (follow the directions on the invoice or log in to the studio portal). Students’ parents (or adult students) are invoiced for tuition electronically.

Tuition that is late will incur a 15% late fee.

Attendance

Unless other arrangements are made, lessons will be held in your home. Lessons are 45, 60, or 90 minutes. Thirty minute lessons are offered as an option for students who are in preschool or kindergarten.

Learning happens best when attendance is regular. Please make every effort to attend your weekly lessons. If you need to cancel a lesson, please do so by going to the studio portal and removing yourself from the date in question. A credit will appear in your account that you may use in any open spot on the calendar through the end of the studio year in August. If there is not an open spot that works for you, check back again, as new slots will be added as dates approach, and students may cancel lessons at any point, leaving their slots open.

Lessons that are canceled by the instructor will also be granted a credit in the studio portal and may be rescheduled as you wish.

Students wishing to take extended time off from lessons must continue to pay tuition or will forfeit their spot in the studio and be placed on the waiting list for a new spot should they wish to return to lessons.

Terminating Lessons

Lessons may be terminated by the student at any time. Any tuition that has been paid will not be refunded.

The instructor may terminate lessons at any time. Potential reasons for termination include nonpayment, poor attendance, lack of practice, discipline problems, or non-compliance with studio policies. Any tuition that has been paid will not be refunded.

Required Equipment

• Piano and Voice students should have piano that is kept tuned and in good condition with all keys sounding, no keys sticking, and a damper pedal that functions properly. At a minimum, pianos should be tuned annually.
  • An electric keyboard is acceptable instead of a piano if it has 88 weighted and touch sensitive keys, a functioning pedal, a music stand, and a proper keyboard stand and bench.
• Voice students should also have a music stand and a free Google Drive account that the student can access from a computer, phone, or tablet (accompaniment files will be stored online).
• All students should have:
  • A metronome (or access to a metronome app at each practice session)
  • Pencils to be kept at the piano
  • A binder

Music

LWMS takes copyright laws very seriously. Therefore, students must own all music they will use on a regular basis. Pieces that are not owned may occasionally be borrowed from the studio library. Additionally, the studio subscribes to online music sources and purchase licenses to print other pieces.

“Fair use” photocopies may be made of music that you already own so that we can write on or cut up the score for purpose of analysis or to make it more portable in the students’ binders. Note, however, that for most festivals and examinations, photocopied music that is brought into the room is cause for disqualification. If you make copies of your own music, please be careful with them.

Performances

Annual performances typically include one or two recitals.

Festivals & Events

Students who meet the eligibility requirements are invited to participate in regional, state, and national festivals and competitions. Fees for entering these events will be billed as needed.

Practice, Performing, & Resources

Practice & Assignments

In order for a student to enjoy lessons, they must be prepared for lessons. Preparation includes practice. If a student doesn’t put in regular practice time during the week, they often end up having a frustrating lesson because we must review the materials that were not learned during the previous week. If we get into this cycle, new music isn’t assigned as often, new concepts are not learned as quickly, learning pieces for festivals and performances becomes stressful, and lessons become drudgery instead of fun. When this happens, none of us are happy!

Regular practice is the key to success. Here are some practice tips:

• Try to make a student’s practice time part of their daily schedule. If you know that practice happens daily, say, right before dinner, then it becomes a habit, and it’s not as tempting to skip. Students are also involved in so many different activities that it’s easier to make practice part of the daily routine just like homework is.
• At the beginning of the year we will set a weekly practice goal for your student. While on occasion it’s OK to do fewer but longer practice sessions, it’s actually more effective to do more, shorter practices. Some families break up 30-minute practices into 15 minutes in the morning and 15 in the afternoon. Others do 15 minutes a day on weekdays and 30 minutes on Saturdays and Sundays.
• The most important practice of the week happens as soon as possible after the lesson. If you can practice immediately after your lesson or the very next day, the things we covered in the lesson will be better retained.
• Some families find it easier for students to practice in the morning before going to school.
• I’ve known families to employ very creative techniques to encourage their kids to practice. Some families don’t allow any screen time (for entertainment) until practice is done. Some parents tie practice time to weekly allowance. One family I knew even said that the student didn’t have to help with doing the dishes after dinner if that time was used for practice instead. Yes, ultimately, we would like to have students motivated to practice on their own, but until you have children who brush their teeth on their own or complete their homework without reminders, it is likely that you will have to remind them to practice.
• The younger the child, the more their practice needs to be monitored. A parent does not need to know how to play the instrument to assist with practice time. The parent can look at the student’s list of items to work on, ask to hear certain pieces, ask the child to teach the parent how to play things, and just spend time with the child at the instrument.
• If a practice question comes up during the week (Where do I put my hands? What tempo should this song be played? What did you say about this piece’s dynamics?), students or parents are welcome to contact me. In fact, I welcome texts, emails or calls from students, as it means they are taking some initiative in their own progress! The sooner you contact me after a question comes up, the better. Sometimes it will be helpful to snap a photo or take a video of the piece in question so that I have something to reference when answering.

Performing

Performing is an important part of being a musician, but I do understand that some students are very anxious about performance. Even if a student doesn’t end up performing in a studio recital, I ask that every student prepare a piece as if they were going to perform. I will do my best to encourage students to participate in performances, but at the end of the day, it will be up to the student and parent. If a student decides not to perform, it is still a valuable experience for them to come to the event and hear and encourage the other students.

Sometimes it is easier for shy students to perform if they are not on stage by themselves. In this case, I will sometimes play a duet with the student or arrange for them to perform a duet with another student.

Resources

Piano Tuning & Repairs

Pianos should be tuned a minimum of once a year. You can find a qualified technician through the Piano Technicians Guild – www.ptg.org