PIANO LESSON POLICIES
Thank you for your participation in the study of piano. I hope your experience is enjoyable and that you will have many years of piano-playing ahead of you.
Attendance and payment policies are decribed below. But first, a thought about the role of the piano teacher:
It's my job to show you how to read notes and count the rhythm. But I also need to teach you how to practice at home. Most of the piano activity takes place when the teacher is not present, during home practice, so the home habits are of great importance. Practice time can be productive or not, depending on the approach. Mastering the piano requires discipline and focus. Still, we want to enjoy it and have fun every time we play. My job is to show you how to combine these 2 aspects. The students who make the most progress are the ones who are open to learning good practice habits.
The student is expected to display focus and courtesy during the lesson, and also to interact with the teacher as part of the lesson.
Practice, scheduling and payment policies are as follows:
Practice:
To become a musician, regular practice is essential. Repetition leads to mastery.
I recommend to make a practice schedule of at least 30 minutes per day (less for students aged 7-14), 4-7 times per week. Younger students usually benefit from scheduling a regular practice time with the help of their parents, and having their parents remind them of the practice time.
Scheduling and missed lessons
Please arrive on time for your scheduled lesson, as extra minutes cannot be granted for a lesson that starts late due to student tardiness.
If a lesson must be missed, please inform the teacher at least by the day before. With proper notice of a missed lesson, a makeup lesson may be arranged outside of the normal lesson time, when schedule permits. There is no time limit for makeup lessons.
If a lesson is missed without the proper advance notice, or if the student simply does not show up for the lesson, then the student forfeits the lesson and no makeup will be arranged. There are no exceptions to this policy.
Rarely, the teacher misses a lesson due to illness or other reason. In such cases there will be no charge for the lesson.
Payment
Payment is made in advance, at the beginning of each month. Payment for the coming month is due on the first lesson of the month. If payment is not received by the second lesson of the month, then the lesson time may be given to another student.
The monthly payment will vary based on the number of lessons in the coming month. Usually there are 4 lessons per month, occasionally there are 5, and in traditional holiday months there will usually be less than 4 lessons. Please check with the teacher if you are unsure how many lessons there will be in the upcoming month.
Music books provided by the teacher may be reimbursed by the student right away or with the next month’s tuition.
During the school season (Sept –May), the student must purchase the entire month in order to reserve the lesson time. The exception is in the months of December and March, when the schools are closed for Christmas and Spring Break. I take my vacations at those times, and there is no charge for those weeks. Summer is a different policy. In the summer, if vacations are planned, just let me know in advance and we can skip those lessons, with tuition being reduced accordingly.
Please let me know if you have any questions about the above policies. All policies are designed to make the studio function smoothly for all so that we can focus our energies on making music.
Thank you,
Beverly Cashin
[email protected]
301-1599
Thank you for your participation in the study of piano. I hope your experience is enjoyable and that you will have many years of piano-playing ahead of you.
Attendance and payment policies are decribed below. But first, a thought about the role of the piano teacher:
It's my job to show you how to read notes and count the rhythm. But I also need to teach you how to practice at home. Most of the piano activity takes place when the teacher is not present, during home practice, so the home habits are of great importance. Practice time can be productive or not, depending on the approach. Mastering the piano requires discipline and focus. Still, we want to enjoy it and have fun every time we play. My job is to show you how to combine these 2 aspects. The students who make the most progress are the ones who are open to learning good practice habits.
The student is expected to display focus and courtesy during the lesson, and also to interact with the teacher as part of the lesson.
Practice, scheduling and payment policies are as follows:
Practice:
To become a musician, regular practice is essential. Repetition leads to mastery.
I recommend to make a practice schedule of at least 30 minutes per day (less for students aged 7-14), 4-7 times per week. Younger students usually benefit from scheduling a regular practice time with the help of their parents, and having their parents remind them of the practice time.
Scheduling and missed lessons
Please arrive on time for your scheduled lesson, as extra minutes cannot be granted for a lesson that starts late due to student tardiness.
If a lesson must be missed, please inform the teacher at least by the day before. With proper notice of a missed lesson, a makeup lesson may be arranged outside of the normal lesson time, when schedule permits. There is no time limit for makeup lessons.
If a lesson is missed without the proper advance notice, or if the student simply does not show up for the lesson, then the student forfeits the lesson and no makeup will be arranged. There are no exceptions to this policy.
Rarely, the teacher misses a lesson due to illness or other reason. In such cases there will be no charge for the lesson.
Payment
Payment is made in advance, at the beginning of each month. Payment for the coming month is due on the first lesson of the month. If payment is not received by the second lesson of the month, then the lesson time may be given to another student.
The monthly payment will vary based on the number of lessons in the coming month. Usually there are 4 lessons per month, occasionally there are 5, and in traditional holiday months there will usually be less than 4 lessons. Please check with the teacher if you are unsure how many lessons there will be in the upcoming month.
Music books provided by the teacher may be reimbursed by the student right away or with the next month’s tuition.
During the school season (Sept –May), the student must purchase the entire month in order to reserve the lesson time. The exception is in the months of December and March, when the schools are closed for Christmas and Spring Break. I take my vacations at those times, and there is no charge for those weeks. Summer is a different policy. In the summer, if vacations are planned, just let me know in advance and we can skip those lessons, with tuition being reduced accordingly.
Please let me know if you have any questions about the above policies. All policies are designed to make the studio function smoothly for all so that we can focus our energies on making music.
Thank you,
Beverly Cashin
[email protected]
301-1599