Tuition
✵ Your tuition is a purchase of teacher and studio time that is reserved for you for the teaching year. Tuition fees take into consideration not only lesson time and licensing fees, but the many hours that are spent in lesson planning, maintaining and developing teacher certifications, bookkeeping, etc.
✵ Current tuition fees are a flat rate of $150 per month for private lessons. Cash or checks are accepted. There will be a $30 fee for bounced checks.
✵ Lesson Cycles will be by calendar month. Tuition is due at the last lesson of the month for the following month.
✵ No refunds if you discontinue lessons before the end of the month.
✵ Tuition does NOT cover Student Home Materials which must be purchased separately by the student.
Student Home Materials
✵ To ensure success, students are required to purchase the Simply Music instructional materials to use at home. Professionally prepared, these video, audio and print aids allow students to easily and effectively review much of the material presented in their lessons. Regardless of the student’s age or experience, the Student Home Materials (SHM) dramatically increase their results and playing satisfaction.
✵ You purchase your own digital copy of all needed materials directly from Simply Music.
✵ Students must have access to appropriate internet service and internet-ready devices in order to properly use the SHM.
✵ I will provide you with information on how and what to purchase. Please save your login information.
Attendance
✵ Regular and prompt attendance is necessary to make consistent and appropriate progress. When you enroll into lessons, you are paying to secure a specific time, on a specific day. This is your time that you are paying for, and this time is set aside, for the entire Lesson Cycle, as your exclusive time. As such, classes missed for any reason generally will not be credited.
✵ With 24-hour advance notice, students may request that a lesson be rescheduled.
✵ Lessons will NOT be rescheduled for no-shows or same day cancellations.
✵ Illness – If you are sick, or think you may be getting sick, please contact me right away to cancel or reschedule your lesson.
✵ For any teacher absences, you will be credited in the following month.
Studio Policies
✵ Weekly Lessons – When you arrive for your lesson, you may walk in without knocking. Please arrive no more than five minutes early for your lesson. If the previous lesson is still in session when you arrive, please take a seat quietly so as not to interrupt the lesson. I also ask that you remove your shoes upon entering my studio.
✵ Use of Electronics – Prior to entering the studio, please turn OFF your cell phone and put it away for the duration of the lesson.
✵ Food and Drink – Food, chewing gum, candy, and beverages are not allowed during lessons.
✵ Illness – If you are sick, or think you may be getting sick, please contact me right away to cancel or reschedule your lesson.
Practicing
✵ The pursuit of musicianship is a long-term endeavor, and the Simply Music method emphasizes the fact that the learning that makes this endeavor successful occurs at home, between lessons, through the course of an effective practice routine. Students who commit to such a routine through the ups and downs of a student’s long-term relationship with playing music stand the greatest chance of success.
✵ Students are expected to commit to a schedule of regular and consistent practice throughout each week. Ideally, the practice amount begins at 15-20 minutes per day, taking place daily at the same time each day. A minimum of 5-6 days a week is expected, and the time required daily will increase somewhat as the student progresses through the program.
✵ Any newly assigned material should be reviewed in full on the day of the lesson, as soon as possible after the lesson, thus reinforcing what was covered.
✵ Review the Student Home Materials at least twice per week.
✵ Students are asked to not skip ahead to any program content beyond what has been covered during lesson time. There are learning strategies that are not shown on the videos. These just give an edited, summary version of what we do in the lessons.
Termination of Lessons
✵ Students are free to cancel or discontinue lessons at any time, for any reason. However, as an encouragement to honor music lessons as a long-term commitment, I do not refund any fees paid in advance.
✵ If you are considering discontinuing lessons, for any reason, please contact me directly by e-mail, phone or in person to discuss your decision. This will allow me to offer advice, discuss transitioning to a different instrument or teacher, or even find a solution that you might not have considered.
✵ Circumstances where a student is asked to leave may include persistent absences, an uncooperative attitude, or lack of on-time payment. If a student is dismissed, they will receive a refund for the value of tuition for any remaining lessons not yet taken for the current month.