Lessons are held weekly by our mutual scheduling agreement. During private lessons, parents are welcome to remain in the room, provided they are not a distraction to myself, the student, or the teaching process. I will often indicate points you might want to listen for during your child's practice at home and demonstrate practice tips to students. Your presence during lessons is one way you and I keep in contact about your child's progress and ways we together can help foster their musical development and improvement.  ”

— Lesson Format

Billing / Payment Tuition for lessons during the school year is billed monthly, from September to May inclusive. Tuition is due on the last lesson of the month prior. Monthly tuition rates: 30 Minutes - $100 45 Minutes - $150 60 Minutes - $190 Additional students from the same family each receive a $10 discount on their monthly tuition. As an example, tuition for a family with three students is $100+ $90 + $90 = $280   updated 8/1/16”

— Tuition

Materials Students should bring with them for every lesson: - Music  - Instrument - Everything that makes the instrument work (reeds, mouthpiece, ligature, valve oil, etc.) - Notebook for my writing down assignments. As I also include comments and practice tips and goals, the notebook also serves as one of many parent contact points for evaluation of progress. Students do NOT need to bring a music stand with them. They will be supplied at the lesson. Any music or supplies I provide to you, please pay for them along with the following month's tuition.”

— Materials

To maintain continued improvement, regular attendance at weekly lessons is important. I allow two lessons to be made up per school year, provided I receive a minimum of 24-hour notice. The only exception to the 24-hour notice requirement is in case of dire family emergency. Lessons missed without 24-hour notice, and absences beyond the two allotted excused absences, will not be made up and not credited. I endeavor to make lessons up within a month of the original date; however, many families' schedules are has hectic as mine and it can be difficult to find a time to reschedule within that time frame. If we are all patient and flexible, the opportunity will present itself. If, during the school year, you find a repeated, unavoidable conflict come up, please contact me as soon as you know about it. We can work together to see about finding a new lesson time. Band students should find out which day of the week band concerts are usually held and avoid scheduling lessons on that day of the week. Please note that I teach all the one-day holidays such as Labor Day, Memorial Day, Pulaski Day, President's Day, etc. If you will be missing a lesson on such a day, these are treated as any other missed lesson in regards to excusability and ability to make up.”

— Scheduling

1. Practice should ideally be daily, or at most not missing more than one day per week. It's the repetition over time that helps foster improvement. 2. Beginners should practice at least 20 minutes a day. That amount will increase as students progress. More advanced students should be practicing an hour or more per day. 3. The practice time does not necessarily need to be done in one sitting. Many students learn better if they break their half hour practice time into two or three sessions - maybe ten fifteen minutes each. 4. the goal of practice is not to do X number of minutes each day. The goal is to improve. It is possible that some weeks may need more time, others less. Some pieces of music will need more time, some less. 5. "Practice" doesn't mean play the songs three times and you're done. During lessons, I repeatedly offer practice advise, verbally and written in notebooks and in lesson books: - Slow practice with a metronome - (piano) Hands apart practice - (piano) Count out loud. For all students, I recommend writing counting in the music. - Variations in technical passages. Change the rhythm, change the dynamics, change the key. - Isolation. For example, if the rhythm in a section is tricky, just play the same note in the correct rhythm. 6. Focus on difficult areas for much of the practice time. If it's just one line of the piece that's hard, spend 50% or more of the practice time making it better. 7. Also allow time to play fun music - old songs, current fun songs, improvise, or compose. Music should be enjoyable, and most students' goal is to be able to play music they like. Do it!”

— Practice tips

We Have Enough - Silliman Competition Winner

All Shall Be Well

https://youtu.be/wJRo9UEHirQ

He is the Glory of Glories