Research has indicated repeatedly that the study and daily practice of music has a dramatic impact on many areas of learning and growth, not to mention the intrinsic joy that it brings to one’s life.  The Music 4 Living Studio will accept students who are committed, who come prepared to lessons, and who are cooperative about scheduling. 

Private Lessons:

30-minute, 45-minute or 1 hour lessons are scheduled once a week, either on Monday or Thursday afternoon/early evening or on Tuesday or Friday afternoons.  Additional lessons can be scheduled (as time is available) to help prepare for an important audition or show.   Lessons are taught during the school year and during the summer. 

There is a break at the beginning of the summer, following Memorial Day until mid-June (week of June 21, 2010) and then the summer session officially starts.  There is another short break at the end of summer (last lesson on Thursday August 19, 2010) through the Labor Day holiday.  After Labor Day, lessons will resume for the school year and lesson times will be adjusted to fit school schedules.  There is a short 2-3 week break during the holidays around Christmas & New Year’s. 

Preparedness:
Students are expected to prepare their lesson material to the best of their ability. This is your homework!

Practice Time

Expect to practice a minimum of 20 minutes each day; at least 5 days a week for 30-minute lesson students.  Expect to practice a minimum of 30 minutes each day; at least 5 days a week for 45 + 60 minute lesson students. Make sure you include warm-ups at the beginning of your practice time.  Don’t dive right into the material first.  Make sure your voice or fingers are warmed up & ready to go.  Remember, daily practice will yield the best results.  This is the only way you will improve!

Quality Practice

Sometimes students should be playing through a piece from beginning to end, but more often students need to isolate problem spots within a piece and work on those, always remembering to "put the music back together" in the end.

Practice time should take place in a quiet, well-lit, and comfortable area.   Practice time should be interruption-free (i.e.: no phone calls, no TV, no computer, etc).   Ideally, practice time should be at a consistent time each day. 

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit".      Aristotle

Attendance:
Expected!  Students are also expected to arrive at their lesson on time and warmed-up.  Your lesson time will not be extended because you are late. 

If you know you have a conflict with a specific lesson date coming up, let your teacher know as soon as possible.  The amount of notice given and the reason for missing the lesson will play a role in whether you are charged or not for that lesson.  If your lesson starts late due to the teacher running behind with students, your full lesson time will be given to you either that week or the next.

Make-up Lessons:
A teacher is not obligated to make-up an unexcused lesson you missed. If the teacher must miss a lesson, a make-up lesson will be given.

If the teacher is not notified in advance about a lesson to be missed, the student WILL BE CHARGED for the lesson and the teacher is not obligated to make up the lesson. There is a limit of 2 make-up lessons per semester.

Payment:

Payment is expected at the first lesson of the month for that entire month. 

Lessons must be paid for in a timely manner. If the balance is not paid by the time agreed upon, lessons will stop. 

If you know you have a conflict with a lesson within the month you are paying for, please discuss it with your teacher at the time of payment & accommodations may be made.

It is not usually acceptable to cancel lessons because of a birthday party, sporting event or other social activity. Hiring a private music teacher means devoting time to that weekly lesson and keeping absenteeism to a bare minimum.

Student's Responsibility to the Teacher:

1.         Be fully prepared for each lesson.  (Practice the material you have been assigned to work on.)

2.         Follow guidelines pertaining to absenteeism. (Give appropriate notice.)

3.                Provide documentation (calendar) of practice time each week (initialed by parent if under 16)

4.                Provide and bring a spiral notebook and your music with you to each lesson.

5.         Provide & bring a 3-ring binder with you to each lesson for handouts and sheet music.

            (Note: you can decorate this binder however you want)

6.                Check yourself in (at the beginning of your lesson) in the student folder.

7.               Voice students must bring a thumb drive/USB drive/flash drive to record each lesson. (The recording is to be reviewed during the week to assist with learning new music, warm-ups and techniques.)

8.         Take notes in your notebook or on the music about new ideas, songs, and assignments.

Music

The teacher will provide most vocal music.  Specific songs that the teacher does not have in her inventory can usually be purchased online and downloaded for immediate use at sites like www.MusicNotes.com and these online sheet music songs typically are $5.25 each.  The cost of the songs is the responsibility of the student or parent.  Parents & students are responsible for providing recommended piano books.

Instrument Care:

For piano students: Pianos must be kept in good working order and tuned to ensure optimal progress, including a properly working sustain pedal. Remember the training of a student’s "ear" is as important as the training of the fingers!

For voice students: Your voice is your instrument.  Do your best to take good care of it, which means taking good care of yourself.  Get plenty of rest.  Avoid smoke.  Do not strain your voice.

Parent Responsibility:

All children/students need help with discipline. Expect to have to remind, encourage, even badger your children to practice from time to time. Students and parents both need to be accountable for consistent, quality practice. After good practice habits are established, if your student consistently doesn’t want to practice, then call your teacher to talk about it.  And don’t forget to call the teacher if there is something that your child does not understand.                                                                                              Revised 3/7/10