Frequently Asked Questions

I want to instill a love and appreciation of music in my students. Piano lessons can have a reputation of being boring and difficult because of practicing. One of my biggest goals is for students to have fun in every lesson, and I always listen to their ideas and interests. I tailor each lesson to that specific student and always consider their personality and learning styles. I choose unique music with each individual student in mind. We will play songs I choose for them, and we will play songs that they request! 

I encourage creativity, improvisation, and composition. I never want to do anything to discourage my students! Although part of my job is to correct mistakes, I always do it in a way that validates the student’s efforts. Even though practicing can seem like a chore, especially at first, it is my goal to help students realize that they improve with practice. When they are playing well, and they are happy with how they sound, they can understand the value of spending time at the piano! I am also a believer in challenging students occasionally and letting them see how amazing it feels to conquer something difficult! 

Monthly tuition is $130. I teach 30 lessons during the school year. These are divided into 9 equal payments from September to May, so your payment will be the same regardless of the number of lessons in a month. Payments are automatically charged on the 1st of each month by credit card or bank draft. Summer lessons will be offered in packages and are not mandatory. You may choose to take as many or as few lessons as you would like during the time I am teaching in the summer. 

While I am mostly teaching online lessons, I will consider teaching a student in person if the family of the student is fully vaccinated.  I am fully vaccinated, and I would never do anything to endanger the health of my students, their families, or anyone. I always clean the piano before and after each lesson, and I always require students to wash their hands. (This has always been normal protocol in my studio.)  

Yes, you will need to have a piano or keyboard available for practicing at home. Eventually, you will want to consider purchasing a full-sized instrument with weighted keys. I am happy to discuss options for this anytime. 

Lessons take place once a week. In person lessons are 30 minutes; online lessons are 35-40 minutes to allow for possible technical issues. If you want a longer lesson, we can discuss that.

In my studio, there are two main differences. First, the sound is different. The microphone picks up surrounding noises, so it’s important for the room to be relatively quiet during a student’s lesson. There are technical difficulties at times, but I allow extra time in each lesson in case we need to address any issues. 

Second, I am not there to demonstrate and point. I have been teaching online since early 2018, so I’ve learned how to fix these problems! I have both an overhead camera and a side-view camera, so I am easily able to demonstrate passages, fingerings, hand positions, posture, and etc. Since I’m not there to point to specific places in the music, my students have learned to count measures and quickly find specific notes!

Here are some helpful examples of a good camera angle for our online lessons:

QUALITY practice is much more valuable than QUANTITY. We will set goals at each lesson, and I ask that they focus on these goals and assignments at home. Your encouragement makes all the difference! Playing time (practice) may be longer on some days than others, but we never want to turn it into a chore! Ideally, I would like for your child to spend time at the piano at least 4 or 5 days per week. My most successful students are ones who have scheduled piano time into their regular schedule. Playing the piano is also a wonderful break from screens! Encourage your student to use their playing time as a way to relax, rest their eyes, and take a break from homework and screens.

You will need a tablet or laptop and WiFi. 

Your tuition covers all books and music needed for the year. I will provide each student with a binder full of music that I have chosen specifically for them. For online lessons, I will occasionally ask parents to print a piece of music that I will email, but most music is already included in the binder. Your tuition also includes professional memberships, subscriptions, apps, and more that I use to keep my lessons fresh and updated. 

I am happy to start students who are at least 6 years old or in the 1st grade. 

Yes! I normally do two recitals per year – one in the fall and one in the spring. I do not require students to memorize music, and these are not mandatory – but I do encourage every student to participate!

You can find all our studio policies here.

We plan our calendar as closely as possible around the local school calendar. You can find all our important dates here.