|
|
Lessons
Background
and Service Description
- I have been teaching private lessons in Charlotte
since 1997
- I began offering a house-call (I come to you) lesson
service in
2001, and today this is my sole method of operation
- Since 2001, I have consistently maintained between
15 and 30
students per week
Age Range and
Prerequisites
- I generally accept students age 7 and up (and
occasionally 6
year-olds)
- Beginners are welcome; I also accept advanced students
Lesson Length and
Frequency
- Standard lessons are 30 minutes long
- this is usually the minimum lesson length I offer
- I also offer 45-minute lessons to older or advanced
students
- Standard frequency is weekly
- this is usually the minimum lesson frequency I offer
- Older or advanced students may arrange for multiple
lessons per
week
- Exceptions
- Older or advanced students may arrange for
infrequent lessons,
depending on my schedule
- Older or advanced students may also arrange for
longer lessons
Rate
- $30.00 per 30-minute lesson
- $41.25 per 45-minute lesson
- $52.50 per 60-minute lesson (or two 30-minute lessons)
- ($11.25 per each additional 15 minutes)
Payment
- I accept individual lesson payments (due each lesson)
for the
first 2 months
- After the first 2 months, I ask that each month be
paid fully by the second lesson
- Occasionally, I can arrange to accept monthly
payments at a
different point within the month
- Cash and personal checks are accepted
Absences
- Occasional absences due to sickness or emergency are
excusable
- No charge
- You must notify me
- Shouldn't happen more than 2 or 3 times per year
- I don't like to teach contagious students!
- Occasional dates of conflict are excusable
- No charge
- Please notify me in advance
- I'll discuss this with you if I feel these are
becoming too
frequent
- Otherwise, I charge for absences
- If I cancel...
- I do not charge you if I cancel
- Please understand that I am also a performer, so I
will
sometimes need to cancel a lesson due to my performance schedule
- Usually I know of these well in advance, but it's
not unusual
for me to get called to fill in for another musician at the last minute
Teaching Philosophy
- I teach and have interest in most styles of music,
ranging from
classical to modern
- I think music is fun
- I think music education can make you smarter
- the more you learn, the better you get at learning
- many subjects have fascinating parallels with music
and its
organizational system
- I do not expect students to be concert pianists
- I am not an appropriate teacher for students with
such
aspirations
- Ultimately I am a pretty flexible teacher, as long as
the student
is making progress
- I am open to feedback and suggestions from students
and parents
Lesson Structure
- My main areas of focus are on:
- developing the technical and physical skills to
perform on the
instrument
- reading and playing written music
- understanding basic music theory (the "grammar" and
rules of
music)
- developing important music-related listening
skills, also known
as "ear training"
- related music history, and other related factual
information
- Additional areas of focus, usually for more advanced
students,
are:
- more advanced music theory
- chord-based improvisation
- I generally start beginners off with an
incrementing-level lesson
book series, such as (but not limited to):
- Such lesson book series consist of concurrent books,
the core two
being:
- Lesson book -- this deals with reading and playing
music;
material gradually becomes more challenging
- Theory book -- this is usually a workbook with
written
exercises related to the lesson book
- I also allow capable students to deviate from the
lesson books
and select some or all of their own material
- examples are: movie themes, popular songs, worship
music, etc.
- many excellent compilations of music exist outside
the tiered
lesson book approach
Recital
- I will have one or two recitals per year
- These will most likely happen in late Fall and early
Spring
- Participation is voluntary but encouraged
Your Responsibilities
- You must have and maintain an adequate piano or
digital keyboard
- pianos will need professional tuning periodically,
usually once
every 6 - 12 months
- digital keyboards must have the following features
to be
adequate learning tools
- touch response (ability to play louder or softer
depending on
how hard you press each key)
- 76 notes or more (a real piano has 88 keys; some
small
keyboards have 61 keys or less)
- a place to plug in a "sustain pedal" or "damper
pedal"
- Student needs to keep a dedicated spiral notebook for
tracking
assignments, etc.
- Books and music
- I often am able to obtain books and materials and
bring them
with me to the lesson
- Other times I may need you to obtain books and
materials
yourself
- there are a number of music stores which carry
these materials
- internet
shopping
is a convenient way to purchase
books and
materials
- sometimes I ask for a student to visit the music
store in
order to personally browse and select something
- Suggested materials
- I suggest buying a metronome
- digital metronomes are more practical
- some students find wind-up, pendulum metronomes
to be more
interesting (albeit less practical)
- Student must practice!
Tips on Practicing
- Beginning students should aim for something like 10
or 15 minutes
each day
- More advanced students should consider practicing
longer, perhaps
30 minutes daily or more
- Practicing small amounts daily is nearly always
better than doing
it all at once
- All practice is not the same!
- Work on the parts that are new, difficult, or
challenging;
effective practice requires brain power!
- Don't just play over the same parts you're
comfortable with --
you'll just be spinning your wheels
|
|