Frequently Asked Questions
Scroll down for answers about the AGES TAUGHT, LESSON FORMAT, STUDIO POLICIES, HOME PRACTICE, & the TEACHER.
AGES TAUGHT
What ages do you teach?
I have experience teaching piano to 4-year-olds through adults. I currently accept students as young as 5, and as old as. . . . Well, it's never too late to start piano lessons, and I enjoy working with adult students too!
I believe it is very important to use age-appropriate materials at each level, matching the interests and strengths of each age group. In my studio, beginning 5-year-olds use different books than beginning 8-year-olds or beginning middle-school students or adults.
How do I know if my child is ready to start lessons?
For a child to start piano lessons, he should be able to count to ten, recognize & write the numerals 1-5 & letters A-G, wiggle his fingers independently, differentiate between left & right, and focus on an activity for 10-minutes at a time.
His interest in music is the most important indicator of readiness: Does he express himself musically (singing, humming, dancing, tapping rhythms)? If you have a piano or keyboard, does he spend time exploring the sounds and making up songs?
How can I help my preschooler prepare for music lessons?
Musical activities can be extremely beneficial to young children, not just to prepare them for music lessons, but to prepare them for life. Music can help children develop their motor skills and sense of timing, develop language and spatial reasoning skills, and remember facts (for example, "ABC Song"!).
- Play quality music in your home and car, especially classical music and folk songs, genres that have stood the test of time.
- Sing with your child. Teach him simple children's songs you know, get a CD of children's songs to sing to together, make up your own songs to describe what you do throughout your day. My children and I really love the educational songs posted by Super Simple Songs on YouTube.
- Let your child explore musical instruments, especially makeshift ones like cooking pot drums with wooden spoon drumsticks or a tupperware shaker containing a small amount of rice (carefully sealed, of course.) Grab a drum yourself and together with your child play to the beat of a recording.
- Consider attending a young children's music class, like Musikgarten or Kindermusik, with your child.
- Involve your child in activities that develop fine-motor skills: coloring & drawing, playing with play dough, using lacing cards. . . .
Do you accept adult students?
Most of my students are in K5-12th grade, but I do enjoy teaching adults too. I have experience teaching adults both in private lessons and in weekly group classes.
Lessons for adult students follow the same format as for school-aged students. You attend weekly 60-minute sessions, including 40 minutes in a private lesson and 20 minutes in the studio mult-media lab. During Piano Club weeks (7 times during the year), adult students meet in their own small groups of 2-4 students instead of private lessons. (You will not be grouped with young children during Piano Club!) At these group lessons, you will have an opportunity to share a piece you've been working on and will hone your skills through ensemble playing, group improvisations, and/or theory instruction.
I understand that there are many demands on your time as an adult, so we take a relaxed approach to lessons. Regular practice (4-5 days each week) is certainly recommended but not required. There are many activities we can do in the weekly lesson to further develop your skills regardless of the amount of time you practiced during the week. Please understand, however, that you will progress much more quickly if you practice consistently. You do need an instrument for your home practice. Please see the instrument requirements below under the "Home Practice" section.
My adult students are strongly encouraged, but not required, to participate in the studio recitals and festival. These events give you a tangible goal that will keep you focused and on track in your music studies.
LESSON FORMAT
Where do you teach lessons?
I teach lessons in a large, dedicated music room in my home, which is located near the intersection of Hwy 162 & Hwy 212, south of Covington and Conyers.
All lessons are given on a 5'3" professional-quality Yamaha C1 grand piano . The lab area is equipped with a Kawai CA 1000 digital piano and a computer. There is also a place in the studio for parents to sit and observe, if they wish. You can see photos of my teaching studio here.
When are lessons scheduled?
Lessons are scheduled between 12:30 and 6:30 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.
Siblings' private lessons are scheduled back-to-back, if at all possible, unless the parent requests otherwise.
Can the parent be present during the lesson?
There is a comfortable couch in the studio for parents who want to sit in on the lesson, and I actually prefer that parents of students 1st grade and below attend the lessons with their child. Parents are asked to observe silently when in the studio.
Parents and siblings are also welcome to wait in my living room adjacent to the piano studio. (Please note that siblings not enrolled in lessons are required to be with an adult at all times!)
What is different about your piano studio?
Lesson Format: All students attend longer private lessons, 40 minutes each, than are usually offered in traditional programs. The 40-minute lessons coupled with multi-media lab sessions and monthly group classes add up to a unique format that makes learning fun and relevant. Read more about my studio program here.
Qualified, Experienced Teacher: I hold both bachelor's and master's degrees in Piano Performance and have over 15 years of experience teaching private and group piano lessons. Read more about my background here.
I'm worried that a 40-minute private lesson would be too long for my 5-, 6-, or, 7-year old. Why do you teach longer lessons?
The longer lesson time allows me to introduce new concepts thoroughly and to include activities which round out the student’s musical understanding, activities that often have to be left out of a 30-minute lesson because there simply isn’t time. Although the students will not necessarily have extra homework each week, they will have a clearer understanding of what to do in their home practice time. This should result in faster progress for each student. Learning new concepts correctly the first time, we will need to spend less lesson time correcting mistakes the next week and can instead spend more time moving ahead!
Forty minutes sitting on the piano bench would be too long for most young students. However, our lessons incorporate a variety of off-the-bench activities to engage the student and ensure he comprehends and remembers concepts. We may play rhythm instruments, enjoy an active game on the giant floor keyboard or floor staff, go "fishing" with the magnetic fishing pole, use play dough, write on white boards, . . . .
Kindergarteners and first graders also have the option of registering for Piano Pals partner lessons. Having 2 students together in each lesson doubles the fun of our off-the-bench activities!
Why do you teach composition? I just want my child to play music, not necessarily write it.
Music is a language. If your child were learning a foreign language like Spanish, you would want him to develop the skills necessary to understand spoken Spanish and to read Spanish, but you would also want him to be able to express his own ideas in Spanish, through speaking and writing Spanish.
Many piano lesson programs teach the student to read and play another person's musical ideas. Composition and improvisation are the student expressing his own musical ideas. That reason itself is enough to justify teaching composition. However, composition activities also develop the student's creativity, help him play more artistically, and review thoroughly the musical concepts he has learned.
Will my child have the opportunity to perform at recitals?
Yes, the studio prepares one recital each semester: the annual Christmas Recital featuring holiday music and the annual Spring Recital. All students 12th grade and below are expected to participate in the annual studio recitals. (Adult students are strongly encouraged, but not required, to participate in recitals.)
Since I am a member of the Gwinnett County Music Teachers' Association (a local chapter of the Georgia Music Teachers Association and the Music Teachers National Association), my students are also eligible to participate in events sponsored by the association, including the Ensemble Concert in April and various auditions.
POLICIES
What if we have to miss a lesson? Do you offer make-ups?
Your tuition reserves a specific time in my teaching schedule, teaching time that is dedicated to your child. Understandably, I cannot dedicate double lesson time to your child when you have a schedule conflict: Lesson time cannot be extended if a student is late, and missed lessons cannot be rescheduled or refunded. However, to compensate for any unavoidable schedule conflicts:
>Two free bonus lessons have been built into the studio calendar each year.
>You may choose to participate in the optional Studio SwapList. The SwapList allows parents to arrange their own lesson-time trades as needed.
How much is tuition?
The fee schedule for the coming summer and school year is published each spring. You can download the current fee schedule here.
When is tuition due?
Tuition is due by the 10th of the month. Payments not received or postmarked by the 10th will incur a $20 late penalty.
Will we have to pay any other fees during the year?
A yearly registration fee is due with the student's yearly registration form. The non-refundable registration fee reserves the student's place in the studio. It covers all student-owned books and materials, use of the extensive studio lending library, and a subscription to MusicLearningCommunity.com PLUS all required studio activities (including Studio Festival and recitals.)
You will NOT be billed for any miscellaneous activities or materials throughout the year, unless your child chooses to participate in an extra, optional event.
HOME PRACTICE
How much are students required to practice during the week between lessons?
The student needs to practice daily in order to master music. He will progress in direct proportion to the amount of time he spends practicing! A regular time should be set aside for home practice on at least 5 different days during the week. Of course, each student should practice for results as well as minutes, but this chart can serve as a guide:
- Young students & Beginning students (Primer Level): 15-20 minutes daily
- Elementary/Late Elementary Piano (Levels 1-3): at least 30 minutes daily
- Intermediate Piano (Levels 4-6): at least 45 minutes daily
- Late Intermediate/Early Advanced Piano: 60+ minutes daily
What constitutes good practicing?
Students LOVE to play straight through pieces, beginning to end, often at a fast speed. However, usually this is NOT practicing. Good practice includes many, many repetitions of small sections, usually at a slow tempo to insure accuracy, in order to conquer trouble spots. At the weekly lesson, a practice plan including piece titles, page numbers, and specific goals is written out. The student should follow this plan in his home practice. Please note that home practice will often include written work.
Do I need to have a piano at home?
Students MUST have access to an instrument for their home practice. Although a well-maintained acoustic piano is definitely preferable, students may use electronic instruments for their home practice as specified below. (Please note that a keyboard and a digital piano are not the same.)
- First-year (beginning) students and Piano Pals ONLY may use an electric keyboard with at least 61 full- or standard-sized, touch-sensitive keys.
- By the second year of study or by level 1 (after the student has completed the Primer level), students must have regular access to an acoustic piano or a digital piano (e.g. Yamaha Clavinova) meeting ALL of the following specifications: full- or standard-sized keys, a full length (88-key) keyboard, weighted or graded action, and pedal.
What other equipment/materials might my student need?
Students will need a CD player or MP3 player close enough to their home piano to play along with the recording.
It would also be very helpful for students to have internet access on a computer equipped with sound, since each student is included in our studio subscription to MusicLearningCommunity.com. With the subscription, students can log-in anywhere they have internet access to play music learning games online.
How do I get my child to practice?
Students are expected to treat their piano assignments as seriously as their homework assignments and other responsibilities. This will most likely happen if the student has a specific piano practice time built into his daily schedule.
However, even the most dedicated piano student will have days when he simply does not want to practice. But as he is faithfu to his responsibility, he will reap the rewards inherent in performing a piece of music. He will also develop the self-discipline to finish a job even when he does not feel like doing it. Just as you tell him, "This is just what we do" when he says he doesn't feel like doing his school homework, making his bed, or brushing his teeth, you should tell him "This is just what you do now" when it's time for his piano practice.
I don't have any background in music. How can I help my student succeed in his piano studies?
Even if you have no musical experience yourself, you can help your child with his piano in these very practical ways:
- Provide a well-maintained instrument for the student’s daily practice.
- Provide a practice area and time that is free from distractions.
- Help your child be faithful to his practice schedule.
- Show interest in your student’s progress by asking about his lesson or requesting to hear him play a piece.
- Feel free to sit in on a lesson. Parents of young students in kindergarten or first grade are encouraged to attend all lessons.
- Make sure your child arrives at his lesson with his books at the appropriate time.
- Be ready with praise and encouragement for your child. These will be vital as he faces challenges along the way and realizes the commitment necessary to excel.
TEACHER
What is your background as the teacher?
I earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in Piano Performance, graduating with highest honors. I also completed Kindermusik early childhood music training and continue to sharpen my teaching skills through personal study as well as participation in workshops and conferences.
I have over 15 years of post-bachelor's degree experience teaching piano to students of all ages, preschool through adult. In addition, I taught as an academic classroom teacher in private school for 4 years, teaching a variety of subjects but especially English, reading, and writing. Now I homeschool my own children, and have organized my piano studio format to provide them, and other students, what I believe is the best musical education possible. Please read more on my bio page.
