Music and Piano Lessons in Southern Oregon
Studio Policy
Welcome!
Thanks for choosing Pat or Margie Daly for piano lessons. We are committed to help you (or your child) learn and develop the skills needed to understand and enjoy the musical arts for a lifetime. This is a brief outline of our studio policy—what you can expect of us and what we expect from our students. These policies are also found on our website, mastersmusicroguevalley.com, along with our bios, teaching locations, rates, calendar and other useful information. We also communicate through our face book page.
Playing
Playing piano is a multi-faceted art. It requires physical discipline and control, both strength and subtlety. It requires concentration of mind in learning new musical symbols and focus in its performance. It also allows for individual creativity and expression—skills that come from experience with the idioms of music and familiarity with the instrument. What's more, the study of music fosters an appreciation for beauty, the joy of discovery, and the satisfaction of having developed a new skills.
Learning
Learning music can be compared to learning a new language in that there is new vocabulary to learn along with grammar, word order, punctuation and the like. It is learned over time, hearing, and reading, speaking and writing the new language. Music also includes elements of language which combine to express pitch, rhythm and harmony. It is also learned over time through playing the instrument, listening, reading, writing and improvising.
We therefore include elements of music theory and technique in our teaching along with sight reading and ear-training. We believe in our students becoming well-rounded musicians—able to do whatever they enjoy most whether that is playing the classics, reading a lead sheet or developing musical knowledge to apply to another instrument.
Practicing
We strongly encourage our students to spend time with piano every day. Even a short time of 20 to 30 minutes of concentrated, daily effort can produce excellent results. Like any other course of study, learning music is cumulative—built on what you already know. Practicing once or twice a week won't be effective in reinforcing your lesson or building on what you already know. We find that a regular practice time is helpful to the student, i.e. before or after school, before or after dinner, or a regular time like 3pm to 3:30 etc. Our weekly practice sheets include a space to check for each day's work.
Parents
We hope parents take an active role in their child's learning music—to encourage their progress and to keep them on task when necessary. As you are making an investment in your child's learning, we want you to be informed as to the progress of your student. We would like to have a parent conference as part of a regular lesson time in the fall. We can use this time to set goals, review progress and bring up any pertinent issues to practice, performance and the like. Of course we will always try to be available to any time you have questions or comments about piano lessons.
Equipment
We expect every student to have access to an instrument in good working order, one that responds correctly to the pianists touch. Keyboards are acceptable as long as there are a full 88 keys and are "weighted" to feel and respond like a piano with hammers. The practice area should be well-lit and comfortable--away, if possible, from distractions (especially noisy ones!) A good metronome is also vital for any pianist. These can be purchased for under $25 at most music stores.
Calendar
Beginning in the fall of 2010 lessons will be given for 12 weeks of every 13 week quarter. Payment will be based on a monthly tuition of 12 weeks whether there will be 3 or 4 or 5 lessons in a given month. We will take 1 week off in march (Spring Break), 1 week in mid-June (at the end of school), 1 week in early September (before school starts) and 2 weeks in December (Christmas and New Year). Our studios will also be closed on Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day and Thanksgiving (Thursday and Friday). The calendar for the year will be posted on our website.
Tuition
Beginning in the fall of 2010, a monthly tuition will be charged for piano lessons—like private school tuition or membership in a sports club. The tuition is based on a rate of $40 per hour. If lessons are paid for on the first week of the month, a 25% discount is offered for one of the lessons. We would point out that if you take lessons for the entire year and pay regularly on the first week, you are getting 3 free lessons per year.
| 30 Minutes | 45 Minutes | 60 Minutes | |
| Monthly | $80 (4X20) | $120 (4X30) | $160 (4X40) |
| Discount | $75 | $112.50 | $150 |
| Students taking lessons at Artistic Piano will be charged an extra $10 per month for the use of that facility. | |||
The duration of weekly lessons is your choice. As a guideline, Half-hour lessons are recommended for beginning or younger students (levels 1-3). 45 minute lessons are recommended for intermediate to advanced students who are learning more repertoire (levels 4-6). One hour lessons are recommended for advanced students (levels 7-10) or adults wishing to take lessons every other week.
Unless you have an established track record with us, lessons will be suspended if payment is not received by the end of the month.
Fees
The only other expenses required of students are for music/lessons books. We generally purchase these for you and you can reimburse us any time during the month.
Make-ups
Make-up lessons (for absences due to illness or family trips etc) are generally not possible because our weekly schedules are full. If we know in advance that another student will be absent for the week, we will call you to see if you can make up your lesson during their time.
Sickness
If you or your student is ill and has to cancel school or other activities, please cancel your piano lesson as well. We want to provide a clean, healthy environment for or other students and for us. Please call us as soon as possible to let us know of your absence. If you know you will be out of town for a certain number of days for whatever reason, please let us know of this also so we can adjust our schedules and plan for make-up lessons.
Extended
For absences of a month or more, payment will not be required for that month however your time slot will be in jeopardy for another student. On your return we will work you into the schedule as we are able. Your monthly payment for lessons during your absence will, of course, hold your slot at your present time.
If we cancel If we have to cancel your lesson due to illness or some emergency, you will be reimbursed for the missed lesson(s) or given a credit into the next month—whatever you choose.
Performances
We believe it is important and rewarding for our students to perform whenever possible. We therefore provide opportunities throughout the year including recitals at the end of the school year and in December. As active members of Oregon Music Teachers Association we are able to prepare and schedule our students for the annual Junior Bach festival, Music at the Mall, Ensemble competitions, the Classics and Romantics recital, the Sonatina Contest and much more. (Some of these require a small fee).
We also offer our students an opportunity to participate in "syllabus," at the end of the year. This offers students a carefully planned course of study in technique, music theory, ear-training and exposure to a broad repertoire from Baroque to Modern music.
We also offer piano parties at our house 3 or 4 times a year. These offer a chance for our students to play for each other (parents are welcome), play some musical games and eat. (No charge for these).
Contacting Us
You can call us or leave a message on our home phone, (541) 535-2089.
Pat's cel: (541) 324-7079
Margie's cel: (541) 324-7974
Thank you for reading over our studio policy. We welcome your questions and suggestions. May you be richly rewarded in your endeavors to learn this beautiful art of music!
