Lessons at your home - within these San Franciscan neighborhoods:
Inner & Outer Richmond & Sunset, Upper & Lower Pacific Heights,
Presidio, Marina, & Cow Hollow
Student age: children ages 5-15
(and WunderKeys primer music lessons for children 4-6 years old)
Availability: weekdays 3:00pm - 8:30pm.
Duration & rate: 30 minutes - $55 (for children 4-7 years old)
45 minutes - $80 (for children 8+)
Styles: Classical, pop, blues, and beginning composition
Payment policy: Full payment for the month is due at the first lesson of the month. Cash, check, and Venmo accepted. I supply music books and sheet music as needed and add the cost to the lessons when purchased (documentation of cost can be provided if needed) or send you a link to order yourself. All payments are non-refundable and non-transferrable.
Cancellation policy: Lessons canceled with more than 48 hours notice may be rescheduled within the same month. If availability doesn't permit a reschedule, that lesson's payment will be credited to the next month's regular lessons. Lessons canceled with less than 48 hours notice can be rescheduled, if availability permits, but will not be credited otherwise. Cancellations of less than 24 hours will not be credited or rescheduled. If students are tardy, full lesson times are not guaranteed, as I may have others scheduled immediately afterward. Students are responsible to be prepared and have their music ready and available before the lesson begins.
Scheduling Hold Fees: Continuing students are given priority in scheduling. Students who discontinue lessons over the summer lose their priority in scheduling unless they wish to hold a specific spot for the fall; The hold fee is $100.00 per student, due by June 15 or school's end, to be forwarded to the first month’s tuition in the fall.
Practice: A fixed number goal (practicing each piece 5x each day) is much better than a timed goal (30 min), because students may spend 30 minutes "noodling" versus focused practice. For this reason, students are encouraged to keep daily tally marks in their lesson plan book to document their practice throughout the week. Typically, each piece is expected to be practiced 5x each day of practice.
Piano vs. Keyboard: A piano is preferable, but a keyboard is fine as long as it is full-size with fully weighted keys. While a piano may seem much larger, both an upright piano and a full-size keyboard on a stand are each 5 feet wide and about a foot and a half deep, so the floor-space used is usually identical for either. Renting a piano can be a good solution while deciding if buying one is right for you- I've seen very reasonable rates from Piano Care Co. with options for rent-to-own.
Other supplies: Make a designated area next to the piano to keep music books handy and organized, such as a magazine holder for music and a cup for holding pencils. (Loose pencils notoriously fall inside the piano and jam strings, leading to an expensive call to the piano tuner!) If siblings are taking lessons, each child should have their own magazine/music holder to keep their music easily sorted and separate.
Metronomes are very useful and motivating to increase accuracy and tempo. Both digital or analog style work fine, and there are plenty of decent, free metronome apps.