These policies ensure that everyone is on the same page right from the start, and provide clear expectations that can ensure a relaxed, productive, and respectful relationship during lessons.

General Lesson Policies

• Please be on time:
• I will always call online students to initiate the lesson. Please DO NOT CALL ME. 
• Please come to your lesson prepared:
• If studying guitar, banjo, fiddle, or mandolin, please bring your own instrument and whatever accessories you require (picks, finger picks, capo, extra strings, bow, rosin, etc.). 
• Please purchase learning materials and accessories in a timely fashion.
• I often arrange, print, or prepare musical materials for students’ specific interests. However, in some cases I will provide the names of method books or other materials crucial for study and will ask that you acquire them before your next lesson. The same request is made of other performance accessories described above.

Rates and Scheduling

Students committing to weekly lessons, meeting 4 lessons per month at a regular time, are offered a discounted monthly rate, payable at the beginning of the month:

• • 30 Minute Lessons: $160/month ($40/lesson)
  • 60 Minute Lessons: $240/month ($60/lesson)

In instances where there are five lesson days in a month (e.g. 5 Tuesdays in a month), I may elect to take other professional engagements on one of those lesson days. In such cases, I will confirm my availability with you before requesting payment. I will always oblige myself to be available for at least 4 lessons, or else pro-rate your tuition. 

Drop in rates for a single lesson or lessons scheduled less frequently than once a week are as follows:

• 30 Minute Lesson: $50
• 60 Minute Lessons: $75

Payment Policy:

• The smartphone app Venmo is currently the preferred payment method. Instructions regarding this will be emailed to you after our lesson schedule is confirmed.
• In the event of planned student or teacher absences resulting in fewer than 4 lessons in a month, I will prorate tuition. If this becomes a frequent necessity (e.g. several months in a row), the student’s billing may be switched to the “per lesson” rate described above.

Lesson Cancellation Policy:

Cancellation by Teacher

• • If I am forced to cancel a billed lesson for any reason, the student may choose one of these options:
  • Reschedule the the lesson within thirty (30) days
  • Refund the individual lesson tuition
  • Credit the tuition of the cancelled lesson towards the following month’s invoice

Cancellation by Student

• • Students must notify of missed lessons at least 24-hours in advance. Email is preferred.
  • There are NO REFUNDS OR CREDITS available if less than 24-hours notice is given.
  • Students may schedule a makeup lesson via email.
  • A student who fails to schedule a make-up lesson to be held within thirty (30) days forfeits their tuition for the cancelled/missed lesson.
  • A student who does not notify me of a cancellation/missed lesson prior to the lesson time (“No Call; No Show”) forfeits the fee for that lesson and is not eligible for a make-up lesson.

• This policy is designed out of respect for each party’s personal schedule, including the student’s, my own, and that of all other students in my studio. If you must cancel a lesson, please do so as far in advance as possible to allow for prompt rescheduling.

Cessation of Lessons

• If the student wishes to be permanently removed from my studio schedule, notification is required prior to the next billing cycle (month). NO REFUNDS OR CREDITS will be given to students who cease lessons in the middle of a pre-paid billing cycle.
• I reserve the right to add policies to this document as necessary. All changes to the Studio Policies will be made in writing and a copy given to each student.
• Because I expect each student to follow these policies while a member of my studio, as the teacher, I will also abide by each of these policies.