Studio Policy Guidelines
Prerequisites for lesson study
Any interested student will be accepted for piano lessons. Students must agree to spend appropriate amounts of time practicing lesson material on a daily basis each week. Parents must agree to actively encourage their students to practice and to be involved in listening to their student's progress.
Composition lessons are available for students who want to compose more than can be accomplished in their piano lessons. Composition lessons are best established as an additional 15 or 30 minutes following the piano lessons. Students who study piano with a teacher other than myself will also be accepted for composition study. Students who are not studying piano will be accepted for composition lessons ONLY if they can easily perform works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, and other masters. Piano skills are essential for composing and I require that those skills continue to develop as students compose. Please note, though, that there is not a minimum level of piano skill required for composition lessons. Even very young composers can study composition if they are also studying piano.
Guidelines for acceptance of vocal students are found in the Voice Handbook.
Communication with Parents
This handbook is prepared in early September and covers as much information as possible for the entire year. It is important for parents to read this handbook. In addition, occasional memos will be sent home with reminders of upcoming deadlines and any changes that may occur throughout the year. The memos will be placed in the clear pocket on the front of each students binder.
Parents are encouraged to contact me with questions as necessary. If I am teaching you may reach my husband or an answering machine. Please leave a message (my husband is a musician so leave as much detailed information with him as you want) and I will return your call as soon as possible. You may also contact me by e-mail. I check my e-mail at least once a day on most weekdays.
Parent visits to lessons
Unlike band or choir rehearsals where much of the learning takes place during daily rehearsals, all of the reinforcement of private lessons takes place AFTER the lesson, during the student's practice time. It is very important for parents to be aware of what is happening during their student's practice time. In some cases, especially with young children, parents should assist with the practice. With older students it is often best to be a silent observer, offering as many compliments as possible and only offering corrections if absolutely necessary. This will vary with each student.
Parents of students in grades two and earlier are required to attend lessons.
Parents are invited and encouraged to attend the last lesson of each month to hear and see their child's progress. This lesson will be a regular lesson, enabling you to learn of the strengths in your student's playing and also to learn of areas in which you can encourage progress. This is particularly important for students of elementary or middle school age.
Adult students may invite spouses or other interested individuals to this lesson if they wish.
Other visitors in lessons
Parents are welcome to sit in on any other lessons if they wish. Siblings are not encouraged to attend. However, I realize that this is sometimes necessary. Those siblings who attend lessons on occasion are expected to be quiet and not interfere with the lesson. Friends of students are not encouraged to attend lessons.
Monthly in-lesson performances
The third lesson of each month each student will remain at their lesson for an additional five to ten minutes, overlapping into the next lesson. During the overlapping time the two students will perform for each other. The performances may consist of a finished (usually memorized) piece of music, scales or arpeggios, or a piece of music that is in process.
The intent of these in-lesson performances is to offer students more opportunities to prepare for performing in public .... something that scares many of us!
Selection of Music
To allow students to develop their highest potential, the primary study materials will be based on classical music literature.
Beginning piano students will study from graded lesson books which make extensive use of folk songs and music written specifically for young children. Music will always be chosen to meet the current ability of the student and provide for musical growth.
Selected music from additional styles will be chosen to meet the needs of specific students. Often times I discover that students are eager to play the music of Bach, Beethoven, and other masters. Frequently when I suggest lighter pieces a student will say "but can I play a Bach ‘Minuet' now?" or even more commonly, "Can I play Beethoven's ‘Fur Elise?'" On rare occasions students will be allowed to study one piece that is more difficult than their current ability level. In these instances we agree to work on small portions of the piece and make it a long term project.
Advanced students will play a balanced mix of music by composers from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Twentieth-century eras.
I have a list of music most commonly used in lessons. When it is time to select new books for students, I will send home the list with the proper books selected. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Books, binders, and materials
Binder - The binder is described on page two. The fee for the first binders is printed with Tuition and Attendance. There is no charge for additional pages which will be added to the binder throughout the year. Every student is required to have a binder.
Metronome - All piano students and many voice students should own a metronome. This instrument helps a student keep a steady tempo while practicing and also directs a student to the correct tempo. Metronomes may be purchased at all fine music stores. I do not recommend the digital metronomes because they take too long to reset. Metronomes with a dial to set the tempo are much more efficient. Students who are interested in making serious progress will want to own a metronome early in their study.
Books - Students will be responsible for purchasing all necessary music books. Students are responsible for bringing their music to all lessons. If music is forgotten, the lesson will focus on technique and memorized music.
I do not recommend ordering music from Amazon.com as they do not have quick access to music lesson books. You will have much better success ordering from a music store.
Music may be obtained from the following sources:
Brookdale Music - Order by telephone or buy music in person.
Brookdale is stocking most of the music used by this studio.
Tel. 630-983-5100
Fax. 630-983-5287
Website: www.brookdalemusic.com
Location: 1550 N. Route 59, Naperville, IL 60563
Burt and Company - Order by telephone, fax, or e-mail.
Tel. 800-548-2878
Fax. 888-830-2525
Website: www.burtnco.com
e-mail: orders@burtnco.com
J.W. Pepper - Order by telephone, internet, or buy music in person
Tel. 800-345-6296 (national order number)
Website: www.jwpepper.com
Tel. 630-462-0787 (Carol Stream store)
Website: www.jwpepper.com
Location: 130 E. St. Charles Road, Suite A, Carol Stream, IL
Technique and Music Theory in Lessons
Students who learn to perform well generally enjoy their music making more and stay with their studies for longer periods of time. Consequently, all students will study technique exercises to enable them to perform to their best ability. Piano students will play scales, arpeggios, chords and cadences focusing on proper shape of hands and correct arm movement. Composition students will work with scales, chords, cadences, and four-part harmonizations.
Great care is taken to teach proper arm, wrist, and finger motion to prevent or reduce injury in later life. Piano playing, like many other activities including typing, computing, and video games, can cause carpal tunnel conditions as well as other injuries. It is important to me for students to learn a correct basic technique to minimize the potential long-term damage that can come from playing piano.
The exercises used to develop correct technique also teach basic music theory. Theory is the musical equivalent of grammar and involves key signatures, scales, rhythm, note reading, chords, and cadences.
Improvisation and Composition in Lessons
All piano students will create short pieces of music for their lessons. Since the arts are by definition supposed to be creative, I think it is very important that students be encouraged to create! Too often music lessons spend an entire lesson telling students to do this or do that, "round your fingers, play louder here, slower there," etc. And soon a half hour passes and students have not been able to create anything of their own.
Most students will create short passages for each lesson that describe something of their own choosing. Students are encouraged to keep this music "in their head." The primary reason for this is to keep it from becoming work. Notating music requires knowledge of clefs, key signatures, rhythm, etc. and writing a good manuscript is taxing.
Occasionally students develop a strong interest in composing. Students who are strongly interested in composing AND show good musical skill in their piano playing (correct technique, good counting, proper notes) will be allowed to notate some pieces as part of their lesson studies. The time spent on these compositions will be short ... the focus of piano lessons remains the study of piano performance. But conscientious students will be able to develop and refine their compositions and may enter composition competitions if they choose. Details about competitions will be found later in this handbook.