top of page
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to purchase a piano?
Your child may practice on an acoustic piano or electronic keyboard. If you purchase a keyboard, please be sure it is touch-sensitive with at least 76 keys and a pedal. Judy can help with recommendations.
What are the fees?
Half-hour lessons (recommended for children) cost $30 per lesson. Hour lessons cost $50 per hour. Lesson fees are payable at the end of the month for the next month. In other words, at the first lessson you will pay for the remainder of the month. Then, at the last lesson of the month, you pay for the next month.
You pay for the lesson time, whether or not you use it.
If the student is going to be absent for any reason (except a snow day, see below) then you are given the option of a make-up lesson. Once the make-up lesson is scheduled you may not cancel it for any reason or the fee is forfeited. I try to be very flexible and have never had a problem scheduling a make-up lesson. All I ask is that you text or call to let me know that the student will not be attending their lesson. Lessons that are missed with no prior warning are not given a make-up lesson.
This policy is in effect even if you tell me far in advance that you will not be having a lesson on a certain day. Again, you pay to reserve the lesson day and time, whether or not you use it. I have this policy because when you sign up for lessons I am also reserving that time and day for you. Unlike a hairdresser or doctor, if you cancel I can't just put another student into your slot.
Do you teach during school vacations?
Regular lessons begin on the Tuesday after Labor Day and continue until the end of June. No lessons are given during the long Thanksgiving weekend nor during the week between Christmas and New Year's unless by special arrangement. Lessons are given during all other school-year breaks. Summer lessons begin on the first weekday after the fourth of July. Summer lessons are optional and may be scheduled and paid by the lesson.
What about snow days?
While road conditions may be bad in the morning, roads have often cleared by the mid-afternoon hours. Therefore I don't close when schools do. If the roads are still bad when lesson time rolls around, or if I'm not shoveled out, then I will contact students via text, call or email to let them know lessons are canceled and they will receive a credit for the following month. That being said, if I don't cancel lessons but you don't feel comfortable going out, then just let me know you're not coming and I'll give you a credit for the next month.
At what age should my child begin taking lessons?
While some teachers accept students as young as 3 or 4, Judy is a firm believer that there is no advantage to enrolling a child that young in formal lessons, and it could cause undue stress for the child and turn them away from music lessons permanently. Children need to be at a place in their physical development where their fine motor skills are ready and they can at least read simple words. Judy will accept students at the age of 5 or 6.
bottom of page