Lessons
Private lessons are given weekly in 30, 45 and 60 minute lengths. Private lessons focus primarily on technique and repertoire, as well as musicianship and creative skills.
Practice
Regular home practice is essential for student success. Ideally, students should aim for at least 5 days of practice each week.
Short, daily practice sessions are more effective than one or two long sessions per week. The most important time for students to practice is right after their weekly lesson, to solidify what they have just learned. Research has shown that retention of new knowledge drops to 60% after just 24 hours. It’s not a good idea to wait until the end of the week, then “cram” practice right before a student’s next lesson!
Parental involvement in home practice for children is crucial for student success. Please help your child to establish and stick to a practice routine, and see that practice time is free of distractions. If you are the parent of an elementary age student, please plan to sit with your child for at least a portion of their daily practice time.
Attendance
Students are expected to attend each scheduled lesson. When registering for lessons, your time slot is reserved for you for the teaching year, for a specified number of lessons. If you are able to provide more than 24 hours notice that the student will not be at lessons, we will find a time to make up that lesson. Due to scheduling difficulties, lessons cancelled with less than 24 hours notice may not be made up. Lessons that are missed without any notice will not be made up.
Nikki's Students Only: In addition to teaching, I am also an actor. Due to this, lessons may need to be cancelled and rescheduled on short notice; I will always do my best to give as much notice as possible. Any lessons missed by me due to this, or illness or emergency, will be rescheduled as soon as possible.
Extenuating circumstances can always arise either with myself or with students, and a solution will always be found, determined on a case-by-case basis.
Please be prompt – lesson times cannot be extended for students who arrive late.
Students should plan to commit to lessons for the full year. If unforeseen circumstances require a student to terminate lessons mid-year, one month’s paid notice is required to end lessons.
Equipment
All students must have a piano or digital piano/keyboard for home practice. The quality of your student’s home instrument plays a significant role in their potential for success.
Acoustic pianos should be tuned at least once a year, and kept in working order. If you prefer a digital piano, please invest in a full-size keyboard (88 keys) with weighted, touch-sensitive keys and pedals. Keyboards with 60+ keys are suitable for beginners.
A metronome is also a valuable tool for students to use while they practice, especially as they get into the higher grades (5 and up).
Mini Musicians *new*
Mini Musicians is the newest offering here at the studio! Because of the group setting of these classes, missed classes will not be made up unless the teacher needs to cancel. As long as there are multiple sessions running at a time, students can attend another session if they can't attend their own for one week.