Welcome to our January Newsletter!

Welcome to our first Newsletter of the year!
You can get a chance to see my students through my eyes and the way they progress each week!

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

This month’s Student Spotlight is Shrihan. This past December, he completed Faber’s Piano Adventures in Primer Level. He performed the Lava Song from Disney Pixar’s Short, Lava and a rendition of“Rain, Rain, Go Away” in the Winter Recital. I chose Shrihan this month because he is always eager for the next challenge! He is always ready for lessons, with his books and assignments ready on his piano. Congratulations, Shrihan!

STUDIO NEWS

Since July, our studio has quadrupled in size! This is amazing. This also means the demand to teach in my own home-studio is high. Starting February 1, 2020 I will only accept new students that can travel to my home studio. Any students who are taking in-home lessons before this date will continue to take in-home lessons until your contract ends.

New location: Our family is also moving to a new house! It will be located in Concord, NC near Patriots Elementary School off of Rocky River Road. Our lessons will proceed in this location starting February. We are excited about this house as it will be nearer to most of our students homes!

Policy Updates:

Our studio policy is very important to us, because it helps us protect both parties. You can find the policy under the Lessons tab on this website.

Just a friendly reminder that our policy states monthly tuition is due at the 1st of each month until the 10th. If tuition is not received, there is a $10 late fee that will be added on top of tuition and suspending lessons until it is received.
Lessons should be treated as a subscription of appointments. You are required to have 4 lessons each month. No more, no less. This helps you get a fixed rate every month so nothing unexpected happens!
In-home lessons should expect 5-7 minutes of window time for arrival. If Ms. Chrystle is more than 15 minutes late, the client has the right to reschedule the lesson within 2 weeks according to Ms. Chrystle’s availability. (Make-up lessons are usually available every 2nd & 4th Thursdays).
Vacation: Time off with family is important. If a student is away for vacation, monthly tuition is still due and lessons must be made up within the following month.
Continuity: If a student misses lessons for a month without notifying Ms. Chrystle (sick, vacation, emergency) it is considered a no-show and lessons will be suspended.
Students are required to have a quiet, uninterrupted scheduled practice time every day. I suggest 20 to 30 minutes every day.

PRACTICE TIPS

I learned this from one of my professors: 20% should come from lessons, the other 80% should come from practicing. Something magical happens when one is practicing. It helps us be grounded and be confident for our next lesson. If you feel like your child is struggling with the word “practice”, maybe it’s time we approach it differently. First impressions leave a long impression, so we must be sensitive when it comes to teaching our child how to practice. Here are a few realistic tips:

Choose positive words. — Instead of saying, “You’re still working on that song?” or “Is that supposed to sound like that?”, choose to say, “Nice! Before you know it, you’re gonna master that song!” or “Can you teach me how to play that?”. It will make a huge difference. Challenge them the right way. Ask them, “Okay, what’s the focus for today?”
Be involved. — Ask them to perform their piece for you, ask them to teach you how to play their piece. If you’re very busy, be there near them physically. Even virtually! Call them on the phone, or ask them to play their piece for you!
Record. — Let’s use technology! Having an archive of their practice will help not only the student, but you see how much their progressing or pin-point what needs to improved. I do this as well! You should too!
Focus. — Just like in my policy, practice time should be focus time. The student must have a quiet space, be uninterrupted, and away from distractions. You know what this means, turn off the TV!

What do you think? Give these tips a try, and let me know how they work out for you!

Until then, we have a lot of more exciting things happening for our studio! Watch out for our next Newsletter, until then, have a musical day!

Sincerely,

Ms. Chrystle