Tuition: Tuition is calculated per semester and divided into monthly payments. Tuition can be paid via cash, check, or Venmo (@jennydowns). Please see my pricing page if you have questions about your monthly cost.

Cancellations and Make-up Lessons: I will offer make-up lessons throughout the semester and announce those availabilities in emails when I have time available. It will be up to you to reach out to schedule a make-up unless I am the one who canceled. There are no refunds for missed lessons. You are eligible for a make-up if I cancel a lesson, you have an illness where you are too ill to do an in-person or online lesson, or you give me at least 24-hour notice for any other cancellation of a lesson. Lessons canceled in under 24 hours, not due to illness are not eligible for a make-up. For those with in-person lessons, we can switch to an online lesson due to illness if the student is well enough to participate.

Parent attendance: Parents of students under the age of 11 are highly encouraged to be present at lessons and to participate in practice. Parents of older students are always welcome to be present.

Videos: Videos and voice recordings are welcome in lessons for help with practice, but are not to be used for other reasons.

Listening: Students need to be listening to recordings of their current repertoire regularly. I recommend listening to your newest piece daily as a part of practice and your current book throughout the week. This can feel like cheating because students who regularly listen learn the repertoire FASTER.

Studio recitals: Studio recitals are offered a minimum of 2x a year. They will be required for ALL students this year. If you can’t make the in-person recital, you may submit a video. This is to help each student prepare a piece to performance quality.

Book recitals: Students 18 and under will perform a Book recital once they have learned an entire book. This is your recital to plan with me, usually held in the student’s home. I will let you know when we can start planning for each recital. Adult students may also do book recitals.

Performance Class: I will hold a performance class within a few weeks of a recital. This is no additional cost. It is by sign-up and limited to the first 20 sign-ups. This will be casual. I will give feedback to each student on what can be improved. We will work on performance etiquette and skills. Parents are welcome to attend.

Practice: Students should practice as long as it takes for them to cover the material in their weekly notes. General practice time frames are equal to the length of your lessons. Most important to me is consistency of practice. Those who practice consistently will progress the most consistently.

Communication: You can contact me easiest via text or by responding to weekly emails. I will communicate studio schedules and other announcements each Monday morning via email. Please look for those and check for upcoming events, schedules, or other changes, and announcements each Monday. If you have questions about certain aspects of your practice please don’t hesitate to text me during the week and I will respond when I can. For individual student communication, I will generally reach via text. I teach year-round. Please notify me of taking any summer months off. I am flexible with vacations. Payment is due at the beginning of each month. I will notify you of my upcoming absences and prorate when necessary. I will let you know if/when I am available for makeup lessons for my absences. Please notify me of your absences asap. I do not charge for missed lessons. The exception is no-shows. However, several absences could lose your spot as I keep a waitlist and want to use my time with serious students. I do not guarantee make-up lessons, but will provide them based on my availability, if requested.