POLICY
The Quaver Piano School offers piano lessons for students of all ages from 5 and over, and of all levels from beginners to very advanced students. We provide the best piano tuition through the individual lessons. One – to – one instruction means that a teacher can focus 100% of their attention on that one student to ensure that things such as hand positioning, posture or understanding of a particular concept are correct. Individual lessons also enable the teacher to carry out the lesson at a suitable pace for each student.
All students are required to arrive for lessons on time. If a lesson is from 5:00 – 5:30 and a student comes at 5:10, the lessons will still end at 5:30. No extension of lessons time will be granted to those who are ‘late’, as this will have a knock on effect for other students.
The teacher suggests longer lessons for advanced students.
Example:
Beginner (up to grade 5) – 30min lesson weekly
Intermediate (grade 6) – 45min lesson weekly
Early advanced (7 – 8 grade) – 1h lesson weekly
Advanced – 1h weekly or more
The duration of the lesson will be agreed for the whole term and shall not change from week to week.
After each lesson the students will be given practicing assignments for that week. The teacher will clearly explain what homework should be done and if necessary, will write the assignments in a book. . The student is expected to complete the assignments by the next lesson. Ideally its is recommended, in order to complete the assignments, the student must practice daily. One day off per week is acceptable. (For example, if the lesson is on Monday, the student should try to practice on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.) Parents should understand that young children (up to age 10, in general) need to be told to practice every day and will require supervision during their practice time. Sometimes they cannot read the assignment book, and if left alone they may forget to practice certain assignments.
The teacher may give young children assignments that involve writing. Parental help is sometimes necessary for the children to complete these assignments. If a problem arises, parents should feel free to discuss the situation with the teacher.
The suggested time of daily practice is as follows:
Young beginners (5 – 6 years of age) ~ 5 min per day
Elementary (7 -9 years of age) ~ 10 min per day
Grade 1 ~ 15min per Grade 2 ~ 20min per day
Grade 3 ~ 25min per day
Grade 4 ~ 30min per day
Grade 5 and up ~ 45 – 60min per day
As your skills advance to the intermediate/early advanced levels, the student will need to practice a minimum of 1 hour a day to cover the longer, more demanding repertoire and technical work.
The family should provide an acoustic or digital piano of reasonable quality if at all possible, for the student to use in practicing. An acoustic piano should be tuned every six months to ensure a well maintained instrument.
The parents shall be responsible for purchasing any books and supplies that the teacher feels the student needs in order to develop properly. These may include an assignment notebook, one or more songbooks, a theory book, an exercise book, a metronome, and a footstool (for young children). The teacher would not normally be expected to make the purchases for the student, though this is sometimes possible.
Make-up lessons will be issued only if the teacher cancels or if he receives 24 hour notice from the student. Lessons cancelled after 24 hours notice will still be charged and the teacher is not obliged to offer a make up lesson, however he may do so depending on availability of slots . The teacher guarantees holding the time slot for the student, and a late cancellation or no-show will result in the teacher’s missed opportunity to use an open slot for a make-up lesson for other students. In the event of severe weather conditions, such as heavy snow, make-up lessons will be offered. Both the teacher and the student should do their best to find an alternate date.
The teacher shall be paid for the whole term in advance not later than on the second lesson of the term. The payments can be done either by cash or cheque. Multiple family members enrolled are offered 5% family discount.