The Piano Room

Students at The Piano Room benefit from a well-balanced program of musical activities designed to strengthen theory and keyboard knowledge while developing creative and performance skills. Lessons are customized to each student’s strengths, goals, and learning style. A recital is offered each spring and students are invited to play anytime at the church where I am Music Director.

I strongly believe my work is only successful if you are enjoying what you are learning. While structure is beneficial, please never hesitate to let me know if there are other topics you want to explore. This is your work — I consider myself to be your resource. Your time commitment outside of lessons is imperative to your success/ progress, which directly impacts your enjoyment. We all reap what we sow, and musical appetite comes with “eating”. Most learning takes place in a student’s application of what is learned at lessons. It’s my job, then, to equip you to be an independent learner and to guide your practice time so it’s most efficient and effective (and fun!).

Contact me today to schedule a complimentary meet-and-greet session, whether in-person or online.

Starting September 1st, 2020, I have decided to offer the option of in-person lessons for those who feel comfortable with my safety policy as outlined below. The choice is entirely yours with the understanding that there is no way to guarantee 100% protection and that the option for in-person lessons will also hinge on community spread updates. I am fully vaccinated and wear a tight-fitting five-layer mask (includes a MERV16 filter). Meanwhile, I continue to invest in learning more teaching skills on Zoom to remain flexible.

Students who opt for in-person lessons would need to agree to the following Safety Policy:

1. Students who exhibit symptoms of fever, coughing and shortness of breath need to stay home & arrange for a Zoom lesson/ or video instead.

2. Students who travel outside of Maine will follow the state quarantine requirements at the time of their travel.

3. Wearing face masks is required until all children are eligible for vaccination — I keep spare masks on hand.

4. Only students are allowed to enter through the front door — I ask that parents/others remain outside to drop off and pick up students. The less unnecessary touching of surfaces, the better.

5. The bathroom is available for hand-washing, and bottles of hand sanitizer are in the front entry hall, as well as beside the piano. The hand sanitizer I provide will be CDC approved with at least 60% alcohol. In addition, the bathroom fan vents to the outside, so we will keep the bathroom fan running at all times, and when students are done using the bathroom, we will leave the bathroom door open so the fan will keep conducting air outside.

6. AIR QUALITY: I have a Eureka Air Purifier NEA120 with a true HEPA filter right beside the upright piano where students will be seated — it was recommended by a medical nurse. The true HEPA filter captures 99. 7% of dust and airborne allergens as small as 0. 3 microns such as household dust, model, pet dander, and pollen. It has a UV LED with TiO2 that is supposed to effectively reduce bacteria, virus and mold spores. This is not bullet-proof, of course. There will be some outside air from open windows upstairs; I cannot open windows near the pianos.

7. Students will be seated at the upright piano, and I will be seated at the grand which is at least 12 feet away.

8. SANITIZATION: There will be a plexiglass covering on the music rack to facilitate sanitizing between students. I will also sanitize the keyboard and chair between each student with EPA-approved emerging viral pathogen products that they claim to be effective against SARS-CoV-2. I will completely sanitize the bathroom and door knobs at the end of each day.

9. BUFFER TIME: a 15-minute buffer time is added in between students, when possible, to allow for proper air exchange.

No make-up lessons are offered, but here are a number of creative options.

Please keep in mind that signing up for a lesson slot is committing to be present at the scheduled slot each week. Other activities should be planned/scheduled with piano lessons in mind.

Lessons cancelled by you for planned absences: If you know you will be unable to attend a lesson in person, you can arrange a lesson swap by consulting the *SWAP LIST (please see below). Or, with sufficient notice, we can arrange to have a virtual lesson. If you cannot do a virtual lesson, and you have informed me of your planned absence, I will use your lesson time to make a video lesson for you. Without advance notice, there will be no video lessons given for lessons missed by students due to activity conflicts, family vacations, or illness. Exceptions may be made at the discretion of the instructor.

*SWAP LIST: The Swap List is a copy of the teacher’s schedule with names of students/ and parents, and parents’ email addresses. Inclusion on the swap list is optional; if you prefer that your contact info not be made available, I will not include it on the swap list. You can use the list to try to arrange a swap with another student if you discover a conflict with your lesson time. The instructor is not responsible for arranging swaps for students. If a swap is successfully arranged, the teacher must be notified!

• If two students show up at the same time due to a swap list miscommunication, I will teach the student whose lesson is usually scheduled for that slot.
• The teacher may veto a swap if circumstances necessitate it (i.e. recital preparation). There are also cases of differing lesson length that make swaps impractical, unless the student with a longer lesson is willing to forfeit the extra lesson time.

Lessons cancelled by me: When lessons are cancelled by me, I will notify you via text message and email as soon as possible. You will be given a lesson credit. I will keep track of any lessons cancelled by me, and contact you with available make-up lesson options. If there is no opportunity to schedule and use the lesson credit by the end of the studio year, you can choose to pro-rate tuition for the last month of lessons, or use it towards summer lessons. If you do not reply to my attempts to schedule a credited lesson, the credit will be forfeited at the end of the studio year.

I am always available to teach regardless of the weather. Regardless of school cancellations, I will assume you are coming. However, if you are not confident about the travel conditions, please send me a text or call my cell, so we can arrange for a Zoom lesson instead during your same lesson time. The lesson is forfeited if you decide not to come for other reasons (i.e. you want to go skiing instead).