Hillman Guitar Instruction Policies

Studio Policy

1. Learning how to play the guitar requires a certain amount of dedication, and this extends to keeping to a regularly scheduled lesson time. Lessons are scheduled for the same day and time on a weekly basis (example: every Wednesday @ 5pm).  Your time slot is considered “yours” until changed. Changing your lesson day/time depends on availability. Popular times (5pm to 9:30pm for example) usually have waiting lists.

2. Tuition is due at the first lesson of each month. Weekly half-hour lessons are $220 per month and weekly hour lessons are $420 per month. This works out to 4 lessons per month. In the event of holidays or my vacations, tuition is prorated for that month.

3. If you miss a lesson and wish to reschedule, this will be done on a first come, first served basis, however, as is the norm for many types of lessons, ballet, yoga, dance classes, sports teams etc, you are paying for a spot whether you attend or not. The fee for saving a time slot for a prolonged absence is $100 per month.

4. In the interest of there being ample opportunity for everyone to reschedule, the more notice everyone as a whole gives for absences, the more spots there will be available. So please, if everyone tries to give as much notice as they can, there will be as many openings as possible for rescheduling.

5. Cancelled or rescheduled lessons due to my illness or scheduling errors are rare and will be rescheduled for a mutually convenient time or credited towards the next month’s lesson fee. I am very flexible and understanding. Any scheduling conflicts due to illness or family emergencies are always settled easily and quickly, however, I would appreciate keeping cancellations and reschedules to a minimum. If you need a specific arrangement we can most likely work it out.

6. Regular practice is very important, and I will help you or your child with ideas for finding and efficiently utilizing practice time. However, I have taken hundreds and hundreds of guitar and vocal lessons in my life and understand that there are weeks where practice might not be possible. I have also felt the wrath of angry music teachers unhappy with my periodic lack of practice, and I feel this style of teaching is not productive. I encourage my students to still come to lessons even when they have not practiced as there are always fun things to work on and my philosophy is that lessons should be enjoyable, stress-free, and something to look forward to.