Studio Policy and Mission Statement
KMTA Mission Statement:
Kansas Music Teachers Association is dedicated to helping each student experience the joy of music. Through its educational programs and activities, this organization will empower its members - teachers with high professional standards - to foster in students a lifelong commitment to music as patrons, performers, teachers, and hobbyists.
Elfenbein Klaviermusik Mission Statement:
Elfenbein Klaviermusik is dedicated to thorough and carefully guided instruction in piano literature, technique, ear training (audiation), memorization, and theory; through natural and injury-free techniques and thorough mastery of all studied materials, preparing students for festivals, competitions, Auditions, and the Music Progressions Auditions offered through the Kansas Music Teachers Association.
Studio Policy
I offer year-round piano instruction for dedicated students.
The fall and spring semesters coincide with the school calendar, and the summer session is eight weeks long and starts the first full week of June. Summer tuition is all-inclusive; students are guaranteed eight lessons but are encouraged to attend as many lessons as they wish and scheduling permits.
Focus during the fall and spring semesters is on preparing students for the many opportunities for performance and auditions offered by the Kansas City Music Teachers Association.
In the past, summer sessions have focused on topics such as The Magic Flute, Peter and the Wolf, Carnival of the Animals, Tchaikovsky Discovers America for younger students; Film Music, The Piano Music of Frederic Chopin, The Piano Music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Counterpoint, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Piano Concertos, Phantom of the Opera and others for older, more advanced students.
There will be 15 private piano lessons in the Fall Semester, August 17 - December 20, 2007. Additional performance classes will be scheduled if appropriate. There will be 17 private piano lessons in the Spring Semester, January - May, 2008. The Summer Session in 2008 will be 8-weeks long beginning in June.
Students of all ages and levels are welcome.
I enjoy teaching all ages and levels, but I do require substantial parental involvement until students are at least 10 years old; even parents of older students are always welcome to sit in on lessons.
Particular attention is given to a natural and injury-free technique and to thorough mastery of all studied materials.
There are limited opportunities to make up or reschedule missed lessons.
As a mother, I understand that children don't normally give you 24 hours notice that they will be sick the next day and therefore unable to attend their piano lesson. However, the sooner I know that you will have to miss a lesson, the better; it allows me to make use of the time, perhaps offering the time to a different student who has a scheduling conflict. No-shows will not be made up.
Make-up lessons will be scheduled at my convenience.
Any outside performance by the student, be it for school, church or any other venue, must be discussed with the teacher.
I take my work as your piano teacher very seriously, and part of my job is to teach how to perform. Most students, and parents, underestimate what it takes to perform successfully in public. I have very high standards, for myself, and for my students, and dismissive comments about a proposed performance, such as, "oh, it doesn't have to be perfect, it's just for church ..." are unacceptable.
From the very beginning, I teach mastery, rather than perfection. Bruce Berr, in the Autumn 1999 issue of "Keyboard Companion" says, "Newer teachers sometimes assume that because students are at an elementary level, they cannot play their pieces with mastery and artistry - this is not true! This is a matter of confusing standard with level."
Making photocopies in order to avoid purchase is illegal.
Students are expected to purchase all needed music scores. Once a student owns the score, we may make photocopies in order to facilitate a page turn, or in order to be able to look at all pages of a longer piece at once (particularly useful for visual learners). Occasionally, in order to check our level of understanding of a piece, we may cut apart the photocopy into individual lines of music and attempt to reassemble it, like a puzzle.
Practicing.
Most students are as enthusiastic about practicing as they are about brushing their teeth. And just like they need to be taught, initially, how to brush their teeth, and then supervised for quite a while until you are confident they know how and will do it correctly, all students need to be taught how to practice (my job), and then supervised at home (your job) for a long time.
In my studio, there will be no such thing as a parent sending a child to "go practice!" Parental supervision is necessary and should happen in a supportive and loving manner. For younger students, this means that you will be in the same room as your child, go over the assignment with your child every time he or she sits down to practice, and then be there and available to ask leading questions, answer his or her questions, comment in a supportive manner on progress made - or lack of progress.
For older or more advanced students, parental supervision is similar to supervising their homework or household chores. Asking, "Did you practice today?" is not good enough. Ask your child to show you what was practiced today. If you do that every day, you will have a very good understanding of his or her progress, or lack thereof. And your child will know to expect that he/she has got to have something to show you.