May 6, 2024

Happy Spring! Here's the next open letter to all students and clients. Please read and ask any quesitons if needed!

• If you are newer to my program, you may wish to browse previous letters below. Established students... might not hurt to take a glance at previous letters, too!

• Thank you for continuing to text upon arrival. It helps with the flow.

• I'm not that guy in the neighborhood that yells, "Get of my lawn!" But I am the guy in the neighborhood that throws his compost in the front yard along with the daily gifts that Shadow leaves in the backyard. Just an fyi for those of you walking across the front yard and wishing to keep the bottoms of your shoes clean. You are welcome to pull into the driveway for dropoff too.

• Summer Schedule

  • • Let me know your summer plans as soon as possible - vacations, or if you'd like to take summer off, go part-time, etc.

    • Full-time and Part-time students - the slot we use in the month of May will be reserved for you in September.

    • During the summer months of June, July, and August, we drop the three categories of students (full-time, part-time, or consulting) and there are no expectations for number of lessons per month (weekly, twice-monthly, or as needed, respectively). Cancellation / Credit policies only apply for no-shows and cancellations with less than 24 hours notice.

    • Here are the preferred (not required) windows for summer lessons:

      • • Tuesdays and Wednesdays 9:00 AM to 6:30 PM

        • Thursdays and Saturdays - I'd prefer to avoid Thursdays and Saturdays for the summer, but we'll do what we have to! I anticipate that a couple of you will need to keep Saturday appointments.

• Lesson Feedback Forms

  • • I've been happy with the feedback forms that have been utilized - although inconsistently. I'll keep using them, but let me know if you'd like me to be more consistent in scoring these. Like anything, I want to make sure that how I use our time is useful.

      • • Please see the previously released letter below for details on scoring.

• Annual July 1 Rate Increase

  • • • • Base rates or "Rack Rates" (for new students - not current students) will increase for further professional experience plus this year's 3.2% COLA increase. While COLA is much lower than this year compared to last, inflation is taking a hit on my small business. Insurance premiums increased significantly along with other overhead costs.

        • Current students, please plan on a 7% rate increase - which is lower than the straight 2022 COLA of 8.7%. This should be no more than $4.50 additional per lesson, depending on length of lesson and your initial base rate. Ask me if you'd like exact numbers.

        • As always... If this creates a hardship or if you ever find yourself needing some financial relief, I'm committed to my clients first! I never want to loose clients over hardship and money. We can work something out. Please do not hesitate to ask.

• Cash Appreciated - 6% credit directly to your account!

  • • • • Thank you to those of you paying by cash. It helps to split the banking costs with you.

Thank you so much for the priveledge of working with you! Please ask questions if needed.

Thank you!!

jt

END CURRENT LETTER

Previously Released Letters Follow...

May 3, 2023

Happy Spring! Here's the next open letter to all students and clients. Please read and ask any quesitons if needed!

• If you are newer to my program, you may wish to browse previous letters below. Established students... might not hurt to take a glance at previous letters, too!

• Thank you for continuing to text upon arrival. It helps with the flow.

• I'm not that guy in the neighborhood that yells, "Get of my lawn!" But I am the guy in the neighborhood that throws his compost in the front yard along with the daily gifts Shadow and Gracie leave in the backyard. Just an fyi for those of you walking across the front yard and wishing to keep the bottoms of your shoes clean. You are welcome to pull into the driveway for dropoff too.

• Summer Schedule

  • • Let me know your summer plans as soon as possible - vacations, or if you'd like to take summer off, go part-time, etc.

    • Full-time and Part-time students - the slot we use in the month of May will be reserved for you in September.

    • During the summer months of June, July, and August, we drop the three categories of students (full-time, part-time, or consulting) and there are no expectations for number of lessons per month (weekly, twice-monthly, or as needed, respectively). Cancellation / Credit policies only apply for no-shows and cancellations with less than 18 hours notice.

    • Here are the preferred (not required) windows for summer lessons:

      • • Tuesdays and Wednesdays 9:00 AM to 6:30 PM

        • Thursdays and Saturdays - I'd prefer to avoid Thursdays and Saturdays for the summer, but we'll do what we have to! I anticipate that a couple of you will need to keep Saturday appointments.

• Pre-Percussion Clients - Communication with schools

  • • Sometimes I think I come up with a genius idea, and then people just don't run with it. The online progress forms for school district music teachers are not being looked at by current or future teachers. Families have only checked the documents a handful of times for the whole year.

    • I will no longer be communicating to your school teachers in preparation for your instrument fitting and pursuit of being in middle-school band and/or orchestra percussion ensemble. I am more than happy to send a progress report to your teachers, however, upon request. 

    • Instead... I'd like to try a "Lesson Feedback Form." Here are the details:

• NEW!! Lesson Feedback Form

  • • I've been testing out a way to evaluate lessons that will result in a score of sorts. Here is what I'd like to try:

      • • I think it important to communicate to students and families how lessons are going, while respecting that music lessons are taken for all different reasons - from hobby to career preparation. So...

        • For each lesson, students can earn a possible 100 points per lesson - based on practice (60) and progress (40). The interpretation of the points is arbitrary to me, but will at least give students and families some consistent feedback from lesson to lesson.

          • • Students will be given a quarter sheet to keep track of practice time.

            • The form is optional to fill out, but I'll be asking students to estimate how many minutes of practice were completed since the last lesson.

            • I'll leave the completed form in the client folder OR OR OR - at the end of the lesson, I'll send a picture of the sheet, with the score, on the text thread we share.

            • Clients may request their student's percentile ranking (The statistical percentage of clients one is out-performing) if you want the best measure of how your student is doing in context of other students.

            • For a little perspective, it will be very difficult to get 100 on lessons as that would indicate completing the full amount of practice in and having all songs at "performance level".

            • Perhaps establish a goal? Here are some suggestions:

              • • 90 or above for those really wanting to develop their musical abilities.

                • 80 and up is really good lesson - reflecting practice prepartion and progress.

                • 60 and up would be good for those who are taking piano as a hobby - or piano is one of many activities you're exploring.

• Annual July 1 Rate Increase

  • • • • For years, I've used the Federal Cost Of Living Adjustment Rate (COLA) and multiplied it by four to determine lesson rate increases, with a limiter of sorts for established students. With last year's COLA of 8.7%, this would equate to a 34.8% increase. That would be a nice raise, but not realistic. So...

        • Base rates will increase by 4% for further professional experience plus this year's 8.7% COLA - or 12.7%.

        • Base rates are for NEW students - not current students. Think of this as a "Rack Rate". 

        • Current students, please plan on a 6% rate increase - which is lower than the straight 2022 COLA of 8.7%. This should be about $2.00 to $4.50 additional per lesson, depending on length of lesson and your initial base rate. Ask me if you'd like exact numbers.

        • As always... If this creates a hardship or if you ever find yourself needing some financial relief, I'm committed to my clients first! I never want to loose clients over hardship and money. We can work something out. Please do not hesitate to ask.

Thank you so much for the priveledge of working with you! Please ask questions if needed.

So ready for summer!!!!!

jt

END CURRENT LETTER