Frequently Asked Questions

Do you work with all levels and ages, or primarily just with beginners?

Yes, we work with all levels and ages, including adults! Our Musicolor Method of teaching is perfect for beginning students, and even works exceptionally well for older beginning students including adults. In addition to enjoying working with beginners, Sam is a very experienced performing pianist with two degrees in classical piano performance and lots of experience performing professionally in a wide variety of styles on the piano including classical, jazz, pop, and worship music and loves supporting students at all levels of ability including those who are already at an intermediate or advanced level of playing.

 

Do students learn to read traditional music notation?

Yes! There are actually a few different scaffolded variations of the Musicolor notation, and the final phase looks exactly like normal sheet music with all the usual dots on the page, only with all or some of the notes colored in. When the student is ready, we remove the colors and the student is reading regular sheet music. We love starting out with colored notes as it allows students of all ages to successfully learn and play music from day one without being lost or held up by in all the abstractions involved in successfully deciphering traditional sheet music. We highly encourage students to listen, sing, and move along to any music they are learning, so that they get the sounds and the rhythms of the music into their body in a natural and visceral way, which also further really helps them jumpstart learning new music very quickly!

 

Can students bring their own music into lessons?

We strongly encourage students to work on music they already know and like, as they are extra motivated to practice, and they also already have the music firmly in their ear which goes a long way towards putting the music together on the piano. Sam is skilled at adapting music of many styles to the piano, and frequently makes level-appropriate arrangements of requested music for students!

 

Can students learn to play by ear, arrange, and improvise, and compose with the Musicolor Method?

Yes, in fact the Musicolor Method is amazingly well-suited for all of these creative musical possibilities and techniques because it gives a very clear sense from day one in a color-coded way of the structure of how music is put together, something that often remains invisible or eludes students even after many years of playing. Sam highly encourages students to have fun and get creative with their music! He is highly skilled in playing by ear, arranging, improvising, etc. on the piano and can help students develop in these fun and exciting directions in their own playing!

 

Do I need a piano at home before beginning lessons?

Yes, it is necessary for students to have an instrument at home to practice before beginning lessons. We can give great suggestions for purchasing a beginning instrument. There are quite a variety of options out there, and there are a number of factors to consider as well including the amount of space in your home, whether you would like an electric or acoustic instrument, your current budget, etc. We can help with all those considerations and make some wonderful recommendations to fit any situation and budget, including when upgrading later on!

 

How often are lessons? Once a week? Twice a week?

Lessons are scheduled weekly throughout the school year at a regular day and time of the week mutually established upon enrollment. We follow the Burlington School District calendar, which means there are no lessons during the week-long school breaks that occur around Thanksgiving, in late December/early January for the holidays, in late February for Winter break, and in late April for Spring break. Optional summer lessons are available as well.

 

How long are lessons?

We typically schedule 30-minute lessons for the younger students with shorter attention spans, (sometimes 20 minutes for the youngest ones), and 45-minute lessons for older students as they advance and are working on more music.

 

What are the costs of tuition for lessons?

After an initial free consultation call we normally begin by scheduling a few trial lessons together to make sure everything feels like a good fit before enrolling students in the studio. Once students have been enrolled, annual tuition payments cover the cost of weekly lessons from early September through mid-June, informal monthly online Zoom piano recitals from September through April, and an end-of-year in-person recital in late May or early June. Tuition fees will depend on length of lessons and at which point we are starting in the school year as tuition is prorated according to the weeks remaining in the school year upon enrollment. Tuition is typically paid in equal monthly payments from September through June, although there are discounted options available for making larger payments up-front. We can discuss further details around tuition and payment options on the free initial consultation call together!

 

I’m not sure my child will be ready to participate every month in online Zoom recitals?

You'll see in our testimonials that students and parents really enjoy our informal monthly online Zoom piano recitals! Beginning students using the Musicolor Method are often learning a new song every week, so they have plenty of songs to choose from for recording once a month! For older students with longer pieces, we’ll sometimes skip recording for a monthly recital if they need more time to continue to put their piece together which is sometimes the case. However, because the online Zoom recitals are relatively informal, students with longer pieces will often video record a section of their piece that is ready enough to share, even if their whole piece is not yet ready, or sometimes we will make a recording as a duet with the student performing one hand and Sam performing the other hand, so that they still have the chance to enjoy recording and sharing what they’ve been up to that month in a fun and presentable manner!