• My studio is located in Norwalk, Iowa. We are on Central Standard Time and observe Daylight Savings Time.

• The studio address and phone numbers are given directly to students for internet security reasons. In case there is a legal problem needing resolution, the laws of the State of Iowa will prevail.

• I normally let the answering machine take calls while I am teaching. I will, however, hear your message should you choose to leave one.

• Instruments taught: violin (acoustic and electric) and viola.

• Students taught: webcam lower age limit is 4th grade. Local students may begin lessons at age 3, upon completion of Parent Education Course. There is no upper age limit.

• Parent Education: parents of students 4th grade and under must complete a five-lesson parent education course before their child starts lessons. The course is designed to be an informational tool for parents, containing sections on the Suzuki and studio philosophy, home practice, motivation, and other important topics regarding music study. Anyone who is interested in learning more about talent education is welcome to participate.

• 15- to 20-minute private lesson: for beginners on institutional accounts, studying up to the middle of Suzuki Vol. 1.

• 30-minute private lesson: for beginners, transfer students, and adults who have not completed Suzuki Vol. 2.

• 45-minute private lesson: for students who have completed Suzuki Vol. 2. Students are requested to upgrade to a 45-minute lesson at the beginning of Suzuki Vol. 3.

• 60-minute private lesson: primarily for advanced students, small chamber groups and adult students, who may find that they have enough material to cover during lessons that an hour-long lesson is practical and beneficial.

• Group lessons: groups of students studying at approximately the same level. Group lessons are a supplement to private lessons, allowing time to work through repertoire or techniques, review and polish older concepts, and to provide students with motivation and mentoring.

• themselves and their instrument

• shoulder pad or sponge (if required)

• foot chart (if required)

• current Suzuki book and other sheet music/books as assigned

• a pencil

• a music stand (webcammers)

• a three-ring binder for use as a practice notebook. Set-up instructions will be given at the first lesson.

• Prepared attendance at every scheduled lesson is expected.

• If you will be late, please call.

• Absences due to illness or webcam technical difficulties may be rescheduled.

• Please give at least 24 hours notice for absence due to illness, if possible.

• If I have to miss a lesson, it will be rescheduled or credited to your account.

• Summer lessons are offered and encouraged. Reduced schedules can be accommodated.

• There are NO regular lessons during the following times: YOUR Spring Break week, and the calendar weeks of Independence Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.

• Lessons are in English. Spanish lessons would be gratefully received in lieu of lesson payments.

• Beginners generally work on one new point per lesson, or a group of related points.

• Younger students will do a lot of review.

• Older students will generally play a warm-up exercise, passages from the current working piece, sight-reading and previewing of new material.

• Students stand up for lessons, unless asked to sit.

• Lessons start and end on time, as much as possible.

• I will send monthly progress reports to parents who are not able to attend lessons.

• A parent or guardian is generally required to be present at the lessons of children under age 12. If lessons are at school, an adult teacher or aide must be present.

To protect your child's safety and mine, all webcam lessons for minors (and some local lessons) will utilize multiple age-appropriate levels of security. Webcam parents must agree to this policy during the initial registration process.

• Until we get to know each other really well, a parent, grandparent, school teacher or guardian of students under the age of 13 will be required to be on camera for the entirety of the lesson. If an adult listed above is not present at the start of the lesson, the lesson will not begin until he/she appears on camera. Similarly, if the adult has to step out of the shot mid-lesson, the lesson will be stopped and the student will be instructed to practice until the adult returns to camera.

• Parents, grandparents or guardians of students aged 13 and above are strongly encouraged to be in the room during the lesson, but are not required to be in camera shot. Students of this age should be capable of taking their own lesson notes and marking their music themselves.

• The lesson may be recorded on my end for quality control or training purposes. If I have recorded your lesson, a copy will be provided to you at no charge at your request.

• In-studio students may choose to have their lesson recorded if they wish to have a copy to review later to help with practicing. I occasionally ask for permission to record in-house lessons for training purposes.

• There will be at least one formal studio recital per school year. The date(s) will be posted well in advance and all students are expected to participate to the best of their ability.

• All selections will be performed from memory, with appropriate accompaniment.

• Other performances may be scheduled as I become aware of opportunities.

• Recital attire: church clothes are fine. Students are welcome to go as dressy as they like. But please, no tennies or flip flops.

• If you are going to dress-up (especially ladies planning to wear higher heels), it is highly recommended that you practice your recital piece several times wearing your performance attire.

• Practicing is generally considered to be essential to progress. One of the most common questions I am asked is, "How long should my kid be practicing?" At the same time, I have struggled mightily with the issue of practice time.

• On the one hand, if the violin is important enough to pay for lessons, it might be important enough to spend some quality time with on a very regular basis.

• On the other hand, if there isn't really a "should" or "have to" involved. The fact is that if a student wants to practice, he will. If he doesn't, he won't.

• Some students are highly motivated to play well from the beginning. Others take a while to find something that motivates them.

• The conventional rule of thumb is to practice for the length of your lesson, daily, minimum. To this, I recommend adding the same amount of time listening to your reference CD. For example, a 30-minute lesson equals 30 minutes of daily practice plus 30 minutes of daily listening.

• The amount and structure of daily practice is usually determined by the level of the student. It depends on what you need/want to get done. By the time a student has completed “Song of the Wind,” the daily practice session will ideally consist of variants of the following: tonalization, review, current pieces, previewing, and sight-reading and orchestra music (if applicable).The bulk of time, regardless of level, will probably be spent on review.

• I recommend practicing in smaller amounts of time. It's often easier, less stressful and highly productive to schedule several five- or ten-minute sessions than a 30-minute block. Personally, I get a lot more done because it becomes sort of a "concentration race", which not only makes it fun, but very productive because I know that when the timer beeps, it's time to stop.

• Supervision of practicing is something that is usually worked out between parents and their students. Students under age 8 should not practice by themselves. Up to age 10-12, most students need considerable supervision, encouragement and guidance from a parent in order to properly complete the practice goals for the week. However, you can't force someone to do something they don't really want to do without creating a lot of ill-will and hard feelings.

• I am glad to help you create a schedule that will make practicing easy and fun for everyone involved. If you need help, just ask.

• If there are problems with the assignment (amount, my explanations, how-to, etc.), please e-mail or call me.