Policy

• The student is expected to HAVE FUN in their lessons and in their personal practice. Music is supposed to be enjoyable!
• The student is expected to arrive on time to each lesson.
• The student is expected to bring all necessary materials (notebook, folder, lesson books, etc.) to each lesson.
• The student is expected to practice regularly as is appropriate based on the age and ability of each student. Suggested practice schedule will be discussed with the teacher.
• The student is expected to be an active participant in each lesson.
• The student is expected to ask questions and let the teacher know when further clarification is needed, allowing the student to be fully engaged in the learning process.
• The student is expected to treat him/herself, instruments, materials, and the teacher with respect.

• The teacher is expected to attend every lesson on time and with all necessary materials.
• The teacher is expected to explain things in a clear and understandable manner.
• The teacher is expected to show respect for his/herself, the student, the instruments, and all materials.
• The teacher is expected to modify/adapt and prepare material that is appropriate to the age, ability, and unique learning style of each individual student.
• The teacher is expected to make each lesson enjoyable and rewarding.
• The teacher is expected to teach the principles of music and instrument so that the student can gain the most out of their musical education.

Neither Strings Keys & Guitar’s nor its teachers accept personal checks or cash. Instead, payments are made using Automatic Recurring Billing.

Tuition will be deducted from the bank account or credit/debit card of your choice on the 1st of each month. We accept PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, AMX, and Discover as well as debits from your bank account. Payments are made directly to the company for the month in advance.

Your enrollment is not completed until you have paid for your first lesson or trial lesson.

Students are charged a flat-rate fee per month. A credit card processing or convenience fee of up to 3 percent may be assessed for each transaction. Please keep in mind that we do not charge a registration fee. Materials fees may be appropriate at times.

Most months, the student will receive four lessons. Some months, because of how the weeks fall, the student will receive five lessons: we do not charge extra for 5-lesson months. Due to Studio Scheduled Vacations such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, the student will occasionally receive three lessons in a month. The 3-lesson months and the 5-lesson months balance out to an average of 4 lessons per month over the course of the year. A flat-rate tuition fee is charged each month. Students will receive a list of Studio Scheduled Vacations each semester.

 See “Studio Scheduled Vacations” on this page.

No refunds or credits are given if a student discontinues lessons before their 3- and 5- week months balance out.

The only time Strings Keys & Guitar prorates tuition is during the first month of lessons and in extreme circumstances, which are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

All private lesson students are strongly encouraged to participate.

The annual showcase featuring performances by our music students and art exhibits by our art students. The annual showcase is held every spring (typically the 2nd or 3rd Saturday of June) at a location to be determined.

Upon setting up a scheduled time for lessons with the Music Director, the student (or parent/guardian of student) should visit www.skgmusic.com to fill out the private lesson registration form, as well as pay for the registration, materials, and 1st lesson’s fees (see “Payment” section of registration form for payment details). Registration and payment must be complete in order to secure the scheduled time slot and begin lessons.

Lessons are scheduled on a weekly basis in 30, 45 or 60 minute increments. Once a day/ time is agreed upon by SKG Music and the student, that time will be reserved for said student and the student will be responsible for paying for that timeslot.

Specific dates for Studio Scheduled Vacations will be announced at the beginning of each semester. In general, we do not teach on normal school vacation days, including the following: 

• Spring Break   TBD
• Memorial Day 
• July 4th Week
• Labor Day 
• Thanksgiving Week 
• Christmas / New Years vacation  TBD

Lessons missed due to teacher absence will be made up. 

Lessons missed due to student absences will be made up if the teacher receives 24-hours notice from the student/parent. The exception to the 24-hour cancellation policy is in the case of student illness or extreme emergency. The definition of an extreme emergency is at the teacher’s and office’s discretion. 

 Students are limited to one eligible makeup/reschedule per calendar month. 

Regardless of the circumstances, no make-ups/reschedules/credits/refunds will be given if a student is not home or unavailable for a lesson at their scheduled lesson time. The student/parent fails to inform the teacher ahead of time of their absence.  

If inclement weather (severe storms, hail, tornado watches/warnings, freezing rain, un-plowed snow on the road, etc.), the individual teacher decides whether they feel safe to travel to your lesson. If the teacher believes weather and/or road conditions make it unsafe to travel, the teacher will inform the student/parent as soon as possible, and online lessons are arranged via Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, or video chat/call-in lieu of in-person lessons. 

If your teacher comes to a scheduled lesson and the student is ill, the teacher has the right to leave the lesson with no makeup/reschedule or credit given, regardless of how long the teacher was at the house. “ill” might include (but is not limited to): excessive coughing or sneezing, sore throat, or fever or vomiting within 24 hours of the lesson. If the student is experiencing any symptoms but knows it is simply from allergies or something non-contagious (such as a sore throat from screaming at a football game), please communicate to your teacher that you know the student is not contagious during the lesson begins.

Do understand that our teachers want to be there to teach you. Our goal in enforcing this policy is to keep from spreading sickness among our teachers and students. Your teacher sees multiple students each day, so they must take precautions to protect themselves and their other students.

Long-term absences are detrimental to the student’s development and enjoyment of lessons. Additionally, after returning from a long-term absence, the student will experience frustration as they will be reviewing things they knew only a couple of months ago!  

Neither Strings Keys & Guitar nor its teachers can hold spots for students who choose to take a long-term absence from lessons, such as summer breaks. Our company and its teachers operate with a waiting list most of the time, so open spots are filled up very quickly. We strongly encourage all students to continue lessons throughout the summer. Students who continue through the summer will be given priority when scheduling lessons for the fall. If the student must take a long-term absence, the only way to hold a spot with the current teacher is to continue paying for lessons throughout their absence.

Your commitment is one calendar month at a time. To permanently cancel lessons or temporarily pause lessons, you need to inform the office via email  (not just the teacher) 30 days in advance. Example: To cancel for October, you must notify the office no later than September 1st. Cancellation notification must be given to the office via email to will@skgmusic.com.

You are financially responsible for lessons until you notify the office directly of your cancellation. Notifying the teacher of your cancellation/pause is polite; however, it does not constitute notifying the office. 

There are no refunds for unused lessons due to student cancellations except in extreme situations at the discretion of the company, not the teacher.  

Your automatic payments will continue until you notify the office staff of your discontinuation in writing (via email is sufficient). No refunds will be given for any unused lessons due to failure to notify the office of cancellation.

If you wish to work with a teacher other than your assigned teacher, you must contact Strings Keys & Guitar to arrange this.  

Strings Keys & Guitar’s teachers are bound by contract to work with you and/or your family only through Strings Keys & Guitar. Out of respect for the company’s work and its staff, teachers may not teach former or potential Strings Keys & Guitar students on their own. 

Strings Keys & Guitar offers a positive, honest, and professional experience for our students and teachers. We expect our students and teachers to treat us with the same respect and professionalism. Strings Keys & Guitar and its teachers reserve the right to un-enroll any student or decline any student due to student behavior, parent behavior, lack of payment, student moving to a new area, or any other reason the company or teachers deem necessary.

Strings Keys & Guitar staff and management work very hard to hire the best possible teachers for you, our students. Good teachers are NOT easy to come by! Each hired teacher represents substantial time and financial investment. Our teachers have signed a legally binding contract agreeing that they will not teach your family outside of the relationship with Strings Keys & Guitar. 

Likewise, we ask our students to treat SKG with the same ethical considerations. Accordingly, students and their families agree not to retain the services of any SKG teachers — regardless of subject matter, regardless of the nature of services, and regardless of the location of the services –during their contract with Strings Keys & Guitar and for a period of 12 months following the end of their contract with Strings Keys & Guitar. If a student or their family fails to honor this agreement, the student agrees to pay a placement fee to Strings Keys & Guitar equal to SKG’s current monthly tuition amount for the type of lessons the customer was receiving with SKG, multiplied by 24. This placement fee is charged on a per-student basis.

You will schedule your lesson time with your teacher. Lessons are held on the same day at the same time each week.

Lesson time starts within one minute after your teacher arrives at your house. Students should be ready to play at their scheduled time.  

Please understand that as traveling teachers, we occasionally run into unexpected traffic holdups and periodically run a couple of minutes late or early. Therefore, please allow a 5-10 minute time cushion when scheduling your other activities around music lessons.

Should a student/parent have a dispute regarding whether a lesson was received or whether full lesson time was given, Strings Keys & Guitar management will investigate the lesson(s) in question with both student/parent and teacher and will remain the sole and final decision maker in resolving such disputes, including what money and/or lessons are owed regarding such dispute. In addition, we review detailed attendance files weekly to avoid confusion and ensure that lessons are being received. However, if confusion over lessons does arise, we will do everything in our power to come to a resolution in the fairest way possible, making sure the student does receive any lessons owed.

Should a customer/student dispute a charge through their financial institution, it will constitute a breach of contract, possibly resulting in — but not limited to– penalties, additional fees, collection, legal action, and/or termination of any and/or all current and future services.

While the chances for injury or damage occurring during a music lesson is extremely low, the student and their parent(s) understand that any activity involves some level of risk. Anytime you bring someone into your home, accidents can happen (i.e., a chair is broken, water is spilled on the floor, etc.).  Students and their parents agree that they will not hold Strings Keys & Guitar, or any of its owners or staff, liable should injury or damage be caused by a teacher while on the student’s/parent’s property. The student and their parent(s) agree to hold Strings Keys & Guitar blameless.

We enjoy sharing pictures and accomplishments of our SKG students! By agreeing to Strings Keys & Guitar policies, you give permission for Strings Keys & Guitar to (1) take photographs and video recordings of your children as they participate in SKG activities; and (2) use, reuse, modify, publish, and republish those photographs, videos, and any derivative works (“Photos”) in any format or media, including the Internet, for purposes related to Starlight’s mission. You waive any claims, demands, and liabilities against Strings Keys & Guitar for taking and using these Photos. You understand that this release is binding upon you, your children, and any legal representatives, heirs, and assigns.

When sharing pictures or videos of your child, we use the first name and city/state to take lessons. We do not share last names, home addresses, or any contact information.

To opt out of Strings Keys & Guitar’s Photo/Video Release Policy, please send a written notification to caleb.mymusic@gmail.com.

Summer lesson packages are not available to newly enrolled students. Only those with at least two months of consecutive weekly lessons with SKG are eligible for this special package deal.

 Contact your teacher each time you want to schedule a summer lesson, or if you already know your summer schedule, you can schedule all of your lessons right away. It is the student’s/parent’s responsibility to contact the teacher when you want a lesson. Neither the office nor the teacher will harass you to schedule a lesson (we wouldn’t like that either!) or remind you about your lesson package, as we do not know your summer schedule and can’t predict when you want lessons.

 If you do not hear from the teacher within 24 hours after contacting them to schedule a lesson, contact the SKG office at caleb.mymusic@gmail.com within 48 hours of this lack of response. We will tell you if the teacher is out of town or other scenarios and help you make the best use of your lesson package promptly. SKG will not be responsible for refunding/crediting your lesson package due to an inability to schedule with the teacher if you wait more than 48 hours to report the situation to us. Let us know of any issues or lack of communication from your teacher immediately. SKG is committed to excellent service, and we are only able to offer this level of excellence if you communicate any issues immediately.

Keep in mind that your “regular” or school-year time slot will likely not be available to you. The teachers can only hold time slots for those who are taking lessons weekly. Therefore, you’ll have to schedule your Summer Package lessons individually. If your regular teacher is not available– or if you cannot find a mutually available time for your lesson– a different teacher will be assigned to you for the summer lessons (though we do everything in our power to keep you with your original teacher!).