Lessons In Your Home

Make-up Lessons From An Economist’s Point of View. By Vicky Barham

I’m a parent of children enrolled in Suzuki music lessons. I’d like to explain to other parents why I feel – quite strongly, actually – that it is unreasonable of we parents to expect our teachers to make up lessons we miss, even if I know as well as they do just how expensive lessons are, and, equally importantly, how important that weekly contact is with the teacher to keeping practicing ticking along smoothly. I think that it is natural for we parents to share the point of view that students should have their missed lessons rescheduled, but if we were to ‘walk a mile’ in our teachers’ shoes, we might change our minds about what it is reasonable for us to expect of our teachers.

Like many parents, I pay in advance for lessons each term. In my mind, what this means is that I have reserved a regular spot in the busy schedules of my sons’ teachers. I understand – fully – that if I can’t make it to the lesson one week (perhaps my son is sick, or we are away on holiday, or there is some other major event at school) then we will pay for the lesson, but that my teacher is under no obligation to find another spot for me that week, or to refund me for the untaught lesson. And this is the way it should be.

In my ‘other life’ I am an economist and teach at our local university. Students pay good money to attend classes at the university; but if they don’t come to my lecture on a Monday morning, then I am not going to turn around and deliver them a private tutorial on Tuesday afternoon. When I go to the store and buy groceries, I may purchase something that doesn’t get used. Days or months later, I end up throwing it out. I don’t get a refund from the grocery store for the unused merchandise. If I sign my child up for swimming lessons at the local pool, and s/he refuses to return after the first lesson, I can’t get my money back. So there are lots of situations in our everyday lives where we regularly pay in advance for goods or some service, and if we end up not using what we have purchased, we have to just ‘swallow our losses’. On the other hand, if I purchase an item of clothing, and get home and change my mind, I can take it back and expect either a refund or a store credit.

So why do I believe that music lessons fall into the first category of ‘non-returnable merchandise’, rather than into the second case of ‘exchange privileges unlimited’ (which I think is one of the advertising slogans of an established women’s clothing store!)? Speaking now as an economist, I would claim that the reason is that items like clothing are “durable goods’ – meaning, they can be returned and then resold at the original price – whereas music lessons are non-durable goods – meaning, once my Monday slot at 3:30 is gone, my son’s teacher can’t turn around and sell it again. The only way she would be able to give him a lesson later in the week would be if she were to give up time that she had scheduled for her own private life; and that seems pretty unreasonable – I can’t think of many employees who would be thrilled if their bosses were to announce that they couldn’t work from 3:30 to 4:30 this afternoon, but would they please stay until 6:30 on Thursday, because there will be work for them then!

Many teachers hesitate to refuse our request to shift lesson times (because our busy schedules do change), because unless they keep us parents happy, we will decide to take our child somewhere else for lessons (or to drop musical study), and they will lose part of their income. This is particularly true in areas with lower average income, where it can be particularly difficult to find students. So rather than telling us that ‘well, actually, the only time when I’m not teaching and that you can bring your son for lesson is during the time I set aside each week to go for a long soul-cleansing walk, and I can’t do that on Monday at 3:30 when you should have turned up’, they agree to teach us at a time that really doesn’t suit their schedule. Teachers who are ‘nice’ in this way often, in the long run, end up exhausted, and feeling exploited; they try to draw a line in the sand. However, too few parents ask to switch only when absolutely necessary, and too many parents want lesson times when it suits them this week, which is not the same time that suited last week. If the conflict arises because my child is in the School play, and they have their dress-rehearsal during his lesson time, then I feel that I must choose between the two activities, and if he attends the dress rehearsal my private lesson teacher doesn’t owe me anything.

During May, my eldest son will be missing three lessons because he is going to accompany me on a trip to New Zealand to visit his great-grandparents. I do not expect my son’s teacher to refund me for those missed lessons, or to reschedule them by ‘doubling up’ lessons in the weeks before or after our departure. Since there will be lots of advanced notice, I might ask her to consider preparing a special ‘practice tape’ for that period, or to answer my questions via e-mail, but if she doesn’t have the time (the second half of April is going to be really busy for her, and she wouldn’t be able to do the tape until more or less the week we left) and so has to refuse, then that’s fine. I certainly don’t expect her to credit me with three make-up lessons; there is no way for her to find a student to fill a three-week hole in her schedule during our absence. Instead, I hope that she will enjoy the extra hour of rest during those three weeks, and that we will all feel renewed enthusiasm when we return to lessons at the end of the trip.

Article Copyright © 2001Vicky Barham

It’s nice to get word of positive things that our students do. Over the last holiday season wile at a parents friends house the kids overheard some magical words from the hosts mouth, “we have a music room downstairs”. When you play guitar the rest is history….Instant jam session. Here’s the video:Dinner Party Jam Session

LESSONS IN YOUR HOME LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE TO HELP DEVELOP FUTURE MUSICIANS IN 6 CITIES

Atlanta Based Company Brings Creative Revolution to Professional Private Music Education

ATLANTA – Oct 01, 2011 – Lessons In Your Home, (LIYH) a professional music school without walls, today announced it has launched a new website designed to make it even easier for future musicians to begin their creative development today.  A major highlight of the site include a dedicated “Music In Your School” area, where schools can find out how to  develop or save existing school music programs.  Additionally, the site has improved search functionality to make it even easier for potential students and parents to research teachers that might be best for them.

LIYH’s model provides a fresh and dynamic approach to private music lessons.  The program is designed to address each student’s individual musical needs with valuable one-on-one time with their professional tutor, in the comforts of your home, with lessons that focus entirely on the student and their musical goals. Whether a child, or adult, wants piano lessons, violin lessons or the French horn, LIYH has a trained professional music teacher to meet that need.

“Something special happens when you teach a student in their home, you become part of the family and there’s suddenly a new family dynamic in the house — its music.” said Jay Maurice, founder and president, Lessons In Your Home.

Started in 1997, LIYH has grown to six locations across the nation.  Unique from other online private music teaching services that operate as teacher listing services, each LIYH location is managed locally by a city director. Their primary goal is match the best teacher for each student’s unique needs.

“Everyone has musical talent. It’s our job to cultivate their interests. Our favorite moment is when a student, who may not think they like music or being in a group plays or sings something so nice that it makes them smile. The recognition of feeling self confident is what’s most important,” said Maurice.

About Lessons In Your Home

Lessons In Your Home literally reached out to its students in 1997 when founder Jay Maurice began using people’s houses and schools as his studio. The approach was simple: give the highest quality lessons where they are most appreciated. LIYH teaches future musicians in Atlanta, Houston, Washington, DC, Miami/South Florida, Denver, and Orlando.

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Practice is important and fundamental in becoming a successful musician; but how important is practice to having successful music lessons? There are those teachers out there that practice a policy of exclusion, “practice your instrument or don’t take lessons (at least not with me). ”  This post aims to examine what else our students learn from their lessons and how being open minded to a non-practicing student can change your life and theirs.

On a global scale there are two types of teachers.  The first are those who only want practicing students.  “I’m guilty of dreaming of a student base of only kids who practiced. Taking them to student festivals, introducing them to my favorite composers, sharing with them the blah, blah, blah”……WAKE UP!  It’s not going to happen that way.  Then secondly, there are those teachers who find more in a music lesson than just the music.

Music students follow a 1-8-1 rule. Out of every ten students, one loves it, eight are o.k. with it, and one student wants to rip his guts out rather then take a music lesson. Lets ignore (for the sake of this post) the one student who loves music lessons (he or she will be just fine). What can be gained for the other nine?

• A consistent role model who cares about them whether they meet lesson expectations or not. Unconditional teacher/student relationships. YES, it’s the only way to teach.

• An appreciation for what a musician is. They learn this through a teacher’s passion that is expressed through music.

• The recital song – every student plays in the recital and they learn that even if you don’t love music, they can successfully play that piece if they have to. My mother-in-law can still play her recital song 50 years after she performed it. She hasn’t had a piano in 45 years but when she walks up to one out comes the song. SUCCESS!

• “The Click” – sometimes it just clicks. One of my favorite student stories is of Matt. Matt did not practice one day in three years and then one day, “Click!” and the rest is history.  He now plays professionally.

• A closer family relationship, that’s right. When a parent and student share an experience, they have more in common and can relate better with one another.

• Music Stuff – we all remember lessons in some part, even years after we learned them. Music theory, history, literature, and more are covered in each lesson. Who doesn’t recognize the names Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Van Halen!

• Part of success in life is learning perseverance. Finishing a task that you may not want to finish. Compare that to taking five years of piano lessons that you didn’t love.

• Working and listening to a teacher can benefit your life, even if you don’t follow or complete every lesson.

Some music teachers reading this are probably shaking their head and saying “that was my teacher growing up, and that’s why I am a musician today”.  We can all benefit from taking a look at the different approaches and see that maybe, just maybe, there is intrinsic value in the time given to the lesson itself. (And yes, we all know practicing helps)