November Music Thread

Yes he said next time they should ask him difference between black and white keys :) You would think if you spend a few million on an ad you might get that bit right.

We have a variety of arrangements. From super flexible no contract and anyone (but usually teacher) can cancel at any time to pay by deadline for a term ahead. piccolo your arrangement sounds quite middling and very reasonable.

On the John Lewis ad I saw the head of jazz at Guildhall suggest the notes played on the piano and sound don't tie up at the end. If true....oops....
Oh yes, I noticed that too. Just watched again, think music is Bflat Eflat Bflat but child plays 3 white notes and the first two are only a third apart?

We don't have a contact with our teachers, the piano one is a friend and drops in a bill every four weeks which we pay straight away. We sometimes miss a lesson and don't usually reschedule unless just near something important. Oboe teacher is a professional musician so sometimes can't make the normal slot. Only reschedule if it suits both parties, usually just miss it. Pay by bank transfer straight after each lesson. I think we are ok customers! I can see a contract would be a good idea and would be happy with one, but neither have asked so far!

Phew! Glad people think I'm not being unreasonable. It's the hardest aspect of teaching for me - negotiating parents' expectations, whilst making sure my own interests aren't neglected. Not easy!

If I have a contract then I would expect to abide by its terms. That's what this comes down to, it's not that they objected when they first had a copy of it - that was the point when maybe you could have entered into a discussion over whether the contents were reasonable. They've had a copy of the contract, they agreed to the terms, end of story.

piccolo I think your contract sounds fine. Only one of our kids’ teachers has a contract, we agree the dates and pay upfront for the term. We had to cancel one session recently (for 2 DCs) at short notice as my father in law was admitted to hospital. We still had to pay for the lesson, I wouldn’t have expected otherwise as it wasn’t the teacher’s fault. She didn’t offer an alternative date, but I didn’t ask. I think with the scenario you describe you’ve already offered an alternative which is more than fair 🙂

On the John Lewis ad I saw the head of jazz at Guildhall suggest the notes played on the piano and sound don't tie up at the end. If true....oops....

Thanks, Trumpet. Good to hear that.
When I introduced the contract, I made sure I explained the intent behind it to every parent and asked them to let me know if they had any questions or issues with it. They all had a copy to sign and return and another for their own records.
That's why it's come as a surprise that a parent has tried to argue it now, especially as I've done my best to accommodate her wishes.

That was meant for piccolo . If I ever had to cancel lessons I would never expect it to be rearranged or not pay for the lesson .

I think your set up sounds fine

Thanks, Folk and onemouse.
I can see it from both sides - as a parent and a teacher. In the case of DS, he has piano lessons at school, blocks of 10 billed in advance, no refunds/make ups unless the teacher has to cancel/reschedule.
His cello lessons are more flexible because he has them privately and his teacher's orchestral work schedule is different every week. We work on a lesson by lesson basis, but if we ever cancelled a lesson outright , I'd offer to pay. Quite often, DS's teacher will teach for longer than the hour we've booked, and I'll always offer to pay extra. She always tries to refuse my offer as she says it's her choice to go over time, but I tell her to take it and use it to buy gin on the days DS is particularly challenging! 🤣

We pay DS's viola teacher in cash every week. Have never had to cancel or rearrange a lesson (yet) from our side but his teacher has playing commitments so she occasionally has to rearrange.

DD's lessons are with a Sat music service. Again, we haven't had to cancel or rearrange yet but the teacher does quite frequently. The lessons get carried forward in that case to the following week, I think we have had about 7 or 8 carried forward over the course of a year.

Bugger all musical in JL except for a few strategically placed pianos and this advent calendar which was quite nice.

We don't have a contract with DD's piano teacher - she doesn't advertise for pupils though, we got her through recommendation from a friend and she only has a very few private pupils outside teaching in school/ performing etc. We pay 3 or 4 lesson in advance and agree the dates for those lessons then, with anything that might interfere flagged asap.

It works well for us so far - 6 months in and we have had to rearrange once with plenty of notice, and she has a couple of times - again with plenty of notice (no lesson one week, and changing day another week) - I like the flexibility to be honest and we have enough of a good working relationship (I make sure I pay as soon as I get her bill) that it works for both of us.

piccolo I would expect to pay for lessons that we missed due to our own issues, especially at short notice or for just not turning up! In reality, most of the teachers we have worked with have been very flexible about make-up lessons but even so, I would never argue for a refund if the missed lesson was our fault (intentionally or otherwise) and we couldn't find a time at the teachers convenience to make it up (if they even offer to!) As I see it, we've booked X amount of their fee earning time - whether we turn up or not, that should be paid for.

Thanks, Trumpet. I've taught for nearly 30 years and only recently started using a contract after repeat issues with pupils deciding to give up with no notice or cancelling lessons with no notice because, for example, they'd been invited to a party etc.
My contract is really simple: 4 lessons to be paid in advance, dates agreed at the start of the 4 lessons, cancelled lessons are non-refundable but I'll try to reschedule in the same week, although that may not always be possible. Obviously, any lessons I cancel will be refunded or rescheduled. The notice period is 4 weeks, to coincide with the start of a block of lessons.

This week, a pupil who has fixed time/day lessons asked if she could change the day because she had something else she wanted to do on her normal day. In line with the contract, I offered a different slot and she accepted it. However, when the time came, she just didn't turn up. No message, nothing. I messaged the parent, but only heard back an hour after the lesson was scheduled to start - parent had got her days mixed up. The parent then asked if I could reschedule again, and I said I could book another lesson in but unfortunately, I'd have to charge for the missed one. The parent then asked why I couldn't just count the next lesson as making up for it.

I'll admit, I find it really hard to understand (some) parents attitude to instrumental lessons. If you have them at school, you might get a missed lesson made up, but totally at the discretion of the teacher. If you pay for swimming lessons/gymnastics/horse riding etc, the same almost certainly applies.
So why are music lessons any different?
In this particular case, the pupil and her family are so busy that the only way to ensure she has lessons is to have a set day/time. The same goes for most of my pupils, actually, and it works for me because I only have limited times when I can teach outside of school hours.

Aww, I showed my dd2 the JL ad this morning. She doesn't play the piano - though we have one and her big sister has lessons. First response - 'can I get a saxophone for Christmas?' (um, no - flute and cello quite enough for now)... and then she wandered off to the piano and started playing Christmas carols...

She'd like piano lessons too, now, she says. Not quite the response I was going for! Still, poor child doesn't own any of her instruments, and I can see how much she would like at least a flute of her own.

One day.

John Lewis are now selling Yamaha electric pianos, presumably on the back of this. And I guess for electric instruments, they are all much the same, so no need for an expert retailer

When we bought our piano, the salesperson said that there were a large number of pianos sold to homes for decoration; rarely, if ever played, just that someone wanted a grand piano to look the part. Poor pianos :(

Dd learns at a music centre we buy blocks of lessons - if we cancel ( apart from very short notice ) we don’t pay - but the lessons are expensive !!

With the trumpet teacher - new and old one it’s been quite relaxed . We pay for lessons as we go new teacher is really goid at rearranging lessons as we go along if either he or ds cant make it . He’s supposed to have a weekly lesson - but sometimes it’s more like every 10 days or so . We haven’t discussed terms or notice periods ( he also teaches in schools and performs a lot so I guess teaching privately isn’t his sole source of income this was the case with the old teacher too)
Piano teacher we have a contract with her so it’s quite clear about notice periods etc - we pay a term in advance but she’s really good about trying to make up missed lessons which is great but I don’t expect lessons missed because ds has other concert commitments for example to be made up it’s just nice that she tries

Completely different topic from recent posts ( although, Druid, I am with you!), but those of you whose DCs have lessons privately ( ie not peri or JD), what sort of contract do you have with the teacher? In particular, I'm wondering about cancellation/ rearrangement of lessons ( by the pupil, not the teacher).
I've had a few issues over this subject and would be interested to hear what teachers request, and how parents feel about their terms and conditions.

Ha - yes, I expect so druid.

I think I've read somewhere online that JL are going to start selling keyboards off the back of the ad. Am going to be there later today Christmas shopping - I will see if they have any musical things.

Showed the DCs the JL ad this morning. DS was messing about on the piano, not practising what he was supposed to. I may have muttered 'I bet Elton John's mum never had this problem'...

Yes that would be a fallback mending. Mostly I just want to see them looking cute in their black and white tbh - and maybe spy out if DD is bowing straight! Fingers crossed recording might be allowed for personal use or there might be pics/snippets from the music service. There's always next term...