Mission: I am a firm believer that piano is the best instrument for young musicians to begin their musical journey. It can be a gateway instrument to all other instruments – piano is the best way to learn music theory, and most knowledge gained by playing the piano can be applied to other instruments. My focus as a teacher is as follows:
- 50% learning how to read music/developing sight-reading skills.
- 25% understanding music theory concepts and playing the piano with proper form.
- 15% composition and exploration of musical creativity.
- 10% developing pieces for performance.
I do not take my students to piano competitions and am not a believer in high-intensity performance work; while it certainly is exciting to be able to play incredibly complex works, often times it means skipping certain building blocks of a piano education and leads to a lack of sight-reading ability. Further, intense competitions can sometimes suck the fun out of playing the piano, and, above all, piano should be fun!
Rates:
- $25 per half hour lesson
- $45 per hour-long lesson.
- I purchase all books and materials necessary and bill the student’s family on the monthly invoice.
- Invoices are billed monthly. Payment is accepted via personal check or PayPal.
Policies
Age: Students must be at least 5 years of age and must have completed kindergarten.
Equipment: Students must have a piano or full 88 key keyboard in their home for practice. If the student is using a keyboard, a keyboard with weighted keys is encouraged for first or second year students and required for any family in their third year and beyond.
Cancellation/Re-Scheduling: I’d much rather re-schedule a lesson around any conflicts that you have than completely cancel a lesson: keeping a regular weekly lesson schedule is key to improvement! That being said, in order to keep my schedule in order, I keep the following policies:
- More than two re-scheduled lessons in a month will incur an extra fee of $5 per re-scheduled lesson, since keeping a regular schedule is not only important for your student, but also important for me!
- Cancelled lessons with at least 24 hours notice given will not be charged on the monthly invoice.
- Cancelled lessons without 24 hours notice will be charged on the invoice as a normal lesson.
- Similarly, I will give at least 24 hour notice for any lesson that I need to cancel or re-schedule. In the event that I need to give less than 24 hour notice, I will credit $10 to your monthly invoice for the inconvenience.
- Three or more cancelled lessons in a month or five or more cancelled lessons in the period of two months will result in loss of your lesson slot.
Practicing/Goals: Daily practice is essential for improvement! No matter how hard a student works during their lessons, they won’t improve without a regular practice schedule. I don’t require practice logs to be filled out, but I do expect a certain amount of practice time per day. Below are my practice guidelines for each year of lessons.
- Year 1: 15-20 minutes per day
- Year 2: 20-30 minutes per day
- Year 3-4: 30 minutes per day
- Year 5-6: 45 minutes per day
- Year 7 and beyond: 1 hour per day
Performance Opportunities: I arrange a spring recital in late May for my students. This gives them a chance to show off what they’ve learned throughout the year and to practice the skill of playing in front of a crowd.
Music Teaching Experience: I started teaching private lessons in 2008. After a hiatus from Fall 2010 to Spring 2014 while I pursued my music degree, I resumed teaching private lessons in the Spring of 2014. In the summers of 2010 and 2011, I taught music theory, music history, and Rock Ensemble for kids from ages six to twelve at the Saint Paul Conservatory of Music. I spent the summer of 2013 as a teaching fellow at the Sociedad Latina Music Clubhouse in Boston, teaching students who had learned their instruments by ear how to read music. After earning my Music Composition degree in 2014, I started Will Robertson Arrangements in Saint Paul, Minnesota, keeping a private lesson studio of 6-8 students. In 2017, I moved to Brunswick, Maine, and am keeping a studio of 10 students. I currently have a wait-list for students. Fill out the contact form, or e-mail will@robertsonarrangements.com if you are interested in adding your name to the wait list!