I.      Materials and Lesson Preparation

  1. The student is expected to bring the following items to each lesson:
    1. Instrument, if applicable 
    2. Music books/sheet music
    3. Pencil
  2. The student is responsible to purchase the necessary materials such as music books, a metronome, accessories, etc. as needed.
  3. It is recommended each student spend a minimum of 20-30 minutes practicing each day. However, the amount of time spent practicing may depend on each student’s musical goals. Progress is directly related to practice habits and amount of time spent in quality rehearsal each week.


II.      Tuition and Payment Schedule

  1. Monthly tuition rate is determined by how many lessons have been scheduled for that month, due at the date on your invoice. The invoice will also include how many lessons, when, and at what rate. This amount will be your school determined rate minus any discounts or scholarships awarded from the district. Payment is expected on a monthly basis: If you are unable to pay please contact me right away.
  2. A late fee of$10 will be assessed for any payment received more than one month late from the due date on your invoice.
  3. Payments accepted: cash, check or credit card. Receipt of payment will be email, however physical receipts are available upon request.
    1. Make checks payable to Patrick Walsh.  Please give to me during a lesson or mail to my home address.  All returned checks will incur a $25 fee, no exceptions.
    2. Try Bill-Pay: Your bank may offer an automatic bill-pay option. You can specify me as a payee and have a check mailed each month on the same day, so you can set it up and forget about it for a chosen period of time. This is often a free service through your bank, so look into it!
    3. Credit card payment is available at my website through PayPal (with or without a PayPal account). Each invoice will also include a link to Pay Online.

III.    Scheduling, Absences

Scheduling: From time to time a student may find their schedule has changed and a conflict arises with their lesson time. Every effort will be made to reschedule the student and find an acceptable alternate; however it is not guaranteed. Communicate with me as soon as you know of a conflict, so that I may be able to reschedule your lesson or switch you with another student for that week.

  1. Your payment at the beginning of the month is our agreement for your child to have lessons and reserves their time slot for our lesson time.  It is important that if your child is unable to make their scheduled lesson time that you let me know by email or text.  If I know ahead of time I can always do my best to switch students in the same class around to assure that your child gets a suitable make up time.  
  2. If I have sufficient notice (24 hours) and can not schedule a make up time then you will see a credit for the missed/cancelled lesson on your invoice for the following month. 
  3.  If I do not receive notice or if your child is a no call no show for a lesson I have no obligation to make up the missed lesson. However, even in those situations I will still try and schedule a make up time for your child at my discretion.
  4. If your student is going to miss a lesson due to a school event I still need notification that your student will not be available. Being that I usually have around 60 kids over 5 different schools it is impossible for me to be aware of everything that is happening at your child's school. Additionally I often do not have access to every schools calendar of activities.
  5. If for any reason I need to cancel a lesson you will be notified by email immediately.  I will always try to find a make up time for those cancelled lessons within the current month. In the event that I am unable to schedule a make up time I will mark the cancelled lesson as a credit to your account for the next months invoice.
  6. There will be no cash refunds issued for any missed or cancelled lessons.

IV.    Buddy Lessons, Website

  1. Buddy Lessons as a Make Up! Often times during the year my students will be working on the same things or even the same music but different parts. If there is no suitable time for a one on one makeup with your child I might do a lesson with two kids at once. This way we can work on the material together and still make headway individually. During ensemble season this works out well because the kids will get to hear how the other parts fits with their part.  I prefer generally not to do lessons this way but on rare occasions it can be beneficial.
  2. If you do not want your child to have buddy lessons or do not want to share your child's time with another student please contact me to let me know.

Website: www.saxophone.mymusicstaff.com 

  1. Parent Portal: Parents will receive an e-mail inviting you to log in at my website.  You MUST click through the link to enter the first time, and a new password can be created after you've logged in once. Subsequently, the Parent Portal can be accessed by simply navigating to the home page at my website (Create a bookmark on your browser for easy access). Parents are strongly encouraged to utilize the features available online, but not required:
    • View Calendar (Upcoming Lessons, Make-Up Lessons, Events) 
    • Request Cancellations
    • Send Messages to instructor
    • Record practice time
    • Track Repertoire and materials played
    • Manage family account; pay tuition and fees with a credit card 
  2. Student Portal: Students are welcome to have their own access to these same features, minus the account portion, which is only visible from the Parent Portal.  To gain access to the Student Portal, provide an e-mail address for the student and a separate login link will be sent. 


V.  Discontinuing Lessons

  1. Advance notice of lesson cancellation is required in the event the student wishes to discontinue lessons.  All cancellations should be made at the end of the month with notification to the instructor. 
  2. After payment is paid lessons can only be cancelled or discontinued at the end of each month.
  3. If lessons are discontinued immediately, a fee equal to the remaining value of the month's lesson will apply.
  4. If the student is planning on returning after a short break (Less than 6 months) the remaining lesson will be marked as a credit to the account for future use.
  5. There will be no cash refunds issued for any missed or cancelled lessons as a result of discontinuing lessons.