WHAT DO LESSONS INCLUDE?

When are lessons?

• The Schneider Music Studio operates on a 9 month school year.

  • The 9 months are from September to May

  • Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year and Spring Break are non-teaching weeks.

  • SMS does accept students mid-year, on a case by case basis

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Where are lessons?

• Carol Schneider teaches in a studio in her home.

• She lives in the Northeast section of Colorado Springs.

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What do Suzuki lessons include?

1. One Private lesson

   • Each of the teaching weeks consists of an individual lesson - 30, 45 or 60 minutes in length.​

     • This is a 3 person lesson. Parent, teacher and student.​

       • The parent is expected to watch the lesson and take notes for home instruction.

       • You may bring other siblings along with quiet things to keep them occupied.

     • Students over the age of 14 may attend alone and I will assist them in learning how to take their own lesson notes.​​

2. One Group Lesson​​

   • Mondays are group lesson days-​

     • These classes are offered from approximately 3pm to 7pm. Each year varies slightly due to enrollment.​

     • Based on the enrollment for that year, each group can have a variety of ages and abilities.

     • Each group is either 30/45/60 minutes in length. Broken down as follows:

       • Ensemble time- learning to listen together and work as a team​

       • Sharing time-playing for classmates each week develops confidence and a desire to play for others.

       • Theory time-floor games to strengthen the understanding of music theory.

     • You are not required to attend Monday classes, however if you enroll in the Theory classes at the beginning of the year, I ask that you commit to coming on a regular basis. ​

     • Parents are not required to be in attendance, but are welcome in most cases.

     • There is no additional charge for these classes, nor is there a reduction in tuition if you choose not to attend. 

3. Piano Marvel Lab​​

   • The Schneider Music Studio program encourages each student to enroll in a supplemental web-site based piano program called Piano Marvel.  This program enhances the reading part of their piano education, out​side of the Suzuki Scope and Sequence.
     
     Piano Marvel includes Method and Technique books for 6 levels; a library of music that includes the Suzuki literature (as well as over one thousand other pieces AND new selections are being added all the time; and a section that focuses on Sight Reading. 
     
     Since this program works through a midi cord connected from a technology device to a digital keyboard, it allows students to have immediate feedback on their musical accuracy. 
     
     In the Method and Technique Books, when a section is completed with a predetermined level of accuracy, it earns the student a trophy for their trophy case.  This is highly motivating as it doesn't require the subjective view of a teacher's analysis and they don't have to wait for a piece to get approved by the teacher at the next lesson.  This allows the student to move at their own pace during the week and it doesn't take as much time away from our Suzuki portion of the lessons. 
     
     Our Suzuki philosophy includes learning new pieces AND retaining those pieces. The Piano Marvel Library includes Suzuki Literature. This provides the students a recording to play along with, to keep their review pieces correct in their repertoire.  If a review piece develops some difficulty for the student, it even provides a way to break it down to secure it again correctly. 
     
     The SASR Tab (Standard Assessment for Sight Reading) is what I feel might be the most valuable part of the program. Teaching students to sight read involves the need to have immediate feedback.  Since it assesses the students accuracy, it automatically increases or decreases the level of difficulty for the next piece they read, progressing through multiple pieces during each session.  To become good at sight reading involves reading in quantity on a daily basis.  Since teachers only get to see students once a week at their lessons the immediate feedback provided by Piano Marvel allows the students to progress on a daily basis. 
     
     Piano Marvel is a free program through the first level of the Method and Technique books, then requires a monthly subscription to continue into higher levels of the website. Studio parents think of this as a cheap price to pay for a "tutor" analyzing each piece they play for immediate correction.
     
     Students without home access to a compatible device may come early for lessons or stay after lessons to use a keyboard in the studio with access to their account, however it is encouraged to have this set up available within the home environment to allow the building blocks of reading to flourish quicker.​

4. Recital Opportunities

   • Two Studio Recitals each year. Typically one in November and one in May.

   • Each student performs a Book Recital upon completion of their current Suzuki book.

5. How much do Suzuki Lessons cost at SMS?​

   • The tuition is based on a school year (31 weeks of lessons from September to May) and payments can be made in one full payment at the start of the fall session, two equal semester payments or nine equal monthly payments. ​​

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