How Your Lessons Work

Everything here is written for one reason: to keep the piano the best part of your child's week. We have set it out the way we would explain it to you in person, warmly and without any jargon. Here is how lessons and payments work with us.

What matters most: your child

●Before anything else: this is all about your child at the piano, getting better, and loving it.
●Every one of our teachers is conservatoire-trained, DBS-checked and hand-picked. Norbert keeps an eye on how every student is getting on, and we would never put your child with a teacher we would not happily use for our own family.
●More than 90 per cent of our students pass ABRSM and Trinity with merit or distinction. That is the part we are proud of.
●And if your child ever were to move to a different teacher, you would hear it from us first, in person, and we would talk it through together. Never out of the blue.

The same teacher, the same time, every week

●When you join, one weekly time becomes yours, and it is kept just for your child, with the same teacher each week.
●That sameness is not a small thing. It is what lets your teacher really know your child, plan ahead, and build them up week by week. It is how beginners turn into confident players.
●It works the way a school holds your child's place: the time is theirs, waiting for them, every week.

What comes with your lessons

●Your own weekly time, kept just for your child.
●A teacher who knows them, conservatoire-trained and DBS-checked.
●A plan built around your child, and where they want to get to.
●A clear path from first notes to Grade 8 and beyond.
●Progress updates, so you always know how they are doing.
●Preparation between lessons, done in your teacher's own time.
●Practice guidance, so the week in between actually counts.
●Exam support for ABRSM, Trinity and RSL, when the time is right.
●Chances to perform, to build real confidence.
●Four Lesson Passes a year, to book your own online catch-up in the portal when life gets in the way.
●First choice of times when you carry on each year.

Studio, your home, or online

●Lessons can happen at our Harrow studio, in your own home, or online over Zoom. Whatever suits your family, and you can switch whenever you like. Just say.
●When your teacher comes to you, the travel is already part of your monthly payment. There is nothing extra to add.
●If you are a bit further out, we will agree any small travel amount with you up front, before you join, and then it simply becomes part of your one monthly price. Either way, you always know exactly what you pay, and it never moves.

Your monthly payment, kept simple

●Here is the honest reason we changed to this. Chasing lesson packs, invoices and reminders was eating the time that should go into teaching your children. So we made paying as simple as it can be, and then stopped thinking about it.
●It is your child's full year of lessons, 46 in all, split into twelve equal monthly payments so it is easy to plan for. The same every month, all year.
●It comes out automatically on the 1st. Because the year's 46 lessons are spread evenly across twelve payments, your payment never changes, and you are never paying for a week we are closed.
●Some months even work out with a fifth lesson, and when they do, that one is on us.
●Set it up once, and you never have to think about it again.

If your child can't make a lesson

●Life happens, and we have planned for it properly. Every family gets four Lesson Passes a year, four chances to move a lesson when you genuinely need to. Honestly, most schools and tutors do not offer any way to make up a missed lesson at all, so this is something we are glad to give you.
●Best of all, you book it yourself. Cancel the lesson in your student portal with at least 48 hours' notice, and you can pick your catch-up there and then, no waiting on us and no back-and-forth. It is all in your hands, whenever suits you.
●Your catch-up is an online lesson over Zoom, and here is the honest reason why. Our teachers spend their days travelling from home to home, so we usually cannot get one back across town at short notice for an in-person catch-up. Online means we can always fit you in, and your child gets a quick, easy lesson from your own front room.
●How it works could not be simpler. Each teacher keeps the same catch-up times reserved every single week, set aside just for this. You pick one that suits from your portal. It is first come, first served and always subject to availability, so the sooner you book, the more choice you have. With four passes and time held open every week, there is real room in it, though in fairness it is a request rather than a cast-iron promise.
●Beyond your four passes, a missed lesson is not moved or refunded, because that time was reserved and prepared just for your child, the same way a school holds a place whether it is used that day or not. It is the very thing that keeps your own weekly time yours.
●And if you would rather have the freedom to move lessons whenever you like, our pay-as-you-go option is made for exactly that.

If your child is poorly

●We understand a poorly child is the last thing anyone can plan for, and getting them better always comes first.
●If they are well enough to sit at the piano, an online lesson from home is often the easiest thing. It keeps them going, and there is no travel.
●If they are too poorly even for that, you are welcome to use a Lesson Pass to book an online catch-up. Otherwise that week's lesson is not moved, like any other week away, and where it helps your teacher may pop over some practice notes so the week is not wasted.

If we ever have to cancel

●If we ever have to cancel on you, for any reason, we will always sort it out: another of our teachers steps in, we find a replacement lesson, or we credit it to your account.
●If we cancel, you never lose the lesson. Simple as that.

When your teacher takes a break

●Teachers need proper rest too, and a rested teacher is a better teacher. Your child feels the difference the moment they sit down.
●Across the year your teacher may take up to seven personal days and seven holiday days. Together with the closures above, those make up the six weeks your 46 lessons are already built around. It is not extra time away, and it is not something you are charged for. It is simply part of the shape of the year.
●Holidays are planned a long way ahead. Your teacher tells us at least two months beforehand, so we can let you know in good time and you are never caught out by it.
●Personal days are for the things life quietly throws at all of us: an appointment that cannot be moved, a family day that matters. Your teacher gives us at least two weeks' notice whenever it is something that can be planned.
●Illness and emergencies are a different thing altogether, and we treat them that way. If your teacher is suddenly unwell, you do not lose out. Either another of our teachers steps in, or we credit the lesson to your account. If we cancel on you, you never lose that lesson.
●Through all of it, your child's weekly time stays theirs. Their teacher comes back to it, and your price never moves.

When the studio is closed

●Everyone needs a proper rest, your teacher included, and we would much rather give you the dates now than have them arrive as a surprise. They are the same every year, so you can put them in the diary once and stop thinking about them.
●Christmas: we are closed from 21 December to 3 January, and open again on 4 January.
●Easter: we are closed from 25 March to 31 March, and open again on 1 April.
●Summer: we are closed from 1 August to 7 August, and open again on 8 August.
●Your own teacher also takes a little time off across the year, which is the very next section. Put together, that comes to six weeks without lessons, and that is simply why your year works out at 46 lessons.
●And here is the bit we most want to be clear about, because it is the thing parents quietly wonder: you are not paying for our holidays. What you are buying is 46 lessons. We add them up for the whole year and divide by twelve, so the same steady amount leaves your account each month instead of jumping about depending on how the weeks happen to fall. You are never charged for a week without a lesson. Those weeks were never in the price to begin with.
●And for what it is worth, a school year runs to about 39 weeks. So across the year your child spends more time at the piano with us than they get of almost any single subject at school. That is the part we rather like.

Holidays and time away

●Your monthly payment never changes. Not in a busy month, not in a holiday month.
●Because it is spread evenly across the year, holiday breaks are already in the price. There is nothing to work out and never a surprise.
●And your own family holidays are already covered by that too, so there is nothing to sort out when you go away. Just enjoy the break; your child's time is waiting for them when you get back.
●Their time is held for them all year, and their teacher is paid to keep it free, which is why we do not stop and start it for individual weeks away.
●And if your plans change a lot and you would rather only pay for the weeks you are here, that is exactly what our pay-as-you-go option is for. Just ask.

Keeping your regular time

●Good weekly times, especially after school, are precious, and consistency really is what helps your child come on.
●If ever it gets hard to keep lessons going, please just talk to us. We will always try to find a way that works for you, and we would only ever look at freeing up a time as a genuine last resort, once we had spoken with you properly.

If a payment doesn't go through

●No drama. We will send you a friendly reminder a few days later.
●If it stays unpaid, lessons simply pause until it is sorted, and the moment it is, everything carries on as normal.

Joining partway through a month

●You only ever pay for the lessons you actually get.
●Join halfway through a month with two lessons left, and you pay for two, not the whole month. From the next 1st, you move onto the normal monthly payment.

If you ever want to stop

●You can stop whenever you like, with just two weeks' notice. There is no lock-in, and nothing to renew or remember.
●An email is absolutely fine, and your lessons carry on right through your notice, so you never pay for time you do not get.
●One small practical thing, just so nothing catches you out: your payment comes out on the 1st, and the Direct Debit is set in motion a few days before that. So if you would like to stop the coming month, a quick word at least 5 days before the 1st does the trick. If it reaches us any later, that month simply goes ahead as normal, and your lessons carry on through the month you have paid for, nothing lost.

If you'd rather have full flexibility

●Not everyone wants a fixed weekly routine, and that is completely fine. You are very welcome to book lessons one at a time, and pay only for the ones you take.
●It is the most flexible way to learn with us: move lessons whenever you like, take a break whenever you want, and pay nothing for the weeks you are away. In fairness, it does cost a little more per lesson, and because there is no slot kept aside for your child, times depend on what your teacher has free, so we cannot promise the same teacher or time each week.
●Plenty of families still choose the monthly way, because it costs less and it protects the same teacher and time every week. But if freedom matters more to you than a fixed routine, this is a genuinely good choice, and we are very happy to set it up.

Group theory lessons

●Our small-group music theory lessons are a separate thing, run on their own terms, and not part of your monthly lessons. Just ask, and we will happily tell you more.

If life throws something big at you

●We are human, and we get it. If something serious happens, a long illness or anything genuinely out of the ordinary, please talk to us. We will always do our best to help.

Your trial lesson

●Your first lesson is a £10 trial, online over Zoom or at our Harrow studio.
●The trial is paid in advance, before the lesson takes place. We will send you a secure Stripe payment link as soon as we confirm your time, and it is that payment which books the slot in for you.
●There is a straightforward reason for it. Paying up front secures your slot and respects your teacher's time: they set that time aside just for you, and often travel for it. Paying in advance means far fewer no-shows, which keeps those times free for the families who genuinely want them.
●It is still fully refundable if you decide it is not for you, however much notice you give, and there is no commitment of any kind.

A note to finish

●By setting up your payment and carrying on with lessons, you are agreeing to everything on this page. None of this affects your legal rights as a consumer. We have written it all in plain English, with no small print, so if any of it is not clear, please just ask. We would always rather talk it through than leave you wondering.

In summary: Your child learns one to one with a conservatoire-trained, DBS-checked teacher who really gets to know them, at our Harrow studio, in your own home, or online. They have their own weekly time, kept just for them, with the same teacher week after week. You pay one simple amount each month, the same all year, so there is nothing to chase and nothing to work out. Your price never changes, holidays included. If we ever have to cancel, you never lose that lesson. And if it is ever not right for you, you can stop with two weeks' notice. That really is all there is to it.

Keeping your child safe

Every teacher is enhanced DBS-checked before their first lesson and works to clear conduct standards. Our full safeguarding and child protection policy sets out exactly how we keep children safe, and what to do if you are ever worried about anything.

Read our safeguarding policy