December 2013

As we wrap up another year at Musicology, the Instructors would like to thank you for allowing us the opportunity to serve you! We are looking forward to the new year and the changes we have planned to help us provide you with the absolute best musical instruction in the Tennessee Valley. This month's newsletter will inform you on our 2014 Policy Changes, Introduce you to our Teacher of the Month Jonathan Slater, and give you a look at the 2014 Calendar.  

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Hey Everyone! We hope this finds you well and we hope you have a very happy holiday season!  We have some big changes for Musicology in the coming year and wanted to make sure that everyone is aware of them. We are changing things in an effort to run Musicology more efficiently and, at the same time, give our clients the best possible and most efficient service we are able to give. At the beginning of the year, we will need to get all of our clients to sign a new policy agreement with the following changes.

1.     Quentin Roddie, the founder of Musicology, and Eric Brown, one of the teachers, have become business partners and have made Musicology a Limited Liability Corporation. Starting in 2014, all payments need to be made to Musicology LLC. The individual teachers will not be accepting payments made to them any more.

2.     There will now be a one-time $25.00 registration fee for all new students to get on the schedule at Musicology.  However, if a current student discontinues lessons and returns at a later date, they will have to pay the registration fee again to get back on Musicology’s schedule.  This is due to a problem we have had with people reserving lesson times and then not showing up for the lessons.

3.     We are incorporating a new operating system called Mindbody. This system will help us manage Musicology more efficiently by keeping track of all our scheduling, billing, and administrative needs while also providing many benefits to our clients as well. The system will provide you:

·       Weekly reminders of when your lesson time is scheduled.

·       A free app you can download for your phone that will allow you to easily check to see when your lesson time is, if you have paid, sign up for make up lessons, and give you an easy way to cancel lessons and communicate with your teacher.

·       Payment reminders will be sent to avoid late fees.

·       You can pay by credit and debit card.

·       It can enroll you in auto-pay so that you never have to be worried about forgetting your checkbook or have to run by the ATM prior to lessons.

·       The app or a client ID number can be used to “check in” at Musicology so that your teacher knows you have arrived and parents can check to make sure their child has arrived to lessons safely for the students that drive themselves.

·       A record of attendance will be kept so that the teacher and client always know what lessons were attended and what lessons were missed.

4.     We are shortening our cancellation policy to 8 hours notice.  It was previously 24 hours notice. If you give us 8 hours notice, you will be able to sign up for a make-up lesson. If 8 hours notice is not given, the lesson will be forfeited. We will strictly adhere to this policy.

5.     We will now be offering group make-up lessons as opposed to individual make-up lessons. The schedule of make-up lessons will be up for the entire calendar year. If a regularly scheduled lesson is missed with the given 8 hours notice, it will be the clients' responsibility to go on-line and sign up for a make-up lesson or call to sign for a make-up lesson.  Make-up lessons will be on the weekends at various times.  The cut-off for signing up for a make-up class will be the Thursday before the class meets.  If no one signs up for a class by Thursday, the class will be canceled.  The class will meet even if only one person has signed up.  That person will be given an hour of individual instruction.  The benefits of this will be:

·       Make-up lessons will be an hour long.

·       The client can choose the make-up lesson that best fits with their schedule.

·       It will give the student chances to interact and play with and for other students.

6.     Since Musicology is a year round school, we will be closed for all major holidays. We will be closed on July 4th, Labor Day, Memorial Day, the day before and after Thanksgiving, and the day before and after Christmas. Make-up lessons will not be offered for these days. 

7.     Effective January 1, 2014, tuition at Musicology will now be $92.00 per month. We will still offer the group discount of $85.00.  We want to stress that we are not just going up on price.  We are going up on service and want to offer more and more to our clients.  To do this, however, takes money.  Some of the services we now offer or plan to offer in the near future are:

·       We are constantly updating our website and trying to make it better and more informative.

·       We now have a monthly newsletter that has important information about the school and important tips about practicing, playing, and learning about music.  

·       We will now use a new operating system called Mindbody that will provide many benefits that have been listed previously.  

·       We plan to do updates to the facility including painting, installing new carpet, and soundproofing.

·       We don’t want to charge recital fees any more, so we are seeking places that will let us use their facilities for free.

·       We want to install cameras in every room to even further our clients’ peace of mind that their children are in a safe and healthy learning environment.  

Teacher of the Month: 
     Jonathan Slater
1.  What are the things you like the most about teaching? I really enjoy both helping student's learn music they love, and also helping them grow as a musician. For me it's not simply about teaching someone to learn to play a song, but is also about helping them understand music more thoroughly.  If a student is willing to learn the theory, timing, techniques, and other aspects of a song, they will be more satisfied with their playing.  It will also advance their overall musicianship better.  

2.  How do you inspire students to practice more? I try to give my student's things to practice that are fun, challenging, and doable.  A big part of a student's interest in practice is allowing them to work on or towards music they like.  Sometimes its a little bit trickier to get them to practice things like scales and exercises.  So in those cases I try to make practice more interesting by showing them how scales and exercises will allow a student to accomplish more difficult things.

3.  What part do you feel that playing or singing in a group has in a student's development?Recitals are motivating and a place for student's to share their hard work.  When you have to play with other people, or perform for people, it motivates students to work hard so they play well.  On top of that, recitals are a chance for a student to share their work with someone other than their teacher.

4.  What is your favorite type of music? It would be hard for me to pick just one.  I really enjoy many styles and bands. This year I've listened to mostly Appalachian bluegrass and blues rock.  

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