Commitment:
Weekly or every-other-week
Payment and Cancellation Policy:
e-transfer for students in Canada and Paypal for the rest of the world. Payment for the upcoming month's lesson required, payable at the last lesson of each month.
Part of booking a lesson is reserving that time slot. Cancellations are disruptive and to be avoided if at all possible, but I know sometimes things come up. If you do need to cancel a lesson, please let me know as soon as possible! I charge full price for lessons cancelled with less than 24 hours notice (except in case of illness).
Payment for lessons cancelled with more than 24 hours notice will be rolled into next month (or refunded if you're taking a break/stopping lessons). Similarly, if I have to cancel a lesson for any reason, that payment will carry over into next month.
While 24 hours is the cutoff before I start charging for a cancelled lesson, I prefer as much lead time as possible:
3 or more weeks notice - perfect, I can't ask for anything more!
1 week's notice - i.e. letting me know at your lesson that you can't make next week's lesson - acceptable, though not ideal.
Less than a week's notice - less than ideal and to be avoided if at all possible.
Less 24 hours notice (except in case of illness) - full charge for that lesson.
Coaching is for people who aren't looking for regular lessons but would like to pick my brains and get help and feedback on a specific subject. For example - you're preparing a concert program and would like to get my thoughts and suggestions on the music.
Whether you already have a teacher or haven't had one for a long time, getting a trusted second set of ears and eyes to give you feedback is always valuable.
Payment and Cancellation Policy:
Paypal or e-transfer are accepted. Payment is due on booking confirmation.
36-hour cancellation notice required.
Due to the limited amount of coaching time I have available, I charge $85 for any cancellation made with less than 3 days (36 hours) notice.
I currently teach via both Skype and Zoom (I prefer Skype). You'll need to install one or both of those on the device you plan to use for your lesson. A laptop tends to be ideal, as it is easy to position and adjust. A large tablet is excellent as well, as long as you have a way to keep it completely vertical (or even point down a bit). While it is possible to use a phone, the small screen size is not ideal.
If your computer does not have a webcam or even if it does, but it's of poor quality, you may need to get an external webcam. I would recommend a Logitech C920.
Position your device on the left side of your harp, to the left of your music stand. The camera should be aimed at you and show a nice, almost side-on view, with both hands visible when playing, as well as your torso, shoulders, and head.
Consider using headphones/earbuds.
If possible, connect via ethernet cable to your modem, rather than WiFi. If you have to use WiFi, try to be close to your router.
If this is your first online harp lesson, try to do a test run with a friend to make sure your setup is working ok!
If you find yourself doing a lot of online lessons, consider using a USB mic (or USB audio interface + microphone) to increase the sound quality of your audio signal.
This Harp Tuesday episode below was geared more towards teaching online lessons, but might have some useful info on setup: