Piano Lessons

Lessons are conducted in Susan’s home studio, located in New Braunfels, Texas (nearest main cross streets are Walnut Avenue & County Line).

Homeschool students, stay-at-home mothers & senior citizens are welcome! Susan’s teaching style is nurturing and complements most learning disabilities. Susan uses kinesthetic (hands-on), visual and aural methods to help students understand all the many colorful layers in creating & performing music. Susan prefers to focus on children and adult women.

Lessons are conducted Monday to Thursday. Lesson times are available from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for senior citizens & home-schoolers; 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. for public & private school students. Summer lessons are conducted from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Occasionally, make-up lessons are scheduled on Fridays.

Children are normally ready for lessons by age 6. Susan accepts some children at age 5, but advises parents to wait before committing to lessons until their child reads a little and differentiates between the left and right hands.

Beginning and early intermediate levels are taught in Piano & Music Theory. Susan gives students freedom to ask questions and to be creative. Susan invites students to choose some of the projects incorporated into their lesson plan while she guides students toward attainable goals.

Susan provides fun and encouraging ways to learn! Her students develop healthy hand/wrist & body posture, finger placement, dynamics, phrasing, sight-reading skills and music theory (rhythm, melody, harmony, scales, and chords). The sharpening of fine motor skills (hand muscle strength, stable wrist, hand & eye coordination, independent movement of thumbs & fingers), and proficiency in rhythm, sight-reading music, & terminology will take time to learn and master.

Students, ages 6—11, are assigned interactive worksheets & games through SproutBeat.Com—this will help reinforce concepts they learn during their lessons, but will be fun as well! Students can use an iPad, Tablet or Computer (PC or Mac) to login to their free account and complete their online music theory homework. Along with online worksheets, students are given additional music theory assignments in workbooks as well.

Note: Students will be more likely to absorb and remember the concepts taught in previous lessons if all theory/worksheet assignments are completed within 2 days after lessons.

Practice Time (5-6 days a week)

  • Ages 6—7: 15 Minutes 2x Daily

  • Ages 8—17: 60 Minutes Daily

  • Ages 18 up: 90 Minutes Daily

Note: Music Theory workbooks and worksheets & games on SproutBeat.Com will require additional time.

Progress only happens with practice, persistence & positivity. Students who flourish usually have a strong support system from parents & family, and are provided with privacy and the necessary equipment/tools to excel. Young students need parental encouragement & involvement in developing and refining skills and to be motivated to practice!

For most students, finding time to practice is challenging with the responsibilities & demands of life. The main objective in taking Piano Lessons is to enjoy learning about music and making progress, even if it is at a slower pace!

Initially, the majority of content during lessons will be theory assignments, flashcards on terminology/note & rest recognition, and rhythm exercises. Music repertoire (songs) will be added later when there is a basic understanding of rhythm, counting and necessary terms & note/rest symbols. In my opinion, it is important students understand simple terms & rhythms before attempting to sight-read music on the staff. Rhythm is basically taking all the different types of notes (each type of note has a different time value), and writing them in different combinations—each combination forms a certain rhythm (there are many rhythmic combinations!). The different arrangements of notes (different rhythms) are practiced by playing a key on the piano or clapping the notes. Trying to read basic rhythm patterns while sight-reading staff notes on the piano, at the same time, can be difficult and frustrating for new students. So, starting with rhythmic exercises helps students feel more in control and gives them a sense of accomplishment, and lowers the chance of students feeling overwhelmed. Once students are comfortable with basic rhythms, then sight-reading music will be incorporated into the lesson assignments.

As students progress, repertoire will focus on a variety of techniques and genres/styles of music and increasingly difficult levels of piano literature.

How to Get Started

  1. Contact Susan to schedule a free consultation in her home studio—this will give you and your child an opportunity to see if Susan’s approach is a good “fit”. There is no obligation to purchase lessons.

  2. If everyone is on board, the next step is to schedule lessons. Discounts are available for multiple students from the immediate family and in the same household.

  3. Order piano books. Susan will recommend the best instructional books for your child and will send you the list of books to order. Order books ASAP so that at least a portion of the books arrive before your first scheduled lesson.

  4. Susan will email a monthly electronic invoice 2 to 7 days prior to the first lesson of the month.

Cancellations/Refunds

If you need to cancel or reschedule a lesson, please call or text Susan at (575) 404-8010 as soon as possible. A 24-hour advance notice is appreciated (sooner if possible). Susan will reschedule the lesson within the same week or double the lesson time for the following lesson, if possible. If there are two students with consecutive lessons, and one is canceling, the other student will be given a longer lesson. If these options are not a possibility, a credit will be applied to your account for the following month’s billing cycle.

If you want to discontinue lessons entirely, Susan will issue a refund equal to the balance of the lessons that have not yet been provided, including discounts.

Payment Information

At this time, payment methods accepted are Cash, Personal Checks & Venmo (@PianoBySusan). Tuition is paid monthly. A monthly invoice is emailed prior to the first lesson of the month. Susan recommends 3 or 4 lessons per month.

Piano Lesson Rates

  • 30-min. lesson (1 student) $20.00

  • 30-min. lesson (2+ students) $18.00 per

  • 45-min. lesson (1 student) $30.00

  • 45-min. lesson (2+ students) $27.00 per

  • 60-min. lesson (1 student) $40.00

  • 60-min. lesson (2+ students) $36.00 per

Note: The discount applies to multiple students who are immediate family members and reside in the same household.

Age-Appropriate Lesson Time

  • Thirty Minutes (Ages 5—7)

  • Forty-Five Minutes (Ages 8—12)

  • Sixty Minutes (Ages 13—100)

Note: As students progress and have more complicated piano repertoire, the lesson time should increase by at least 15 minutes.

Other Information

Music styles Susan is familiar with are: Christian (traditional & contemporary), Gospel, Classical, Country, Folk, Pop, Broadway, Easy Listening & Soft Rock.

Susan is available for Church Weddings, Church Services, Church Camps, Christian Conferences, Women’s Retreats.

If you have additional questions, please connect with Susan! Contact Information is at the bottom of the screen. Thank you!

Note: At this time, Susan does not provide equipment (piano/keyboard, microphones, etc.) or a sound technician. Susan will only offer her services if a professional sound technician and high-quality equipment are provided. Susan does not set-up or take-down equipment.