Philosophy, Policies, & Procedures

GET STARTED

At Your Door Music® is a traveling music school offering one-on-one lessons in the convenience of your own home. We teach piano, guitar, voice, drums and other instrument lessons to children ages six and up. We also welcome adults. We teach beginner, intermediate and advanced students.

The At Your Door Music® staff is comprised of experienced music teachers many of whom are recent graduates from local music colleges such as Berklee College of Music. Every At Your Door Music® teacher is patient, enthusiastic and has a kind demeanor. We all share a philosophy that learning to play a musical instrument should be enjoyable as well as educational. We know that an inspired student is more inclined to play and practice their instrument. We tailor lessons specifically to each student, practice positive reinforcement and encourage our students to take an active role in the direction of their lessons by helping to choose the music they’d like to play.

While the backbone of an At Your Door Music® lesson is learning to read music and play songs, our modern teaching approach balances traditional fundamentals with complimentary studies that nurture our student’s artistic, creative relationship with their instrument. At Your Door Music® lessons encompass numerous elements of music education including note reading, music theory, scales, chords, ear training, improvisation and much more. Lesson content also spans musical genres including pop, rock, jazz, blues, classical, country, funk and more.

At Your Door Music® serves the towns of Wellesley, Wellesley Hills, Weston, Needham, Needham Heights and sections of Newton including Chestnut Hill, Newton Center and West Newton.


If you haven’t already heard from your friends and neighbors about the great experience they’re having with At Your Door Music® please read the testimonials displayed at www.aydm.com.


School Year, Tuition, Enrollment & Billing

Each school year At Your Door Music® students are allotted 32 hour long weekly lessons with the same teacher at the same day and time followed by an end-of-school-year make-up session. At Your Door Music® follows a unique calendar different from your school’s calendar. The 2019-2020 lesson dates (including potential make-up dates) are Tuesday, September 3rd 2019 – Monday, June 22nd 2020. Please see the At Your Door Music® 19-20 Lesson Calendar for specific lesson dates, holidays and designated make-up days. Lessons are out of session each summer while the office remains open year round.

The cost of tuition is $86 per lesson. At Your Door Music® does not charge registration fees or withdrawal fees. There is no charge for days the school is closed for holidays or the makeup session. Whichever weekday your lessons are scheduled on, there are a total of 32 lessons per school year.

Monthly tuition payments of $230 pre-date the lessons and recur electronically on a fixed twelve month billing cycle on the 1st of each month from June 1st 2019 – May 1st 2020. Families enrolling after June will have a one-time initial tuition payment however the total tuition will always equal the same $86 per lesson. This is also true for families who join us after the start of the school year. Tuition is prorated at a rate of $86 per lesson.

Registering is a simple process. We encourage you to first explore the teacher profiles on the Our Staff page of our website. The profiles include photos, interviews and song clips. Then contact the office to inquire as to specific availability and reserve a spot for up to 72 hours. Lastly, our website is equipped for online registration and payment. Just click the ‘Register’ button at the top of any page. If you enroll after the start of the school year please contact the office for a custom registration form with prorated tuition.

New student registration continues until each instrument’s program is booked to capacity. If you miss the start of the school year we encourage you to call or email to see what availability remains.

Teachers’ schedules are filled on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis. Once you’re enrolled, established students will have first choice to retain (or submit a schedule request to change) their day, time or teacher into the new school year and prior to the acceptance of new students. If no action is taken during May/June, students will remain enrolled for the upcoming school year and into the new billing cycle. If a student needs to request a change of lesson day and/or time during the school year please call the office to inquire as to your teacher’s availability. We always do our best to accommodate.

Your Satisfaction (Withdrawals and Refund Policy)

Any student, new or established, can withdraw from the program at any time. Should you choose to leave At Your Door Music® within your first four lessons of the school year you will receive a full refund dating back to June 1st minus a prorated charge for your lessons to date.

Although withdrawal from the program after the trial period but prior to the end of the year does not qualify for a tuition refund, we will happily redeem every prepaid lesson. Just a simple phone call or email and we will suspend your monthly billing immediately and calculate how many prepaid lessons remain.

Similarly, to complete the school year but withdraw prior to the start of the next school year please notify us by phone or email. At Your Door Music® will also send every enrolled family a reminder via email at least one month prior to the start of each new billing cycle.

Lesson Cancellation Policy

  1. Within each school year students are granted two absences which are eligible for make-up lessons. If for any reason, including illness, a student cancels more than two lessons they forfeit any additional credit. Exceptions are made for religious holidays and conflicting school calendars (meaning At Your Door Music® is open while your school is closed and the student is unavailable).
  2. Lessons cancelled without at least 24 hours notice are not eligible for any make-up credit.
  3. If your teacher should miss a lesson for any reason, such as inclement weather, a make-up credit will be extended.

Lesson Cancellation Procedures

  1. Canceling a lesson is easy. With any length of notice just call 781-534-3259 and follow the menu prompts.
  2. Please do not text or email lesson cancellations.
  3. Lessons not cancelled in accordance with these procedures may not be eligible for a make-up credit.

Make-up Lessons

  1. Each school year ends with numerous designated make-up days. If you are due any makeups you will be contacted a few weeks prior to the make-up session to arrange your make-up lesson schedule.
  2. If a student should cancel a make-up lesson another will not be offered.
  3. In addition to the make-up session that concludes each school year we will occasionally schedule make-ups earlier in the year. Mid-session make-up lessons are entirely dependent upon mutual availability.

Lesson Feedback – From Teachers, From Parents

Keeping in tune with our philosophy, At Your Door Music® teachers do not grade students or write formal evaluations. Our teachers will maintain an ongoing dialogue with parents in-person about how their children are coming along in their music lessons. We also encourage parents to occasionally approach our teachers at the start of a lesson for a casual progress report. Additionally, our administrative team may call and email during the school year to check in. We also welcome your phone calls and emails any time throughout the school year with comments or suggestions.

Recitals

The 2020 end-of-school-year recitals will be held on the first weekend in June (Sat. 6th & Sun. 7th) at the Wellesley Community Center located at 219 Washington Street. Though participation is optional, we encourage all our students to attend. Each recital showcases students of different ages and skill levels playing songs that they like. It’s a chance for our students to share their progress with parents and peers, get some performance experience and gain inspiration and encouragement.

Over the course of two days there will be numerous separate recitals grouped by teachers and instruments. Given the logistical complexities of scheduling so many recitals in one weekend, AYDM is unable to accommodate special requests.

Odds and Ends

The At Your Door Music® Staff have a reputation for reliability and punctuality, still, being in transit can vary the starting lesson time by a couple minutes on either side. Because we make house calls exclusively please understand that lessons total 60 minutes from entering to leaving your home. Naturally most of that time is spent with the student at their instrument. This guideline helps us keep to our busy schedules.
If a teacher arrives for a lesson and the student is not home the teacher will wait for 10 minutes past the start of the scheduled lesson time. After 10 minutes the teacher will leave. No lesson credit will be granted in such cases.
If a teacher arrives for a lesson and a student is contagiously ill, the teacher may choose not to stay for the lesson. In such a case no credit will be issued for the missed lesson.
Throughout the Winter months please provide safe, clear passage for the teacher to get from their car to your door by salting or otherwise de-icing your walkways and front steps. If you’d prefer, please make arrangements with your teacher to come in through another entrance until the ice and snow melt.


Thanks for your interest in At Your Door Music®.

For more information please read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page at www.aydm.com.

You can also speak with
Director Andrew Berke
at 781-534-3259 ext. 923 or director@aydm.com


We love to hear from our enrolled families and students. Please email and call with your questions, suggestions and comments.

Start your musical journey today

GET STARTED