Music Lessons Policies

Lesson Policies (2024-2025)

To start lessons, please call (202) 244-7326 to set up a lesson time. When coming in for your first lesson, please arrive 15 minutes before the scheduled lesson in order to finish registration.

Lesson Pricing

• $230/month for half-hour lessons
• $460/month for hour-long lessons
• The introductory lesson is billed individually, at $55 for a half-hour lesson and $110 for a sixty-minute lesson.
• Lesson payments will be charged on the 1st of the month prior to lessons being given. The charge for one month of half-hour lessons is $230; this is an average cost that works out to 50 lessons over the 50 weeks we are open per calendar year.
• We require students to inform us of their absence at least 24 hours beforehand to be eligible for lesson rescheduling. Lessons are eligible to be rescheduled up to 30 days after the initial missed lesson, and cannot be refunded or credited due to a student absence. Reschedules are dependent on your teacher’s availability, and are not guaranteed.
• If a student does not want to continue after the introductory lesson, we need two days notice to end lessons and prevent future billings.
• If you wish to cancel the introductory lesson before taking it, we require two days notice.
• If you wish to reschedule the introductory lesson, we only need one day’s notice.
• To withdraw from lessons, please provide us with two weeks’ notice. If you notify us on your lesson day that you’ll have to stop lessons, we will need to bill you and pay our teacher for two more lessons after the day you call us. If you are able to notify us at least 24 hours before the time of your lesson that you’d like to stop lessons, then we will be able to count the upcoming lesson as one of the two lessons’ notice. For example, if your lessons are on Tuesdays at 5 and you let us know on Monday at 3 that you’d like to stop, then the next day’s lesson will be counted as one of the two lessons that we need to bill.

Holiday Closures Reminder

Middle C will be closed from December 25th to January 1st, and will be open up to and on December 24th, and back open on January 2nd and going forwards, until the next closure, which will be on Sunday, April 20th. When the school is closed, there will be no lessons held on those days, and there will be no reschedules for those classes. Additionally, credits for those classes have already been factored into Middle C’s monthly billing flat rate. The rate has been calculated based on a 50-week yearlong calendar, as opposed to a 52-week calendar, because there are 14 days across the year that Middle C is closed. The billing rate takes these days into account and factors them into the $230/$460-a-month bill, which means that these school closures have already been credited for all students. To that end, the $230 a month bill remains unchanged for December and in other months when there is a schoolwide closure. However, if your teacher will be absent before December 25th or after January 1st, you will be notified and will be credited accordingly. The full schedule of school closures can be viewed below.

Lesson Policies in Regards to Summer Schedules

It’s very important to note that Middle C’s lesson policies stay the same year-round, and there are no summer-specific policies when it comes to our private music lessons. With that being said, everyone’s schedule is different, so here are some things to keep in mind when thinking about your lessons schedule in the summer.

If you foresee you/your child being out of town for an extended period of time this summer, it may make sense to stop your lessons, and then return when you’re back in town. Since reschedules are not guaranteed and reschedule eligibility expires 30 days after the original lesson, it may not be worth it to try rescheduling, say, four or five lessons in a row, because there’s a chance that it won’t be possible to reschedule all of these lessons in time. We ask for two weeks’ or two classes’ notice when ending lessons, and if we’re informed on the day of your lesson that you’ll have to stop, we cannot count that day’s lesson as one of the two classes for notice.

Additionally, if you do stop lessons for the summer, we will not be able to hold your time, or guarantee you the same time and day with the same teacher for your lessons in the fall. We can sign up a student for new lessons up to two weeks in advance, so we encourage anyone stopping lessons in the summer with the intent of returning in the fall to call two weeks out from your intended start date. For instance, if you wish to pick lessons back up on September 3rd, we can sign that up no sooner than August 20th.

Alternatively, if you think you’ll only miss a lesson here or there during the summer, it may be in your best interest to stay on your teacher’s schedule, and if you’re able to let us know with 24 hours’ notice of an absence, you’ll be eligible to reschedule that class, any time up to 30 days after that initial missed lesson, though as a reminder, reschedules are not guaranteed. While we do need to bill for any student absences, choosing to stay on the schedule and reschedule missed lessons has the benefit of guaranteeing you that same time on your teacher’s weekly schedule.