Hello Parents and Students!
This post contains the most up-to-date general information
about how flute lessons with me work. In
the past, I have shied away from having formal “policies,” but as my studio has
grown and spread out over the last decade or so, I feel like I need to make some
expectations a little clearer going forward.
I will be merging that information with the content of my previous post
for new students, so that there is one spot with everything we need for
reference.
And, with new students in mind: If you are new – WELCOME! I’m so excited to
start lessons with your child! Learning flute and music can be such an
exciting and fun adventure. Thanks for letting me share this time with
them!
The Team – My Husband and I
First, you should know that my husband, Paul, helps me with
this blog and with my billing. So, if you email or text me with a
question about your invoice, he is probably the one who will respond. He
started helping me with this a few years ago so I could focus on managing my
schedule, giving your child the best possible lesson experience, and giving you
the feedback you want about your child's progress. He, like all of us, is a
busy guy, and only volunteers a few hours a month to help, so if there is an
issue with your account, please give us a few days to look at it.
Scheduling
Flexibility is one of my hallmarks when it comes to many aspects of scheduling and billing. Over 20 years of experience teaching lessons in schools has taught me to expect the unexpected. There are always unexpected interruptions in our schedule. It used to be fire drills and picture days, but we often have unexpected testing days and the like as well. Of course, we still have doctor appointments and the usual life-happens type of stuff. So, I plan with flexibility in my schedule, and will rearrange things to make sure your child gets a lesson every week to the best of my ability. That means, occasionally, I will switch your child's lesson day to make that all work, and the reason for that might involve things that are happening at schools, other than your child’s, where I teach. I do keep track of each lesson your child takes, and on the invoice the following month, you will see an accounting of the dates your child received lessons. If, for some reason, your child receives more or less lessons than what you have paid for, you will see a credit or charge for that on the next invoice.
Cancelling, No-Shows, and Rescheduling
As I said above, I believe strongly in being flexible, and that goes with when you have to cancel lessons for any reason. I do try to keep a regular week-to-week schedule as much as possible, but as I make changes frequently to get everyone worked in every week, I have been in the habit of sending reminders the night before when there are changes. So, if you know that your child will not be at their lesson, please try to let me know the day before if at all possible. When I can, I will work another student at your school into that spot, and that may leave me a spot for a make-up lesson for your child on another day. And, of something happens last minute, like your child wakes up sick that morning, just let me know as soon as you can, and I'll still do what I can to reschedule them. In most of these cases, I will not charge you for a missed lesson.
That leads me to the next policy, and I want to be clear: this is a very rare occurrence, and almost never happens. But it does sometimes, and I have enforced it when needed. This is just the first time I felt I needed to have it here where we can all see it. So here it is:
If your child misses multiple lessons, and I have not received proper notice before the time of their lesson that they will not be there, I may charge you for that lesson. I may try to reschedule that lesson for another day, at my convenience.
I hope that makes sense. Remember: I'm very flexible, and try to be kind and understanding. So, if there's an issue, please talk to me!
Billing (New Policies!!!)
We used to try to bill lessons for the month in
advance. Billing in advance is the common practice for lessons, and most
school districts' private lesson guidelines expect that. I understand the
reasoning behind those guidelines, but over the years, I have found that
billing in advance causes confusion in some circumstances, especially if we are
not able to get the invoices out exactly on the first of the month, and is
completely unworkable in the summer when most students don't take lessons on a
regular weekly schedule. Accordingly, I send invoices at the end of the
month.
However, this summer we need to adopt a pay-as-you-go policy. I want to say at the outset that this policy
isn’t because of anything any of you have done wrong. It’s really an attempt for my husband and I
to keep a better eye on who has paid and who hasn’t, and being able to remind
those who have forgotten. We understand:
everyone forgets sometimes. We just want
to be helpful in sending friendly reminders so that no one ends up so far behind
that it is an issue to get caught up.
The expectation, therefore, is that you will send payment
for each lesson as it happens, or will pay the full balance for each month’s lessons
before the end of that month, just as if I had billed you in advance. For example: if your child has two lessons in
June, then you would have sent the payment for each lesson on the day that the
lesson happened, or you would make sure to pay the full amount for those
lessons by June 30. That means when I
send the invoice for June on or after the first of July, your invoice should
indicate a $0 balance due. I am still very flexible, however, in making
payment arrangements with you if you need to because of unexpected circumstances. In that case, please let me know what payment
arrangements work for you, and we'll work it out. If, however, I have not heard
from you in advance, and you don’t respond to my texts, emails, or calls when I’m
giving you that friendly reminder, I may suspend lessons for your child until we
have communicated and set up a payment arrangement.
This policy is going to be our year-round policy going forward.
Payment
I accept various forms of payment, and I mention those on
the invoices. I have a blog post that covers all of the different payment
options. Please be sure to read this
updated version here: https://www.hudsonmusicstudio.com/2025/06/how-to-pay-for-flute-lessons-with-lynne.html
I hope this helps with understanding how lessons work.
Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns.
And, as always, thanks for letting me share my love of music
and flute with your child.
