Frequently Asked Questions

 We can usually schedule your first lesson within 2-4 weeks after your registration form is received. 

 We pair teachers with students based on instrument and age group, considering any special needs you may have shared as well. We must work to keep teacher’s drive time to a minimum, so we have to pair teachers and students in a general area of the city on certain days, and also work within the teacher’s availability as well as the client’s availability. The lesson time will usually stay the same throughout the entire semester.

 We only want this to be an awesome experience, so if it isn’t a good fit we will find another teacher for you!

 Once you have met your teacher, the commitment starts. The second lesson is considered the beginning of the commitment, and we ask for a 30 day notice to stop lessons if you wish to do it before the end of a semester.

 We offer at least two group lessons each month and any registered student can attend. The times will be shared with you in advance, and you can view them in the calendar online. We teach musical concepts that work for any instrument and tailor the lesson to the instruments and ages present. Students must register online in the calendar system which can be accessed by logging in at the bottom of our homepage: www.shiningstarmusicacademy.com. We also offer practice recital classes before each recital, and often choose a fun theme for classes such as: songwriting, blues improv, solfegge, and more.

We are currently offering in person lessons in the student's home in Jacksonville, FL and Gainesville, FL. We

 We have semesters, and run continuously throughout the year. The Fall semester schedule starts August 15th, Spring starts January 2nd, and Summer June 15. We shuffle schedules on these dates in order to accommodate teacher and client availability changes.

 Please fill out this form and we will notify your teacher:

https://shiningstarmusicacademy.com/cancellation-form

 Please fill out this form, and the final day of lessons will be no later than 30 days after your notice is sent. The final month will have a pro-rated amount based on the number of lessons in the month. 

https://shiningstarmusicacademy.com/m/login?r=%2Funenroll

 We don’t give out teacher contact information, but you can reach us anytime at hello@shiningstarmusicacademy.com or 866-674-3395. If you need to cancel a lesson, please fill out this form and it will notify your teacher: https://shiningstarmusicacademy.com/cancellation-form

 Your first invoice is pro-rated based on how many lessons you will have, divided by how many lessons were available in that month. For example, if you will have two of the four Wednesday lessons in a month, the invoice will be reduced to 50%. 

We are a team of dedicated musicians who love to teach! Teachers are chosen based on their passion for teaching children, their experience in their field, and their attention to detail in all things. We set a high bar.

Our big goal is that our students find their passion in music - which sometimes requires thinking outside the box. Teachers at Shining Star are flexible in their approach and seek out ways to find the student’s individual expression through their instrument of choice.

Many of our teachers have music degrees or are obtaining a music degree, and perform in their primary instruments regularly.

For piano lessons, we primarily use Piano Adventures. We supplement with exciting genre resources outside the regular lesson materials in genres the student enjoys.

For guitar lessons, we primarily use Hal Leonard Guitar Method along with supplementing chord charts of their favorite songs as they are ready.

For voice lessons, we primarily use Singing Lessons for Little Singers, Sing at First Sight, and supplement with vocal warm ups and songs of the student’s choice.

 If the teacher or student are sick, we will first switch to online lessons at the same day and time as usual. If the student is too sick for the lesson, they can request a video lesson instead. If the teacher is too sick to teach, they will make it up at a future time on a day that is convenient for you.

 Unfortunately, we cannot reschedule lessons due to the logistics of driving schedules. If you must miss a lesson, you can choose to have an online lesson at the same day and time as usual, or have a video lesson made. The video lessons are 5-10 minutes and teach a new concept and give clear homework for the week.

 We love when parents are involved and have input and ideas on what will work for the child. Reach out to us at hello@shiningstarmusicacademy.com anytime, and we will be glad to brainstorm with you and the teacher to make sure the best materials and methods are being employed with the student. 

 We don’t require students to participate in recitals, but are glad to invite everyone in our academy! There will be in person and online options in the spring of each year when we have our formal recitals, and students can be in one or the other, or both! We also host in person and online recital practice classes during each recital season. We host several other community performances throughout the year as well that are more relaxed and meant to engage the community (such as nursing home performances).

 Recitals are held in the Spring,  and you will be updated on the dates an sign up forms in advance.

We simply ask that if anyone is sick in the household and could be contagious, we switch to online lessons at the usual lesson times until it is safe for the teacher to resume in person. If the teacher is ill and could be contagious, they will teach online until it is safe to resume to in person lessons.

We always prioritize placing students in the same home with the same teacher, and setting their lessons consecutively. If we need to split up lessons to different teacher for any reason, we will reach out to discuss this in advance.

We always try hard to accommodate client availability, and if yours changes before your first lesson, we will be glad to work on a solution. Your commitment doesn’t begin until you’ve met your teacher, then we require a 30 day notice to change lesson days or times. Please notify us if your availability changes before we set your schedule.

Yes! We come to the student's house for in-person weekly lessons. Once you sign up, you will be paired with a teacher based on your location, lesson needs, availability and the availability of the teacher. We currently drive in Gainesville and in SW Jacksonville. Please see the map below to find out if you are in our driving area. 

We have many online students, and would love for you to join us online! You would have weekly online lessons, and if we expand our driving area to include your area in the future you will be able to switch if you prefer. Online lessons with us are extra awesome because you also get to participate in any of our community events and performances and recitals - in any city of your choice that we host them in. You are also invited to our in person practice recitals and monthly group zoom classes.

We offer a free, 15 minute evaluation lesson online with one of our awesome teachers to new students if they would like to try out a short lesson and make sure they have what they need for lessons as well. If you are a prospective online student, this is also a great way to "feel out" how online lessons work. We LOVE them and have been teaching online clients for nearly a decade. For in person clients, you are also welcome to participate in this free evaluation lesson if you wish.