Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Watch this video and read below to get answers to commonly asked questions.
NOTE: we now serve Gainesville, Jacksonville, Ocala and North Orlando for in person lessons. We teach engaging online lessons if you are outside of these areas. See our maps HERE.
Frequently Asked Questions
how much are lessons?
Our lessons are charged as a monthly membership, not a per-lesson fee.
30 minute weekly lessons with your teacher costs $175 per month, and includes the lessons, attendance to our online group lessons as well, books, registration fees, recital and event fees. We try to make it easy on parents by keeping fees low and the same each month.
45 minute weekly lessons are $245/month, 60 minute lessons are $320 per month.
We offer a sibling discount of $25 per month to subsequent students in the household with 30 minutes of lessons or more each.
How long does it take to get a schedule set?
We can usually schedule your first lesson within 2-4 weeks after your registration form is received. Watch this video to learn more about how to get started and what the process is.
You can register HERE if you are ready to start.
What is the commitment?
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 do have ask for a $50 deposit when registering, which will go towards your first lessons.
See the video for more information on this topic.
How do i get started?
You can set up a discovery call with us HERE.
In that call we learn about your goals, get your availability and answer questions, and can register you on the phone if you wish.
Once registered, it usually takes 2-4 weeks to set a schedule for you with your new teacher. Check out this video for more information:
Where are you located?
We don’t have a physical studio location, we come to you! Our goal is to make music lessons amazing and convenient for busy families.
We offer in person music lessons in Gainesville , North Orlando, Ocala and Jacksonville, and you can find the map of these areas HERE.
If you are outside of our driving areas, we offer online lessons. We have amazing extras for our online students that most online students don’t get to participate in! See the next video—>
I’m outside your driving area, what are my options?
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.
Who are the teachers?
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.
What if my teacher isn’t a good fit?
We are confident you’ll love your teacher, as all our clients do. We only bring on teachers who love teaching, have good experience, are wonderful in their instruments, and committed to their students.
If you would like to change teachers after your first lesson, we will gladly set a new schedule for you with a new teacher. This never happens, but we want you to feel comfortable that the commitment begins upon the second lesson with your teacher (the commitment is to give a 30 day notice to change or stop lessons).
If you decide for any reason you don’t want to continue after the first lesson, your lesson price would be $37 for a 30 minute lesson, $49 for a 45 minute lesson and $60 for an hour lesson.
What is your curriculum/teaching style?
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.
Hear more from our Director about the content of each lesson and how we plan lessons as teachers by watching this video.
How do i pick my lesson time? How is the schedule made?
We make your schedule based on your availability as well as The 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, and we create that using your given availability. We ask for at least 1.5 hours per day you are available for lessons, and always work hard to keep students with their teachers if their schedule changes.
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Areas We Serve
Gainesville, FL
We drive to you for in person music lessons in this area of Gainesville, FL, or we can offer online lessons.
Jacksonville, FL
We drive to you for in person music lessons in this area of Jacksonville, FL, or we can offer online lessons.
North Orlando, FL
North Orlando, FL
North Orlando, FL
We drive to you for in person music lessons in this area of Orlando, FL or we can offer online lessons.
Ocala, FL
North Orlando, FL
North Orlando, FL
We drive to you for in person music lessons in this area of Ocala, FL or we can offer online lessons.
Video
What is included in the membership?
- weekly lessons with your teacher, 30, 45, 60 minutes
- books
- registration fees
- group online classes each month
- community events and performances
- recitals and practice recitals
Watch this video to learn more :)
What are the group lessons?
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.
What are your community events and performances?
Community events include park play dates each fall and spring semester. Community performances include nursing homes and other opportunities to perform for community audiences, and w usually schedule these every other month except for the summer semester.
Year end recitals are formal events at the end of the year (April-May), where students perform 1-2 songs per instrument and will receive a certificate. There are several online practice recitals and group classes online that students can attend before the recital in order to learn more about performance technique and get more familiar with the recital space and performing in front of an audience.
WHAT IS THE FIRST FREE LESSON AND ASSESSMENT - AND HOW DO I GET THAT?
We offer a 15 minute online assessment with one of our teachers for any new or potential client who requests it. This lesson is a great way to choose an instrument or have a teacher give recommendations on equipment and curriculum. If requested, we can schedule this for you in our discovery call or send you a link via email to schedule it at your convenience. This first lesson/assessment is done by a teacher that is likely not your regular teacher and is also a great way for parents to see how a child will do in lessons and practicing afterwards. We have created a curriculum that you can print out before the assessment and the student will use to practice afterwards. Parents who still have questions about our program can discus with the evaluator as well.
Questions
I don't know which instrument i want - can you help me choose?
Absolutely! Here, I will tackle the most common scenarios parents have with younger children. If you have more questions, please schedule a call so we can learn more about the specific student to offer a recommendation!
30 minutes per instrument is standard for making sure students get all the information they need to progress forward, as well as give. them clear and helpful homework for the week in each instrument.
30 minutes per instrument or more:
We do expect children will extend this lesson as they age, as 30 minutes is the bare minimum time to get all the material into a lesson and feels like a marathon with older students. Ages 4-6 is usually 30 minutes per instrument, ages 7-11 is 45 minutes, and ages 12 and up 60 minutes. We always defer to the parent’s preference on time lengths, as we know there are monetary and time budgets to consider for the child.
That said, students can learn multiple instruments with us. We even have very talented teachers who can teach more than one instrument, and can often pair a student with one teacher who can teach both instruments they want to student in one day, back-to-back.
Incorporating a second instrument into a shorter lesson:
Please read on to also see how you can incorporate a second instrument into a lesson if you aren’t sure you can commit to two full lessons for each instrument. We do believe we should look at the whole child when teaching, so incorporating the use of a second instrument in some of our lessons is usually a huge blessing for teacher and student at times. We are flexible to take any of these approaches, and defer to the parent if they have a preference for the goals and lesson material for a student. We believe parent know their child best and that their goals for their children should be honored.
Piano:
If you aren't sure which instrument to choose, for younger ages, piano is generally most well received due to the ease of making sound on the piano (as opposed to the guitar, for example, which can hurt their fingers at first and takes more dexterity to get good sound out of it). Our piano curriculum is amazing for ages 4 and up, and very engaging.
The piano is a great first instrument, as it moves in a linear fashion and according to the directions we naturally perceive pitch. It also moves in a way that clearly matches the directions of notes on the page (guitar requires changing of strings at times, and has many repeated notes for example). Because there is no pain or difficulty making good sound immediately on piano, it is well received. Our students often stay in piano lessons for 5-8 years or more!
A good piano lesson includes scales or consecutive movement on the keys, building up hand dexterity, as well as improvisation or something engaging with the teacher. We love playing duets with our students! We use Piano Adventures for our lesson curriculum, which does a great job incorporating workbooks, songs, and learning concepts to teach the primary part of the lesson. Students also get to choose at least one song per semester that they want to play - we have 100’s of songs in every level students can choose from (Disney songs, Christmas songs, Jazz, Movie Themes and more!).
Piano and voice (30, 45 minutes)
This is a shorter, mixed instrument lesson, so we cannot fully teach two instruments. We need at least 30 minutes for each instrument to fully explore an instrument in a lesson and assign homework that will help them progress at the ideal rate. However, we love to have young aspiring singers (ages 4-6 or so) try piano lessons first while having the teacher focus on incorporating singing in the lessons as well. This is a great way to encourage a young singer. In this type of a lesson, we would focus on the type of lesson the instrument the student is most interested in, or the parent wishes us to focus on. We would also incorporate the second instrument. For a 30 minute lesson, that could look like: focusing on piano by having a regular piano lesson, but encouraging the student to sing along to the song they are playing (all the songs have lyrics and a singable melody). We would choose a recital piece over time that excited them, and they can sing and play for the recital.
Again, 30 minutes per instrument is ideal for student to truly progress in each instrument, but this type of a mixed lesson is a great way to encourage the student to express themselves and explore other instruments.
Guitar or ukulele (30, 45, 60 minutes)
Students who are interested in guitar will need the right size guitar, especially if they are younger than age 9 or so. We recommend going to a local music store to try a guitar that can be the right fit. Students who start at an early age (5-8) may want to choose ukulele because it is a less expensive investment, easier to hold and easier to play (it won't hurt their fingers as much and makes sounds with less pressure). The lessons learned on ukulele can easily translate to guitar when the student is ready to make the switch.
In each lesson, we spend time learning to read notation (melody), as well as strumming or fingerpicking chords (harmony). We focus on the style that the student enjoys most, or the goal of the parent. We want our students playing along to their favorite songs or duets with their teachers as they progress.
Guitar and voice (30 or 45 minutes):
In this shorter lesson length, we would focus on one instrument over the other. The student will usually guide the decision on which, unless the parent or teacher has a preference. The primary focus and homework will be in the main instrument, while the teacher will encourage incorporating the other during lessons. That could look like this for a 45 minute mixed lesson: 30 minutes of learning guitar melody and harmony playing, then some vocal warm ups and practicing singing while strumming the guitar to a song the student enjoys.
Voice:
We know that young aspiring singers are obvious from an early age - are you hearing them singing ALL THE TIME? Whether or not they sound good to you, this is a huge sign that the voice is their primary expressive instrument and you should lean into that!
Ages 5-8 (30 or 45 minute lessons):
I highly recommend starting with piano lessons with a teacher who can incorporate singing into the lesson for ages under 8 years old. This sets a great foundation for the student to understand how notes move, practice matching pitch, and learn to conceptualize notes from an early age. Singers don't have "buttons", so we need to visualize or conceptualize what is happening to affect our voice in the way we wish. Training our ears is a huge part of the journey as well, and incorporating a musical instrument that also requires reading notation is a wonderful way to lay a good foundation for a young vocalist. This type of a mixed lesson can be 30, 45 or 60 minutes as well.
Ages 8 and older (30, 45 or 60 minute lessons)
We do offer voice lessons (without incorporating piano learning) to all ages 5 and up as well, if you prefer not to incorporate the piano. In these lessons, we like to encourage the student by singing songs they like, as well as learning vocal concepts and techniques, singing songs that help students apply these techniques, and exploring our sounds and vocal range.
We do require a piano or keyboard of any kind at the home for voice lessons in order to assist the teacher in teaching, as well as the student in learning throughout the week.
Prep for Auditions and Music Theatre Students:
We have many students who audition or perform onstage, and we often are assisting them with repertoire for auditions or in preparation for a performance or judged event. We are always glad to encourage students who are already performing. In this case, our lessons are more focused on preparation to help the student meet the goal they have, while filling in anything we see the student needs to learn along the way (i.e. how to warm up the voice appropriately, reading notation, etc.).
Violin:
The violin is an amazing instrument, and can be taught at almost any age. We prefer to start at age 5 and up, and you will need to go to a local music store to rent or buy a violin and get sized for it first. We have appropriate materials for every age, and incorporate technical warm ups, learning songs, and songs the student wants to learn as well. We love to play duets with our students at recitals as well!
Drums:
We can teach drums to any age, and can use buckets/books/tables until you have purchased a drum set or hand drums! In drum lessons, we learn how to hold the sticks properly and do technical warm ups first, then we learn how to read rhythmic notation and learn a “groove” or “beat”. Once the student can play that well for a short period, we can add in fills to ornament the groove, and even play along to a song they love. The noisier the better for drummers, so we recommend ear protection for the child and anyone nearby during practicing or lessons! You will know you have a drummer within two weeks of starting lessons, for sure. They enjoy the noise and can zone out and play the groove for long periods of time, exploring the synchrony of movements among their limbs as they build coordination.
Bass Guitar:
Students can easily learn bass guitar at any age, but we often recommend age 7 or older. Starting with ukulele may be a better option for a younger child. For bass lessons, we teach melody and reading notation, but we also enjoy teaching popular baselines and grooving with tracks/songs to build up fine-motor skills and to enjoy the feeling of playing with a band. Bassists often perform duets or with tracks of their favorite songs at recitals.
Other Instruments:
We do teach other instruments, and will be glad to speak with you on the phone to assist you with choosing any instrument!
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Is the price the same even when we have school vacations?
Yes, and you can view our scheduled vacations are on the policies page here. We calculated our monthly fee by averaging out the lessons for the entire year. We find parents can budget easier with less variable pricing. We also added in extras like free books, online group classes and more.
Most months have 4 lessons, some have 5, and months where we have school vacations have less. The price is always the same. We don't charge more for months with 5 lessons or less for months with less.
When you first begin lessons your first invoice will be pro-rated based on the amount of available lessons you will be having that month. For example, if you start on the 3rd Wednesday of a month with 4 Wednesdays in it, you will be charged 50% of the membership rate for the first month.
Should you wish to take a vacation outside of our school vacations, we can offer online lessons as your usual lesson day and time or the teacher can make video lessons for the student to watch when they are able to practice.
DO YOU HAVE A SIBLING DISCOUNT, AND HOW DO I CHOOSE DURATION/INSTRUMENTS?
We do offer a $25/month discount for each sibling after the first student (except for students who are direct pay for the Step up for Students scholarship). We require 30 minutes per student with siblings, unless the student is ages 3-5 and just exploring - in that case we can offer a short 15 minute lesson back-to-back with the older student, for a total of 45 minutes. See our section on lesson durations and instruments below for more information.
Students who use scholarships or discounts may not be eligible for sibling discounts.
Questions
Can two siblings have their lessons together?
Students should not be participating in the lessons together for more than 1 or 2 lessons, then the students will diverge in learning speed and dexterity. We do not recommend classes with two students learning at the same time, except when the second learner is sitting separately and just enjoying the class for the first learner. We have many younger siblings in our academy who sit nearby and soak up all the learning they can during their older sibling's lessons - that is amazing, and we absolutely encourage that!
When do you reset schedules throughout the year?
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.
What do I do if need to miss a lesson?
Please fill out this form and we will notify your teacher:
What do I do if I need to stop lessons?
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.
How do I reach my teacher?
We don’t give out teacher contact information, but you can reach us anytime at hello@shiningstarmusicacademy.com or 352-519-3999. If you need to cancel a lesson, please fill out this form and it will notify your teacher: https://shiningstarmusicacademy.com/cancellation-form
How do you calculate the first invoice?
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%.
When are invoices due?
Invoices go out on the final day of the month before the billed month. For example, September’s invoice will go out on August 31st, and auto-pay will draft on that day.
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What do I do if I think the curriculum or homework need tweaked for my child?
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.
What do we do if someone is sick?
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.
Can I reschedule a lesson if we can’t make it that week?
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.
What are your Covid policies?
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.
If I have more than one child taking lessons, will their lessons be back-to-back?
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.
What if my availability changes before you set the schedule?
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.
When are recitals?
Recitals are held in the Spring, and you will be updated on the dates an sign up forms in advance.
Do I have to participate in recitals?
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).
Do I have to wait until the next semester to start lessons?
No, we accept rolling admissions. Because the logistics of driving schedules are so precise, we may be more limited in our schedule offerings during a semester. However, we usually do not have issues fitting new clients into the schedule within a weeks.
Questions
will you come to my house?
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.
I'm not sure if lessons will work well for me, how can i try them first?
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.
How do I pay my invoice?
The first invoice will be emailed to you before your first lesson, and you are welcome to wait and pay after meeting your teacher.
- You can open the attachment in the invoice email you receive, and click the Pay Now button, and it will walk you through payment
- You can access your account with us at the bottom of our homepage and login using your email address and password. You can select your initials in the upper right hand corner, and input a credit or debit card, or bank account to pay invoices. You will be required to set up the payment on auto-pay, which will debit on the final day of the month before the month being invoiced. For example, September’s invoice will draft from your account on August 31st.
Is the first lesson free if i don't think the teacher is the best fit?
This never happens, but should you feel you want to switch to another teacher, we will be glad to set up a new schedule. We do charge for the first lesson as normal, and if we need to pro-rate the month we do so according to how many lessons are in the month (i.e. if you have 1 of 4 available Wednesday lessons you will pay 25% of the monthly price).
If you’d like to try a free lesson first, we would be glad to set you up with an evaluation online with one of our teachers. It would likely not be the same teacher you would be meeting with regularly, but is a great way to try out a short lesson to get the student motivated and playing their instrument while they wait for their schedule to start, as well as help us evaluate any goals we want for the student and order curriculum in advance of their lessons.
When does the commitment begin?
On the day of your second lesson. At that point, the commitment begins and we will require a 30 day notice to stop lessons or to change your lesson day or time. We believe that requiring entire semester commitments is difficult on busy families, so we try to keep this as convenient for parents as possible!
When is the first invoice due?
You are welcome to wait until after your first lesson to pay the remainder of the first month. We asked that you pay the first invoice within 10 days of the first lesson, but we are flexible as we know parents are so busy. Regular billing begins on the second month of lessons, with the invoice being sent out on the last day of the month before the month being billed (Jan 31 we send out February invoices). Clients on autopay have their account drafted on the day of invoicing (Jan 31 for Feb invoice, for example). Invoices are due by the seventh of the month for those who are not on autopay.
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Shining Star Music Academy, Gainesville, FL
hello@shiningstarmusicacademy.com
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