Prospects & New Students

Clifton Piano Studios

7004 Columbia Lane, Amarillo, TX 79109

Welcome to Clifton Piano Studios! I am so pleased you have decided to begin or further your piano studies with me. To make our time together more profitable, let me outline my philosophy of music in general and of piano instruction and then give you an overview of my basic policies.

I began taking piano lessons when I was in the second grade. I’m not sure if it was because I was asking to, or if my parents just saw something within me that needed to be cultivated. At any rate, with their encouragement and support through the years, I continued to grow in my love and enjoyment of music and in particular the area of accompanying. As a junior in high school, while doing a research paper for a psychology class, my dad showed me an article he had seen on Music Therapy. I did my research on that subject and from that time, I knew that I would major in Music Therapy in college. I attended Texas Woman’s University and graduated with a B.S. in Music Therapy with piano being my principal instrument. But what I began to realize was that while I loved playing the piano for personal enjoyment, for church, and for a variety of performing arts groups, as well as a part of therapy, the music was only the tool to reach and minister to people. It was not the end in itself. I have found the same to be true in piano pedagogy. My goal is to teach my students to play the piano, but only as it is tailored to meet their individual needs.

Of course, there are basics that must be taught and practiced regularly to develop a strong foundation in general music knowledge/skills and to prepare you for whatever direction you plan to utilize your music/piano training. I find it helpful to follow the basic outline of the National Guild of Piano Teachers so that skills are learned in a structured order and so that all foundational areas are covered, including scales/chords, ear training and sight-reading as well as performance-based objectives. But beyond these basics, we can take approaches that will prepare you/your child for music study at an advanced level, for piano accompaniment and improvisation, or simply for personal enjoyment.

Policies:

During the school year, my fees are $100.00/mo. for a weekly half-hour lesson, payable at the beginning of each month. This is true whether there are 4 or 5 lessons in the month. I prefer teaching at my house so lessons can be set back to back to conserve time and to be able to see more students. Recently, I have had a few families with special circumstances that needed me to teach at their home, but in order to make those accommodations, I have found it necessary to add a fee to help with gas and time away from home where I could be seeing other students. I do observe all major public school holidays. If a lesson is missed because of my cancellation, I will arrange to make up that lesson. If a lesson is missed because of your cancellation, you may make arrangements with another student to trade, or simply miss that lesson.

During the summer months, my policy is a little more flexible. I believe it is important to keep up with lessons and don’t want students to quit because of vacations, etc. Therefore, I still ask for payment at the beginning of the month, but if you know ahead of time you will miss a week or two that month, we will either re-schedule, or deduct the cost up front. However, if your child decides at the last minute he/she wants to spend the night with a friend or go swimming, etc. and just skip piano, then there will be no make-ups.

Please do not hesitate to call or ask if you have questions. As with any organization, policies must be established, but that does not mean that individual circumstances could not be worked out if necessary. I look forward to getting to know you/your child better in the days ahead, and watching as their love of music blossoms as they practice and enjoy their lesson times.

Libby Clifton

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