Question 1

Why are lessons necessary?

Accepted Answer

Lessons provide your student the opportunity to work with a professional, one-on-one. Each student is different and have their own specific needs. Lessons help create a personal path for each student’s musical growth. My goal is to guide the student to discover how to be a more critical listener and achieve higher musical levels through deeper interpretation of the music, drawing out the beauty that is waiting to be discovered.

Question 2

Where are lessons taught?

Accepted Answer

Lessons are taught, one-on-one, at the student's school in a room within the fine arts area. Virtual lessons, if ever needed and/or requested, would usually occur with the student at their home.

Question 3

When are lessons taught?

Accepted Answer

Lessons occur on school days either before school hours, during band class or after school hours. I try to accommodate requested times, but scheduling is based on a first-come, first-served basis so requests aren't always attainable. Each student has a designated day that is their weekly lesson day.

Question 4

How does taking the student out during band class work? Are the band directors okay with this?

Accepted Answer

The school districts have lesson programs where they allow vetted private lesson teachers to teach students during the student's band class during the school day. Band directors are absolutely ok (even happy) with this as it allows students one-on-one time with a professional. We work with the student in a practice room, which is right next to the band room, for a portion of their band class.

Question 5

How long are lessons taught during the school year?

Accepted Answer

Lessons are taught throughout the entire school year on school days. Many students also request taking summer lessons to keep their playing level from dropping and to build momentum going in to the next school year.

Question 6

What happens if my student doesn't receive their lesson during a week as scheduled?

Accepted Answer

If a lesson is missed due to the student not being available for the lesson (not in class) and I wasn't notified within the amount of time required by the lesson guidelines, then that lesson will still have to be paid for. Remember, prior to current situation, I traveled to each school and that takes time and money. Even when not traveling, the open spot could have been filled. If a lesson is missed due to an issue on my part (me being sick, one of my children being sick, etc.), then that lesson will either be made up ASAP or I'll make the necessary adjustment so as not to charge the student.

Question 7

Are lessons at the same time each week?

Accepted Answer

I try my best to maintain a consistent weekly schedule, but there will be times that's just simply not possible. There are scheduling conflicts throughout the school year usually due to school events. If I'm aware of approaching conflicts with a specific school or schools, then I'll try to adjust my schedule to avoid students missing a lesson that week. I'll do my best to notify families of these schedule changes, but there may be times I'm not informed of these changes in enough time to give adequate notification.

Question 8

What happens during the lessons?

Accepted Answer

During lessons, I focus on two main areas. At the beginning of each lesson I work on fundamentals (tone, articulations, flexibility, range, etc.) through the student's concept of a warm-up. The remainder of the lesson is designated for music that is school required and/or music that I feel focuses on areas of the student's playing that need to be addressed. I frequently ask the student questions throughout the lesson to make sure they are constantly listening to everything that comes out of their instrument and what they did to create those sounds. My goal is to help the student understand what they need to do to "teach" themselves during the practice sessions that aren't supervised.

Question 9

How much do lessons cost?

Accepted Answer

The fee for each lesson is based on the amount decided by the student's ISD/band program. If there is a need for financial assistance in order for your student to participate in the lesson program, please contact your band director. Many band programs have financial assistance opportunities.

Question 10

How do I pay for lessons?

Accepted Answer

Payments are made directly to me, not the school. The preferred method is to pay through the provided invoices, which is Quickbooks. This allows me to easily track payments. Other methods will be considered if requested.

Question 11

When do I need to pay for lessons?

Accepted Answer

Payments must be made in advance/before the lesson occurs. This is mandatory through your ISD lesson program regulations. I use a "Standard Payment" method. This is to pay for every four lessons. The Standard Payment method is NOT a monthly payment as lessons per month will vary. Monthly payments will not be considered.

Question 12

How many days a week should my student practice?

Accepted Answer

Ideally, students should practice as much as they can. I personally believe that students should practice about six days a week. Everyone needs a day to relax and rest their "chops."

Question 13

How long should my student practice?

Accepted Answer

One long session is not the optimal way to practice. This can quickly tire the student out and could create long-lasting negative effects if done for many days in a row. The best way is to practice in smaller sessions (about 20 minutes each) with breaks in-between.

Question 14

What should my student be practicing?

Accepted Answer

In addition to a structured warm-up, students should be practicing a variety of music, which they should balance out throughout each week. Students must always be prepared with their band music prior to their class time. The biggest challenge students will face is the music required for each competition throughout the school year (i.e. All-Region, solo, band placements, etc.) The most important result that should come from their practice session is they feel that they've improved in at least one or more areas prior to that practice session. Even a small improvement is a step in the right direction.

Question 15

What should we (families) be hearing during their practice sessions?

Accepted Answer

This is a tricky question. Basically, you want to hear good playing and bad playing. If all you ever hear is fairly good playing, then most likely your student is just playing the music that they can easily play and are avoiding the challenging music. If all you hear is bad playing, then your student isn't practicing in a way that allows them to notice the mistakes that need to be fixed. Students should go through a learning process with each piece of music they get, which will sound "interesting" at first. If they are being meticulous and follow my suggestions, then the music should sound more coherent with each practice session. Lastly, students should practice with their metronome quite often to help create consistency in their timing.

Question 16

My student is doing virtual school instead of face-to-face. How does that work?

Accepted Answer

Lessons will take place the same way as they would if at school. Virtual lessons follow the same guidelines as answered in all the other questions with the exception that the student will be at the student's home.

Question 17

Are virtual/online lessons effective?

Accepted Answer

Before I began teaching online lessons I wasn't sure how effective virtual lessons would be. Now, after teaching hundreds of virtual lessons I can say, without a doubt, that YES they are effective. The first thing I noticed was that the attention span of the students had increased. They were often able to communicate more openly and focus more on the little details in their playing and my playing. I've also noticed that students were accomplishing more during the lesson. Maybe it's due to less distractions as students focus on a screen more than their surroundings. For whatever reason(s) it may be, myself and numerous colleagues have discussed how we've noticed these changes. With that being said, face-to-face lessons are highly effective as well. Most notably, with face-to-face, there is no chance of having potential tech and/or signal issues.

Question 18

How does my student take virtual/online lessons?

Accepted Answer

The only difference between face-to-face lessons and virtual/online lessons is that both the student and I use electronic devices to communicate during the lesson. Electronic devices can be phones, ipads, computers or anything that can be used to communicate. We primarily use the Zoom teaching platform, but will use Skype or FaceTime if necessary. I'll create a meeting time and invite the student at the time their lesson is to begin. More details regarding this will be sent as lessons are getting ready to take place.

MrB4Band

Welcome to
Tony Bianchetta's
Studio and MORE!

Frequently Asked Questions