Frequently asked questions
Your most FAQs Regarding Piano Lessons
Kathryn tries to answer your most FAQs. However, she is able to provide you with much more information and a better sense of what is best in each individual situation in a personal meeting. Click here to book a free consultation.
The current charge is $60.00 per hour.
Most beginner students start with 30 minute lessons per week.
I charge by the month using the equal payment plan. There are 42 lessons per year. The cost is divided into 12 equal payments as follows:
- 30 minute lessons once per week is $105.00 per month
- 45 minute lessons once per week is $150.00 per month
- 60 minute lessons once per week is $195.00 per month
Post-dated cheques Email transfers
Credit card Cash
First, you call me at 604-357-3786 and arrange a day and a time for an interview.
Your free interview takes place in my home studio where we chat about music, pianos, lessons, the weekly schedule, books, practice and fees. The interview usually lasts an hour, after which you will have a much better idea if I’m the best teacher for you or your child.
Yes, you will need a piano at home, so you can practice every day. Regular consistent practice at home means good progress with learning to play the piano.
A small keyboard has many differences from a piano. Here’s a chart comparing 3 types of keyboard instruments:
Whatever age you are is a good age to start piano lessons. I welcome children as young as 4 years old to my studio, and elementary school age children, teens and adults of all ages are welcome.
I have the ARCT degree, Associateship to the Conservatory of Toronto, and a Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Victoria. I have over 35 years of teaching experience which includes numerous workshops and seminars to upgrade and improve my skills in music and in teaching. I am a member of the professional Association of Registered Music Teachers in Canada, and I participate in the local Vancouver branch of the Association.
What repertoire of music do you use?
I use a wide variety of repertoire from the Royal Conservatory of Music and the BC Conservatory of Music. I also offer students pop, jazz, sacred and folk music and pretty much anything that inspires and delights them. Many times, I’ve taken a specific request of a piece that a student would like to play and arranged the music in a style and level accessible to that student. I’ve found it amazing to see how quickly a student will learn a piece that he/she has chosen, even if that piece is a little challenging.
Well-rounded musician
The ongoing study of music exposes students to a wide variety of music making them capable and well-rounded musicians who are able to apply their music skills to other instruments they might choose. For example, students who study piano privately excel in the band program at school, and adults who take lessons find themselves taking a greater role in community or church musical participation.
I will recommend the best method book for each new beginner depending on his/her age, level and learning style. I purchase this book/music and ask the student to pay for it at the lesson.
I also love to choose interesting music for each student from my large library of books and sheet music. Or, I can also arrange songs of the student’s choice at the student’s level and ability using my music writing program on the computer.
Yes! One of my primary goals is to get every student reading music to the best of his/her ability. You can enjoy music and playing piano if you don’t know how to read music, but you can learn so much more if you learn how to read music. I have many techniques and resources to help make learning to read music easy.
Kathryn Rowe Piano Teaching Studio – September 2021
Important Information About Returning to In-Person Lessons
This document contains important information about our decision (yours and mine) to restart in-person lessons for you or your child/children in light of the COVID-19 public health crisis. Please read this carefully and let me know if you have any questions.
Before each in-person lesson, students/parents will be required to answer the following questions:
Do you have any of the following symptoms: fever, chills, new or worsening cough, shortness of breath, new muscle aches or headache, sore throat?
Have you travelled outside of Canada within the last 14 days?
Are you a close contact of a person who tested positive for COVID-19?
If you can answer “yes” to any of these questions, please do not come to your in-person lesson.
Minimizing Our Exposure
To resume in-person lessons, we all agree to take certain precautions which will help keep everyone (you, me, our families and other clients) safer from exposure and sickness.
Students aged 12 and over, parents and teacher have completed vaccination for COVID-19.
All persons will only attend lessons if we are symptom free from the coronavirus or any other illnesses.
All persons will wear footwear in the studio. No bare feet or stocking feet.
All persons will use provided alcohol-based sanitizer when entering and leaving the studio.
All persons will wear a mask in all areas of the studio.
All persons will maintain 6 feet of distance in the studio as much as possible.
In the event that any of us become exposed to someone who is infected or could be infected, we will immediately advise each other in order that appropriate precautions can be taken.
If any of us test positive for the coronavirus, we will immediately notify each other so that appropriate precautions can be taken.
My Commitment to Minimize Exposure
I understand that by resuming in-person lessons, I am assuming the risk that I may be infected with the coronavirus. I will not take legal action against the other party.
I expect all my young students to practice at home every day. With regular practice, students make good progress and are excited about learning more. Students who don’t practice, or who practice sporadically, find that their progress and their interest in piano lessons decline. They become bored and discouraged.
For adults, who take piano lessons, practice is optional. Generally, adults spend time practicing what interests them the most.
Having a piano lesson once a week for 30 to 45 minutes requires a daily practice time of 30 to 60 minutes. And, a young child, between the ages of 4 to 7, needs daily parental involvement, as well, in order to progress steadily. Parental involvement means sitting beside the student at the home piano every day helping the child read the practice notes written by the teacher, counting repetitions for the student, giving positive encouragement and praise, in short, modeling the kind of self-discipline that is require to learn anything new.
Daily Routine
However, the most important aspect of practice time is that it happens on a daily basis because students who practice daily reinforce the efforts that they’ve made to date. One might think that practicing for 2 hours on one day means that you can have 3 days off, but that’s not the case. In three days, you can easily forget everything that you’ve practiced so diligently for 2 hours. That’s why daily practice is a must.
Acoustic Piano
Yes! When a student has a good quality and regularly tuned instrument at home, he/she is able to reproduce what I’ve taught in the lesson without a struggle. Most of what I teach is how to create a beautiful and imaginative sound, so students who have a below quality instrument get frustrated trying to recreate what they’ve learned in the lesson. As well, a well-tuned piano supports the ear training that a student receives.
Electric Piano
When circumstances make an acoustic piano impossible to acquire, an electric piano with a full 88 keys and touch sensitivity will be fine.
Recitals are mandatory in my studio and an important part of a student’s musical education. There are 5 piano recitals per year, which give students motivation to practice and give parents a regular exhibition of student progress. For the Christmas recital, each student picks a Christmas song, which I arrange at the student’s level. Then, I teach the students how to be accompanists, (a completely separate skill from playing solo), so they can play while the audience sings along.
There are separate and more informal recitals in a home setting for my adult students.
I understand what it’s like to be nervous performing because I’ve spent years overcoming my own performance anxiety. So, I have learned many ways to help students be more comfortable and confident performing at the piano. Adults may find that even playing at the lesson might be difficult. They tell me, “I don’t know what’s wrong; it goes just fine at home!” So, with patient encouragement, I help my students find this new way of expressing themselves through music, which ultimately brings them satisfaction and pleasure.