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Applied Instruction (Lessons)

Private lessons are available to students with a strong commitment to practice and meet all of the obligations of their private instruction. Students who do not display this commitment may be dropped by the instructor at mid-term. Students who take private lessons are strongly encouraged to participate in ensembles. Students must schedule a lesson time with their instructor by signing up in the music department by the second day classes are in session; students may forfeit their right to instruction if they delay in signing up for a lesson. As part of their private study students are required to attend music department recitals. Students who take instruction for 0 credit must have approval from the department chair and a full 17 credit load.

Non-music majors register for lessons at the 200-level. Music majors register for lessons at the 400-level in their major performing instrument, and at the 200 level in secondary instruments.

Each student is required to arrange a weekly lesson time with the instructor, and must arrive on time and ready to work. In the case of music majors and minors, it is expected that the student will have done some basic warm-up exercises before arriving at a lesson.

Students are expected to engage in daily practice, including work on both literature as assigned, and on technical exercises. If a student is unprepared for a lesson, the instructor reserves the right to cancel that lesson and may re-schedule it, at their discretion.

If the student is ill or must miss a lesson for any other reason, the student should call as soon as possible to notify the instructor and to request that the lesson be re-scheduled. Lessons may occasionally be canceled due to faculty schedules, and any such cancellations will be re-scheduled. Lessons missed due to student illness or other reasons will be re-scheduled at the instructor’s discretion.

All applied lesson students must attend any scheduled Studio Classes for their instrument or voice. These classes will be scheduled by your applied instructor, and most will consist of student performances and critiques. Occasionally, special presentations or lectures may be presented instead of performances. Performance majors are encouraged to perform as often as the schedule permits. All music majors and minors are required to perform on one of the Music Department Recitals, which occur monthly (vocal music must be memorized for performance on a Department Recital, and, when possible, should have already been performed in Studio Class).

Performance Juries are required for majors and minors, scheduled during the last week of school or early in the week of finals. Failure to perform a jury will have a serious adverse affect on your grade!