Here are some of our most Frequently Asked Questions…

When do you offer lessons: We offer lessons seven days a week from 8am until 10pm, depending on teacher availability.

How do lessons work: Our students receive weekly private one-on-one piano lessons with a TOP professional musician in St. Louis! You can either do online lessons from the comfort of your own home or do in-person lessons by studying with one of our teachers at either our Benton Park (South City), Maplewood, or Maryland Heights (West) location, paired with professional Studio and School, Shock City.

Lessons occur weekly and are on an ongoing cycle. We take 4 breaks each year: Summer (first week of July), Fall (Thanksgiving week), and Winter (week of Christmas and week of New Years).

When are you open for enrollment: Enrollment is open always! You may enroll at any time and begin as soon as we have availability. We are usually able to begin lessons within 1-2 weeks of registration.

Do I need to re-enroll for ongoing lessons: No. Once enrolled, you are enrolled as a member of our student community indefinitely! To pause or cancel lessons, please complete and return the cancel or pause form with the office by the 15th of the month. You may receive that by reaching out to office@shockcityschool.com.

Where do the lessons take place: All lessons either take place online or onsite at our Benton Park (South City), Maplewood, or Maryland Heights (WEST) locations.

Do you travel to student locations: We do for special circumstances. We also have three beautiful professional facilities and would love to welcome you to our communities! To see if you would qualify for in home lessons, please reach out.

What are your rates: Please CLICK HERE to see more about our tuition.

Do you offer any discounts: Funny you ask, I was just going to tell you about that! YES. We offer a 5% family or multi-lesson discount. Please also inquire about our Military/Veteran’s and Senior’s discount. ALSO, Refer in a student to receive $50 off of lessons!

Do you offer a free trial lesson: YES! Follow this LINK to sign-up

What is included in my tuition:

Learn how to play piano by ear or focus on traditional/classical repertoire - the choice is up to you! We structure our lessons to focus on what you want to learn.
All of our teachers are highly trained (bachelors or masters in music!) and are the top professional working musicians in the St. Louis area!
Weekly private one-on-one lessons with one of the top professional musicians in St. Louis
Free participation in all student concerts and performances
Free access to our Online Portal where you will have your own personalized account
Easy payment and access to your schedule through the online portal
We also have an App (iPhone, iPads, Androids, Tablets) so you can check in on your account on the go
We can video every lesson and send you the link. This way you can see and review what you learned in your lesson. This also adds another layer of security for parents as you can see exactly what is going on in each lesson
Your teacher will send you a lesson summary after every lesson through the online portal so you know exactly what to work on before your next lesson
If you need to cancel a lesson, your teacher will send you a video lesson with new assignments for the week
Free access to all of our online videos on technique, fundamentals, music theory, and how to play songs
Free access to hundreds of bonus online lessons from other teachers around the world
Free access to direct online chat with your teacher so you can ask questions whenever you have them
Parents have their own accounts so you can check on your child's progress

How do I know you are any good. What are other’s saying about you: Great question! You can check out some of the awards we have won as well as read reviews from current and former students HERE. You can also read more reviews on our Google profile HERE.

What happens if I don’t like the lessons or don’t like my teacher: We take extra care in hiring the best teachers in the business. Our teachers are all extremely talented musicians. They are also very kind, patient individuals with a heart for teaching. If you are ever unhappy with your teacher, just contact us via email and request a different teacher. You can do this at anytime during the semester. We will work to get you set up with a new teacher. Please allow 2-4 weeks of transition time to give the current teacher as well as the new teacher a fair amount of warning. During this transitional period you will still have your regularly scheduled lessons with your current teacher.

Can I meet my teacher before my first lesson: Absolutely! If you would like to set up a meet and greet zoom session before your first lesson, let us know and we can hook that up no problem!

How do I communicate with my teacher: All communication needs to be done through the chat function of the Online Portal. This is for the security of everyone involved. This way we will have a written record of all communication between students and teachers.

Do you do recitals: We do! We offer approximately 3 concerts each year. There is no extra charge to participate in our concerts. There are also multiple community performance opportunities throughout the year. You will have a chance to perform on a stage with live sound equipment. This is included in your tuition.

Can I be in the room with my child during their lesson: Absolutely! You are always welcome to sit in on any lesson.

How can I track my child’s progress: Our Online Portal gives you access to see your child’s attendance, progress, practice assignments and more. You can also see all the communication between your child and their teacher. You get your own login information as a parent, so you can check in anytime you’d like. We also have an App that works on iPhone or Android so you can login on the go as well!

What happens if I need to cancel a lesson: Everybody gets sick or has some kind of emergency. If you can’t make your lesson one week, it’s no problem. It happens. Just let your teacher know no later than 4 hours prior to your lesson time and your teacher will send you a video lesson through the online portal so you still have something to work on for that week. This lesson will not be rescheduled and your tuition will not be reimbursed to make up for the missed lesson. If you do not give notice at least 4 hours before your lesson time that you are cancelling, your teacher will not send you a video assignment.

Why don’t you do makeup lessons or allow reschedules for student cancellations: Your tuition covers a whole lot of things, it is not a fee for each specific lesson. Missed lessons have already been accounted for in the formulation of your tuition. If you have to miss a lesson every now and then, it’s no big deal because you are not paying for every single lesson anyway.

We love our teachers and owe it to them to keep a stable schedule. In order to get the best teachers, it is important that we respect their time and expertise. Also, their schedules are full so there are no times for makeups and they are too disruptive.

If you can’t make your lesson one week, it’s no problem. It happens. Just let your teacher know no later than 4 hours prior to your lesson time and your teacher will send you a video lesson through the online portal so you still have something to work on for that week. This lesson will not be rescheduled and your tuition will not be reimbursed to make up for the missed lesson. If you do not give notice at least 4 hours before your lesson time that you are cancelling, your teacher will not send you a video assignment.

If you need to permanently change your lesson time, due to a change in your schedule, just let us know and we can find you a new permanent time slot.

This policy also keeps you accountable as a student. Knowing you are paying for the full semester whether you show up to your lessons or not will make you want to show up more. Showing up more often is going to make you progress quicker and make you a better piano player. When you get in the habit of thinking it is ok to not show up, you stop practicing. You start showing up less and less for lessons. Then you get frustrated because you are not progressing as quickly as you would like. And eventually you quit. By following our policy, we can avoid this whole cycle and help you reach your goals quicker!

What if I need to cancel because of extreme weather conditions: If a student needs to cancel a lesson due to extreme weather conditions, student must let teacher know no less than 4 hours prior to lesson time. Then the student has three options:

i. Bank the lesson and reschedule: The canceled lesson will be banked in our system. It is the responsibility of the student and teacher to coordinate a makeup lesson within 90 days of the cancellation. If makeup lesson is not used within 90 days of cancellation, the lesson will be forfeited.

ii. Do an online video lesson instead: Some teachers are able to offer online video lessons as a substitute for in person lessons. When a student cancels due to extreme weather conditions, they can coordinate with teacher to set up an online lesson instead.

iii. Miss the lesson. Teacher may offer to do a video lesson instead of the first two options, but is not obligated to do so. If student is unwilling to do an online lesson and unable to reschedule a makeup lesson within 90 days of the cancellation, then student will forfeit the lesson and no tuition reimbursement will be offered.

What if my teacher cancels a lessons: If your teacher cancels a lesson, then you have three options:

i. Bank the lesson and reschedule: The canceled lesson will be banked in our system. It is the responsibility of the student and teacher to coordinate a makeup lesson within 60 days of the cancellation. If makeup lesson is not used within 90 days of cancellation, the lesson will be forfeited.

ii. Do an online video lesson instead: Some teachers are able to offer online video lessons as a substitute for in person lessons when they need to cancel. When a teacher cancels and offers online lessons as a makeup option, the student is required to do the online lesson. If student doesn't want to do it, it's okay, but student will be forfeiting the lesson. Student can either do the online lesson or miss the lesson, but there will be no tuition reimbursement for the missed lesson.

iv. Work with a sub: We will always try to offer you a lesson with one of our other teachers.

What if I want to drop out: We ask for a completed withdraw form to be submitted by the 15th of the month ahead of the anticipated term. This will cancel the billing and your lessons. If you need to cancel immediately, you will still be responsible for any already paid tuition even if lessons aren’t taken. You are welcome to “bank” those lessons and take them within 90 days, if you plan to return. You can also transfer to another member of your direct household. Please email us for the lesson cancellation or lesson pause form.

How do I pay for lessons: We offer simple, hassle free billing. Once you set up your payment method in your account (credit card, debit card or checking account), you will be auto-billed on the 25th of each month. The first month of lessons may be pro-rated depending on start date. Please see our PRICING page for more information on tuition.

How do I know my information is safe with you: We are fully PCI compliant which includes advanced encryption and tokenization of the your credit card data. We do not store data, we use Security Metrics to keep data secure and we simply pass a token to initiate the tuition billing. Simply put, your information is safe with us.

Are lessons one-on-one or are they group lessons: Your lesson will be a one-on-one lesson with an amazing teacher. We may offer additional group lessons in the future.

Do you teach online lessons: YES! We offer online lessons and are proud to state that all of our students love their virtual lessons and have been extremely successful with them!

How long should my lessons be: 60 minute lessons are ideal, but we can do 45 minutes as well if that works better for your schedule. We do have a 30 minute lesson option for preschool and elementary aged beginner students. Those lessons typically increase to 45 minutes after the first few months.

How often should I do lessons: We do one lesson per week. Same day and same time every week. If you are interested in a different frequency, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Do I need to have a keyboard or piano: Yes. You are going to need to practice at home the things you learn in your lesson. If you don’t have a keyboard or piano, let us know and we can help you find a great deal on a good board. Usually you can get something decent for $500-$800. If you prefer the acoustic route, Jackson Pianos usually has a great deals on used pianos.

How do I get access to the Online Portal: Once you are signed up for lessons, we will get you set up in our system. You will then receive an email with your login info and instructions on how to get started.

How do I contact you if I have questions: You can email us any time at office@shockcityschool.com or you can call 314-750-9395.

How do I enroll in lessons: When we are in open enrollment, we offer super simple, online enrollment. You can enroll by CLICKING HERE.