Hello Everybody!

This is an important note about changes and dates as we look ahead to the summer and coming school year.

This Month Digital Lessons are FarPlay-First

As you may have seen from our note 2 weeks ago, we have started testing FarPlay.io as a new piece of software for digital lessons.

This works on Apple/MacOS, Windows PCs, and Chromebooks (Linux version).

This month, April, we are prioritizing use of FarPlay over Zoom.  You should have it installed on your computers now, and use it for your lessons this month.  We will decide whether this is a permanent switch after this month, or after an extended testing period.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Right now, with Zoom and other software, you can’t play with your teacher at the same time.  While this may only be a small part of the time spent in every lesson, playing with someone – anyone – is a huge part of the enjoyment of making music. 

FarPlay allows us to close this gap, and has been proven to work over hundreds of kilometres.  Needless to say, we are very excited about this.

TIPS FOR BEST EXPERIENCE ON FARPLAY

REQUIREMENTS

  1. You will need to use a laptop and download the software from FarPlay.io. This does not work with mobile/tablet devices at this time.
  2. It is recommended to be connected directly to your router. If you can’t do that, we recommend shutting down any other software that could use bandwidth (email, internet, calendar, etc.). Get as close as possible to your wireless router to have the highest quality signal.
  3. Earphones are strongly recommended. Wired earphones are what is meant by this, as wireless will affect the latency (perceived sound delay). Since the whole point of this is to be able to play together at the same time, this is a fairly important detail. An equally important consideration is that this software doesn’t have sound compression the same way Zoom or other software does, so echoing is a very likely outcome of not having earphones in.
  4. If you have a plug-in microphone you can use, as well, then we suggest you try it. A nice microphone can make a big difference to sound quality.

ACCESSING YOUR LESSON

We have kept the same approach to this as we have been with using Zoom.

Scroll down on the Digital Studio Access page and find the digital studio number for your teacher.  Open FarPlay, click ‘Join Session’, and enter your digital studio number.  That’s it!

IF IT DOESN’T WORK

First:  Restart FarPlay.  That may do the trick.  Be sure you arrive to your lesson 2min early to leave time for trouble shooting.  Don’t go more than 2min into your lesson if FarPlay isn’t working, move on to #2 below.

Second:  Your teachers all have Zoom standing by as a backup.  If you cannot make FarPlay work, you should get back on Zoom and your teacher should find you there after 2min into the lesson time.

 

Tuition Rates Are Increasing May 1st, 2023

LESSONS:  Starting May 1st 2023, lesson rates are increasing.  Changes are detailed by lesson length below:

22-23 Rate

New Rate

Difference per lesson
30m $ 47.79 $51.76 $3.97
45m $ 58.84 $62.81 $3.97
1h $ 70.98 $72.55 $1.57

Monthly changes amount to a range of $15.48-16.67/month for 30m lessons, and $6.14-6.61/month for 60m lessons.

If you have any special arrangement with ABC on your rate, this will remain in place, but scale to a new rate at the same percentage listed in the chart above.

MUSIC TOGETHER CLASSES:  Class rates are increasing, but the change is taking effect for registered families June 30th.  New families will pay the new rates effective immediately.  Monthly changes amount to ~$10/month.

22-23 Rate per class

New Rate

Difference per class
Music Together 1st Child $ 26.32 $29.29 $2.97
Music Together 2nd Child  $ 16.06 $19.03 $2.97
Rhythm Kids $ 34.49 $34.49 $0.00

 

If tuition changes are a challenge for you or your family on any program, please reach out to Barnaby in the office for additional tuition support.

Spring Reports & Summer + Fall Registration

LESSONS:  You will soon be receiving your spring Progress and Recommendation Reports and certificates for you lesson students.  Following this, summer and school year registration will be open.  As usual, we will ask you to pay for September to hold your spot.  If this is an issue, just mention it at the time of re-registration. Summer lessons will be billed the July and August 1st.  Most lessons will be available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays only.

As usual, we are more flexible with schedules in the summer.  If you can only take some lessons, that is fine.  We may request your flexibility from week to week with timing, as others will require the same.

Important note for children under 10:  

Young kids lose information and skills much faster than they go in.  While it may seem appealing to take the entire summer off as a break, this could lead to a lot of time spent catching up and re-gaining skills in the fall: time and money you have already spent!  We always recommend at least a few lessons to keep skills at-level over the summer.  

MUSIC TOGETHER PROGRAMS:  Summer and Fall registration will open mid- to late April.  As usual, we will ask you to pay for September to hold your spot.  If this is an issue, just mention it at the time of re-registration. Summer classes will be billed the July and August 1st if your location is having them and you choose to sign up.

Referral Program • Save 20% on May, June and Next Year – Your Friends, Too!

We are very aware of the burdens of inflation, and have tried to keep your concerns in line with ours on this increase.  To that end, we are offering a special referral option for you in addition to our normal program.

LESSONS:  The Standard Referral Program gets you 20% off your most expensive lessons to the end of the school year for each family you refer, and gets your friend’s family 20% off all lessons they take that school year.  Refer a new family for the 2023-24 school year before April 30th, and we will give you not only the 20% off the remainder of this school year, but 20% off all of next school year, too!  We hope you enjoy this compelling offer, and help grow us while we help you reduce your costs.

MUSIC TOGETHER PROGRAMS: The Standard Referral Program gets you 20% off your 1st child’s rate to the end of the school year for each family you refer, and gets your friend’s family 20% off their 1st child that school year. Refer a new family for the 2023-24 school year before April 30th, and we will give you and the referred family not only the 20% off the 1st child for remainder of this school year, but 20% off all of next school year, too!  We hope you enjoy this compelling offer, and help us grow while we help you reduce your costs.

SPRING RECITAL

It has been 3 full years since we have had a spring recital, bringing together our community and team to share our love of music.

Performing is an important part of a music education, and an important professional skill that very few other academic subjects pursue with the same regularity or benefits.

Seeing performance is also an important part of a music and professional education as it builds focus, exposure, normalizing of peers and self-presentation, building self-confidence and a normalcy of the activity.

We hope to have some kind of recital this spring, perhaps a community pot-luck/picnic where we can share our experience in a less formal, more friendly way.  We are tentatively looking at the weekend of May 6-7th.  Please pencil this into your calendars now.  We hope we can make this happen!