Richard - Teacher #3350

Instruments:
- Piano
- Saxophone

Languages:
- English
- French

Teaching Philosophy

Music takes a huge place in my life, it glows over others.it becomes your best friend with time.Depending on your mood , you can rely on your music.
Music is always their waiting for you.It relaxes you , it makes you feel good.
it's a way of meditation.I believe that it is integral to the education of any person. We all have rhythm and sound as a core part of our body. Formal training in music is only an expansion of what already exists in every person.All of my lessons begin with physical warm-ups ( by Isidor Phillipp , Czerny ...)
to support the specific musculature required in the development of each instrument.An up to date personnalised program given to each of my students , including some of their favorite songs, to keep motivation and steady progress every lessons.

Joy and play are essential elements of happiness, successful learning at any age.
Without joy, there is no music, and without music, there is no joy.

Musical Education

I studied accordian at age 7 , kept my teacher for 13 years. He was great , very organized and had a great all aroung teaching system.Vincent Testa was is name.Then my father bought me my first piano at age 13 and enroll me at Vincent d'indy ( became Montreal University ) for private Classical piano lessons , history and sight reading classes and stayed 9 years.Also learn alto and tenor saxophones, clarinet with a private teacher.Finally Jazz improvisation, also privately with Charles Ellison.After my studies and winning many competition accross Canada at age 21, I had my own orchestra playing in and aroung Montreal and accross Canada.At age 35 , Started travelling and performing across the world on Luxury Cruise Ships and Cirque du Soleil.Since 2004 , I started teaching full time and give back what i received from my own teachers and great musicians from all over the world.Recently , i wrote my first book titled :
" Read Music , Easy & Fun "
which i use for my students.
I am an active teacher today, i have 35 students from two differents schools.My students are from 7 to 84 years of age.
The secret is " keep the motivation high "

Rates

30 Minutes: $39.00
45 Minutes: $49.00
60 Minutes: $59.00

There is a one-time registration fee of 25 $ charged with the first lessons. All Taxes are included in prices, if applicable

NOTE: Your Credit card will be charged ONLY when the first lesson is set up and confirmed with the teacher

Policies


1. Cancellation Policy

Lessons not cancelled or rescheduled with at least 24 hours notice are billable to the client and payable to the teacher. This does not of course apply to travel fees unless the notice is effectively given at the door and the teacher has travelled to the location.

2. Cessation (quitting) Policy

A client must provide a 2 lesson notice period to stop lessons. So a weekly student needs to give 2 weeks of notice, a biweekly student works out to 3 weeks notice and a twice weekly student works out to a week of notice.

3. Illness Policy

Lessons cancelled due to illness or extraordinary circumstances with less than 24 hours notice remain billable to the client and payable to the teacher.

BAH teachers are encouraged to offer a make-up lesson at a future date in the interest of client relations and general goodwill. This only makes sense as teaching a student with the flu for example, will ruin the rest of your week's employment.

No more than 2 lessons may be made up due to illness within a 60 day period.

4. Rescheduling Policy

Any lesson can be cancelled or rescheduled with at least 24 hours notice.

Summer Vacation and Extended Absence Policy

Clients may schedule longer absences for trips etc. 24 hours notice is required.

It is normal and typical for students and about 20% of our teachers to schedule a break in the summer. We do not enforce a notice period (see cessation of lessons) at the end of a long summer break.

5. Evaluation Period

There are no free trial lessons with Beethoven at Home but we do offer a 2 lesson evaluation period where it is easy to try out a teacher. There are no free lessons during the evaluation period and clients may choose to discontinue the lessons at any time by providing the required 24 hours notice. After the student's 3rd lesson the required 2 lesson notice period will apply (see cessation of lessons above).