FAQ

We have taken three proven things that work and combined them to create a “sweet spot” that covers all avenues of a music student’s needs. Those three things are:  

1. A high quality, performance based lesson and ensemble program with educated and experienced teachers and an in house performance facility.
2. Top brands of instruments and accessories in store, with knowledgeable, friendly staff and a superior customer experience from start to finish.
3. A modern waiting area for lesson students and their families to enjoy and relax while visiting us. This includes WiFi, comfortable seating, coffee and water, power outlets to charge devices, and a high-end home theater system with a projector and Xbox One, always free for customers!

Guitar, Bass Guitar, Ukulele, Piano, Voice, Drums, Saxophone, Clarinet, Violin, Viola, Cello, and we are proud to offer the first in the area Audio Production and Recording Techniques, as well as Video Production.

Visit our music lessons page to book a lesson!

You don’t have to play just one, but a great place to start is with whatever gets you the most inspired and excited. If you gravitate towards music with particular sounds or styles and don’t know what makes those sounds, we are here to help you find what makes the sounds you want to make!

Absolutely! Our band programs are taught by professional music teachers with degrees and experience, so that each band has real support from people you know you can rely on. Every band will be able to rehearse, perform, record, and write music in house, as well as choose their own name and run their social media! Students of the band program also get discounts on private lessons and gear in the store, as well as access to master classes and other unique offerings at SSoM!

We have a brand new performance facility in house with a Yamaha digital mixing console and speaker system for student recitals, open mics, jam sessions, and any other event that we can dream up. SSoM will host store sanctioned recital events for students so teachers with small studios can have a big event. Additionally, we have relationships with other venues in the local area where our students can perform for real life audiences out in public! This has ranged in the past from farms to breweries and restaurants, all the way to students sitting in with their teachers bands at real life paying gigs!ntent

No, never! Everyone should have as few barriers as possible between themselves and sharing music with others.

The right age to start private lessons is a little different for each person and instrument, so it is difficult to make honest and accurate general statements here. If you are curious, the best thing to do is bring your child into our school and have them talk to a teacher or staff member, or just sign up for a class or lessons and give it a try! One singular, “correct” path for learning music does not exist.

We offer First Beats classes for parents and children starting as young as 12 months, focused on bonding and creative movement. For private lessons, every child and teacher are a little different. The best thing to do is talk with a teacher or staff member about what is the right fit for you and your child.

Every lesson instructor is a private contractor with the sole ability to set and control their rates for lessons. They are required to give 30 days written notice to all clients upon changing their rates.

We use the Fons software program for billing and scheduling. It allows customers to create an online account where we can schedule lessons, pay for lessons in a subscription-based style, send updates and reminders for appointments, and do a lot more. It is by far the easiest method we have found in our search to modernize the lesson payment system. Fons was actually designed by and for a guitar teacher and appointment-based businesses!

Lesson bills for the entire months’ tuition will be charged the first week of the month no later than the day of each student’s first lesson of that calendar month. Fons will allow for storage of a credit card or bank account for recurring billing cycles. The bill amount will be based on the number of lessons taught in that billing cycle and the lesson rate of the instructor.

Two weeks’ notice via phone, text, or notification within the Fons payment account is sufficient to avoid future billing. We are sorry to see you go!

The best thing to do is contact the teacher directly using your student portal on fons.com, or via text message or email. Our teachers are happy to be very flexible with their customers and can schedule makeup lessons at a time that works for both you and the instructor. Makeups are beneficial for a large variety of reasons (see separate point below on makeups), and are given at no additional cost to the customer. 

Instructors are not required to refund lesson tuition for lessons that the student misses, even with advance notice.

A lesson, when refunded, is typically given back in the form of a “credit”. A credit is the value of a lesson added to the tuition bill in your account, to be credited back to you during your next automatic lesson payment.

Students have the option to sign up for 30 or 60 minute weekly lessons, depending on availability in each instructor’s schedule.

As a student you would sign up to take a lesson at the same time on the same day of the week, each week. For example, Tuesday’s at 6:00-6:30pm. Lessons for most instruments are offered daily, with some specialty instructors and classes being available once or twice per week. Call the store or check online for availability.

A simple conversation with our staff is the best way to get started figuring out which instructor is the best fit for you. Students are also welcome to request specific teachers for any reason. Sometimes, the schedule dictates which instructor you get, and that’s great too! All of the instructors at SSoM are fantastic with all ages and experience levels.

Safety and peace of mind are absolute top priorities to all of us at SSoM. Every instructor in our stores has been background checked upon their hiring by us, and will continue to be background checked on a biannual basis during their continued employment. In addition, a thorough reference check is conducted before hiring. We also have security cameras in every lesson room and throughout the store, with footage of your lesson or your child’s lesson available to you at any time upon request. Our facility has also been designed for openness and transparency. If there is ever anything that we can do to make you or any of our customers feel more welcome at our business, please do not hesitate to speak with any team member or email Anthony Sloan directly at [email protected].

Yes, always! It varies per product category and brand, talk to your teacher or any SSoM team member for more details.

Absolutely. Our facilities have full bandwidth wi-fi available for all teachers to use any time for the benefit of working with students. This is a great option for folks while traveling, home sick, on snow days, etc.

Some facilities might be willing to accommodate lesson arrangements like this, but at SSoM our experience has led us to conclude that everyone having their own private lessons or participating in a group class setting will result in a higher level of retention and application of the material taught. Every person learns at a different speed and in a different way. Individual lessons as well as our specially designed classes, which are limited in number and longer than 30 minutes, will maximize a student’s ability to progress and enjoy playing by tailoring lesson time to help them as much as possible.