FAQs

Yes, I do have some availability.

One-to-one lessons:
20 mins: £12.00
30 mins: £18.00
Other lesson lengths pro rata.

Yes, I like to meet prospective pupils before starting lessons. This inital meeting is non-tutorial but is free of charge with no obligation to book any lessons. 

Face-to-face at my home in Blackfriars Avenue, Droitwich (full address given on booking), or online via Skype, Zoom or other online platform. 

Children‘s lessons are weekly in term time; they are also usually available in school holidays if required.

Adults often have weekly lessons but these can be more flexible depending on pupils’ requirements.

Yes, lessons are available through most of the school holidays.

Lessons are also usually available in school holidays.

Term Dates:Autumn 2024:  
Monday 4th November to Saturday 21st December 2024 (7 weeks)

Spring 2025:
Monday 6th January to Saturday 15th February 2025 (6 weeks)
Monday 24th February to Saturday 12th April 2025 (7 weeks)  

Yes, provided that you let me know the day before the lesson or sooner and there is a mutually convenient day and time before the start of the following half term.

Piano: Ages 4 to adult. Very young children can learn piano using a method which doesn’t require the child to have any knowledge of the alphabet or to know which is their right or left hand: www.dogsandbirds.co.uk

Flute: Ages 6 to adult. Young children can initially learn on a fife (a small instrument which looks a bit like the recorder but held sideways and blown like a flute) or with a flute which has a curved headjoint (the section of the flute which the player blows across) making the distance between left hand and lips several inches shorter without shortening the length of the tube of the flute, thereby making it easier to hold but without affecting the sound. Non-metal flutes also now exist which are lighter to hold than metal ones.

Yes, I do have this and I subscribe to the DBS Update service which means that my DBS check is automatically updated weekly.
(Self-employed tutors are able to get Enhanced DBS checks done through being a  member of a professional organisation; in my case this is EPTA, the European Piano Teachers Association.)

Yes. I find with young children that it is usually better for them to have a parent in the lesson room with them. 

Yes. For example: 

• Sheet music, tutor books, theory workbooks, notebook etc.

• Any exam / festival entry fees (if applicable).

• A metronome may also be useful but there are free online metronomes and apps available.

• Flute players will need a music stand, and flute cleaning cloths and cleaning rod if these are not supplied with the flute.

Tip: It’s worth checking your local charity shops for sheet music as it’s possible to buy sheet music and music books, often in very good condition, at very reasonable prices and support your local charity at the same time.

St. Richard’s Hospice Snowdrops shop in Worcester sells second-hand sheet music as does the Daisychain Benevolent Fund bookshop in St. John’s, Worcester (UK). 

Further afield, the Cotswold Canal Trust bookshop in Brimscombe Corner, Stroud, stocks second-hand sheet music (you may need to ask as it’s housed separately). When I was there, there were two big boxes stuffed with piano music and there was also a big box of flute music as well as other boxes of music for other instruments / voices, all very reasonably priced and in very good condition. 

No! I’ve taught a number of adults over the years, including some who are retired and were total beginners. Provided you practise your instrument, you can learn and improve.

Yes, if the pupil, parent and I (or adult pupil and I) agree to this. I have experience of preparing pupils for ABRSM and MTB exams and am open to using other exam boards depending on pupils’ requirements. Some schools allow their pupils to take music exams in school even if they have lessons privately. If a pupil wants to learn without taking exams, that’s fine with me – I want pupils to enjoy their music-making, not be stressed by it. The option to make an audio or video recording to submit as an exam entry instead of the traditional face-to-face exam is proving to be very popular. 

Yes. I have a tripod here with an attachment for a mobile which pupils are welcome to use but pupils will need to bring their own recording device. 

 I have a well-maintained and regularly tuned acoustic Yamaha U3 upright piano and also a Technics digital piano (88-note, touch sensitive).

I have used a lot of tutor books over the years but now I prefer to use the Piano Adventures series of books by Nancy and Randall Faber for child pupils (other than Dogs And Birds for the youngest children) and for adults, as I think these books are very good and better than the other books I have used.

If a pupil has previously had lessons with another teacher then I usually stick with the book which that pupil is already using. 

On foot:

I am near Droitwich town centre and within walking distance of Droitwich schools. 

By car:
I am about half a mile from Droitwich town centre, 7 miles from Worcester, 6 miles from Bromsgrove, 3 and a half miles from Fernhill Heath, 3 miles from Wychbold and 4 and a half miles from Ombersley. Redditch and Kidderminster are both approximately 12 miles away from Droitwich; Evesham 18 miles and Pershore about 12 and a half miles.

Trains: Droitwich Spa train station is about half a mile away. There are regular trains to Droitwich from Worcester and Malvern, Bromsgrove, Kidderminster and Birmingham.

Buses: Stops for 144 buses, which run between Worcester and Catshill via Droitwich and Bromsgrove, are only a few minutes’ walk away.

Deborah, Miss Deborah or Miss Johns, whichever you are comfortable with. 

Surprisingly (at least to me), I have been asked this. No, it’s not a hobby, it’s my job; I’m running a business.

No, I’m sorry, I don’t. I have never offered gift vouchers, partly because I like to meet people before they start lessons (the initial meeting is non-tutorial but free of charge with no obligation to book any lessons). However, I have occasionally had people pay me for lessons for another adult as a gift but without a gift voucher.

I suggest you 
– sell it – there are some secondhand sheet music sellers in the UK 

– donate it to a charity shop – charity bookshops eg. Oxfam Bookshops or Books For Amnesty are more likely to sell sheet music than general charity shops. 

– use it for craft projects, for example a decoupage table, or maybe use it as wrapping paper if it’s only the spine which has worn out. 

– recycle it – if your music very old, brittle and falling apart and possibly incomplete then this could be the best option unless it is rare or signed by somebody well-known. 

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