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Studio Policy
For drum lessons to commence with Dave Goodman, you must fill in and submit the Registration Form at https://davegoodman.com.au/drum-lessons. Your privacy is important to us, and so the use of email addresses as well as other contact and personal information submitted through that form is subject to our privacy policy.
Please take a few minutes to read and understand the Studio Policy carefully as, by submitting the Registration Form, you indicate your agreement with the Policy. All lessons are bound by this agreement and it is recommended that you print this page and keep a copy handy for your reference in case any dispute arises. The policy may be updated from time to time as necessary, and you will be notified of these changes as they occur.
For quick scrolling, click on the following headings:
1. Fees, Lesson Lengths, Location, Bookings, Absences, Invoicing & Payments
a. Fees
b. Lesson Length
c. Locations
d. Regular Bookings
e. Invoicing & Payment
2. Cancellations, Redeeming Make-up Lesson Credits, Limits, Expiry & Refunds
a. Cancellations
b. Redeeming Make-up Lesson Credits
c. Make-up Lesson Limit & Expiry
d. Refunds
3. Late Payments, Suspension & Discontinuation
a. Late Payments & Suspension of Lessons
b. Discontinuation of Regular Lessons
4. Practice, Instrument, Recording of Lessons, Practice Diaries, Student Portal & Parent Sit-ins
a. Practice
b. Instrument
c. Recording of Lessons
d. Monitoring Your Progress With the Music Practice Diary
e. Access to Student & Parent Portal
f. Sitting In
5. Additional Terms & Requirements for Skype Lessons
6. Additional Terms for Visiting Tertiary Students & Off-site Secondary Students
1. Terms General to all Students and Parents
a. Fees
Dave's current hourly rate for teaching is $120 ($109.09 / hr + 10% GST).
b. Lesson Length
Minimum lesson length is 60 minutes for all students. All efforts will be made to schedule lessons at the most convenient times. If you wish for a longer time, please let us know.
c. Location
Lessons take place solely online over the Zoom platform.
d. Regular Bookings
Dave only offers regular weekly lessons, which are defined as ongoing and occurring weekly for four terms throughout the year excluding public holidays as set out below. Students are committed to at least one entire term, which is booked & billed in advance.
Term dates for 2024 are:
Summer Holiday Lessons: 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM weekdays Monday 8 January 2024 - Friday 2 February 2024 inclusive
Term One: Monday 5 February - Friday 12 April inclusive (10 weeks)
Term Two: Monday 29 April - Friday 5 July inclusive (10 weeks)
Term Three: Monday 22 July - Friday 27 September inclusive (10 weeks)
Term Four: Monday 14 October - Fri 20 December inclusive (10 weeks)
Public holidays affecting 2024 term dates are:
Friday 26 January: Australia Day
Friday 29 March - Monday 1 April: Easter
Thursday 25 April: Anzac Day
Monday 10 June: Monarch's Official Birthday
e. Invoicing & Payment
i) Bookings
Lessons are booked and billed one term in advance. The year is divided into four terms, which vary in length, and the fees are calculated accordingly by the number of lessons available in each term, taking into account the public holidays listed above. The number of lessons for which you are being charged will be indicated on each invoice. We will invoice you two weeks prior to the commencement of each term, or at the time of booking if newly enrolled mid-term.
ii) Payment
- Direct deposit using bank account details shown in your invoice (our preferred method - no fees apply);
- Our online facility for credit / debit card payments using the link found in your invoice (1.9% surcharge applies for this feature);
- Credit / debit card on site using our card reader (1.9% surcharge applies for this feature);
- CASH WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
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2. Cancellations, Make-up Lesson Credits, Expiry & Refunds
a. Cancellations
If you wish to cancel a lesson for any reason, including illness, you are required to provide at least 24 hours notice by logging in to the Student & Parent Portal and canceling the event in the calendar. If eligible for a make-up lesson credit, it is strongly suggested that a make-up lesson be booked at the first available time due to Dave's busy schedule.
Dave has an extremely busy teaching and performing schedule and, at times, emergent performances will require your lesson to be rescheduled, sometimes at short notice. For lessons missed due to Dave cancelling, he will make every reasonable attempt to reschedule your lesson with you as soon as possible and within the term during which the cancellation was made.
* Any lesson cancelled by the student or their parent within 24 hours prior to the lesson start time will be forfeited without a make-up lesson credit being issued, is still billable, and non-refundable.
b. Redeeming Make-up Lesson Credits
Make-up lesson credits for lessons missed due to student cancellation are offered within the Student & Parent Portal at the teacher's sole discretion when notice of more than 24 hours is given for cancellation. It is solely the responsibility of the student to redeem outstanding make-up lesson credits by booking sessions when available online. Such lessons cannot be booked less than 24 hours before that time. Make-up credits are not transferable between family members.
* Please note that make-up lesson credits are not transferrable into cash refunds in any way, and they do not reduce the cost of the following bill. They offer the convenient possibility of scheduling in the full number of lessons per term in the event that emergent events conflict with your regular booking. If you are absent from a Make-Up Lesson for any reason, the make-up lesson credit will be forfeited.
c. Make-up Lesson Credit Limit & Expiry
There is no limit on the number of make-up lesson credits. The student is, however, solely responsible for redeeming all current make-up lesson credits, and agrees to make all reasonable attempts to redeem all outstanding make-up lesson credits.
Make-up lesson credits expire automatically if not redeemed within 90 days from the date of issue.
* All outstanding make-up lesson credits at the time of notice of discontinuation will be canceled without refund at the end of the final lesson of the term after which the student will discontinue.
e. Refunds
Lesson fees are non-refundable.
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3. Late Payments, Suspension & Discontinuation
a. Late Payment & Suspension
If payment is not made within 14 days of the invoice date, lessons will be suspended immediately until payment is made in full. Any lessons suspended for this reason will not be made up and will still incur the full fee. If payment is not received within 28 days, an external debt collection agency may be engaged with all recovery fees payable by you.
b. Discontinuation of Regular Lessons
Notice in writing of termination of regular weekly lessons must be given no later than 14 days prior to the end of term (four weeks prior to the end of term for students at Knox Grammar School). If notice is received after that time, a cancellation fee will be charged equalling half of the following term's fees. This fee will be payable even though the student will not be attending any lessons. It is assumed that a student is continuing unless such notice is given. This applies from the end of one year to the beginning of the next as well as from term to term. All outstanding make-up lesson credits will be forfeited after the final lesson is completed.
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4. Practice, Recording of Lessons & Using the Student Portal
a. Practice
In order for you to succeed or make progress in learning to play an instrument, regular practice is required. The single most important aspect of your time spent learning with Dave is the amount and quality of deliberate practice you do following Dave's advice and instructions in your lesson. You are encouraged to establish a regular practice routine with Dave's guidance, which is based on ongoing research into discovering and applying best practices for optimal learning outcomes. The rate and quality of your musical progress, as well as the amount of pleasure derived from playing the drums, depends largely upon the amount and quality of practice undertaken by the student.
b. Instrument
To commence lessons, you'll need the following items:
- Drumsticks: At least one pair of new sticks. Dave recommends any hickory sticks with wood tips made by the Innovative Percussion brand. For sizes, Vintage 7A is good for smaller hands. For larger hands, Vintage 5A or larger are recommended, such as Vintage 5B. For some of the 'inertia training' we'll also do on a pad, Dave also recommends having a pair of Chris Lamb CL-1L sticks or larger. At some stage you may also need some brushes, and the Innovative Percussion WBR-1 is an excellent all around pair. Innovative Percussion products are available from Optimum Percussion in Burwood. To order, please please visit: https://www.optimumpercussion.com.au/index.php/sticks-mallets/drum-sticks/drum-sticks.html?brand=618
- All other equipment listed below is available through Drum Factory in Parramatta: https://drumfactory.com.au/
- Practice Pad: Dave recommends 12" Green Logix pads by Prologix Percussion that will sit nicely on the snare drum for quiet rebound practice
- Metronome: Boss DB-30 or equivalent
- Clear-sleeve Display Folder: Available at most news agencies
- Books: We'll determine in the first lesson which books might need to be purchased
- Drumset: You'll need a drumset with cymbals, and functional hardware. Dave recommends Sonor Drums (AQ1 Studio and AQ2 Studio are the best student-range drums available), Bosphorus Cymbals (Dave recommends their cymbal box set), Remo Drumheads, Drums Workshop (DW) Hardware, and Roc-N-Soc Thrones. There are many muffling options for quietening down your acoustic drumset, as well as price categories and different configurations that I can advise you on. If you don't have one already, this should be purchased within the first six months of lessons. Please let me know if you need to purchase a drumset, or to update your existing one
- Please note that Dave advises strongly against buying an electronic set from this point on unless you are already well-versed in handling an acoustic set and / or you're specifically doing so based on experience in digital music production. If you already own one, that's ok, and there's no need to go shopping for the moment. At some point, however, all learning drummers need to know how to extract a beautiful tone from an acoustic instrument with their touch, which is an altogether different experience from striking a rubber pad that triggers a million-dollar prerecorded sound regardless of touch.
Your equipment needs to inspire you to want to practice regularly, and you will need to ensure that you have adequate equipment to practice on regularly at home. Dave will discuss this with you prior to the commencement of lessons.
c. Recording Lessons
Students are welcome and encouraged to record lessons when possible. We have a stereo digital recorder that can be easily set up to record lessons. If you wish to have your lessons recorded, please supply your own dedicated media (such as an SDHC card) to use with the device. If you don't have a dedicated SDHC card with you on the day, we can arrange to use one of our cards and upload the file to you. This, however, takes time, and incurs an upload fee of $25.
* Recordings of lessons contain what is deemed Confidential Information. Recordings are for the sole, exclusive and private use of the student for education purposes only, and are strictly not for publication.
d. Monitoring Your Progress With the Music Practice Diary
Each term, you will be issued your own Music Practice Diary in which Dave will write all of your lesson notes, and you should log your daily practice. These cost $20 each (inc. GST) for students per term.
e. Access to Student & Parent Portal
The Student & Parent Portal is accessible at all times to all active students and parents. Access to the Student & Parent Portal may be closed immediately following the student's final lesson or following notice of discontinuation, whichever is later.
f. Sitting In
Parents may not sit in on lessons. Dave keeps accurate and detailed notes that are emailed to students and parents after the conclusion of each lesson when necessary. All relevant information including special requests and recommendations are included therein. Dave also has current WWCC clearance, and is trained in CPR.
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5. Additional Terms & Requirements for Zoom Lessons
a. Payment & Booking Confirmation
An invoice will be issued once an agreement has been made to proceed with Zoom lessons. Booking is only confirmed once payment has been made.
b. Contact
It is your responsibility to familiarise yourself with these details and to understand the process as refunds will not be issued due to a student failing to initiate the lesson.
c. Connectivity
If you find that you are experiencing any kind of connectivity and/or technical issues or difficulties at your end, send an email immediately if possible, and/or send an SMS to +61414297190. Zoom lessons missed due to unavoidable technical difficulty may be rescheduled subject to section 2. above.
d. Requirements
For your Zoom lesson to work properly, please make sure you meet the following minimum requirements:
- Download Zoom, available for free at zoom.us create an account and username
- Use only high-speed Internet connections
- Make sure your computer has a webcam installed or attached. Position your webcam high over your drums so that your hands and face can be easily seen
- Have your regular drumset, a practise pad, a metronome, a pencil, an eraser, and some manuscript paper handy
- If you are working through a particular text or set of exercises and you'd like Dave's feedback on your progress through those materials, please be prepared to send PDF copies of that material to Dave in advance of your lesson. Dave will scan and email to you all notes at the conclusion of the lesson
- Fluency in English
- The Dave Goodman Music Studio is located on the Upper North Shore in Sydney, Australia with the local timezone being GMT+10. Times are generally available between the hours of 10:00 AM and 7:00 PM, Monday to Thursday, pending availability.
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6. Additional Terms for Visiting Tertiary Students & Off-site Primary or Secondary Students
Off-site primary or secondary students for whom lessons take place on the school campus, and students enrolled at tertiary or other institutions, receiving subsidised lessons or otherwise, please refer to the schedule of fees and the signed agreement between you and your institution and abide by the terms and conditions therein in accord with the policies presented here regarding your private lessons with Dave.
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Last updated 15 Dec 2024