Piano Lessons with KC & Friends

KC & Friends 2023-2024 school year begins after Labor Day and goes through the end of May, 2024.  Anyone interested in joining us for the spring semester should let us know. We run sample lessons both before and after the beginning of each new semester.

KC & Friends is a comic based introduction to piano method that is taught by teachers who are trained and managed by KC Cavanagh, who has run a Bay Area-based piano studio since 2002.  If you sign up for KC & Friends lessons you will be hearing from KC directly and she will either be your teacher or she will manage your teacher, being available to you for any questions or concerns you have.  KC hires only awesome people, you’ll love your KC & Friends teacher.   Meet some of the teachers here.

We are currently accepting students from our 2023-2024 waitlist.  Historically, KC & Friends has had a waitlist for most semesters, so it is a good idea to get on the waitlist asap if you are interested and KC will be in touch to set up a sample lesson.

We teach Monday – Thursday, 2:00 pm -8pm, and some Sundays.  All lessons are private, one-on-one lessons that are held weekly.  For individual students, 45 minutes is the minimal lesson.  For siblings, we recommend either a combined 1 hour or 1 hour, 15 minutes.  Siblings do not share a lesson, they have their lessons back-to-back.

KC & Friends runs on semesters:  There is a fall semester (4 months), a spring semester (5 months), and a summer semester with more flexible options.  Commitment is by the semester.  Fall and spring semesters are a minimum of 35 lessons.

• • Fall semester is 15 weeks beginning after labor day.

• • Spring semester is 20 lessons, over 21 weeks, beginning the first week of January.

KC & Friends is closed for two weeks each year for winter/Christmas/New Years holiday and one week over President’s Day holiday.  For other holidays we will work with you to reschedule any timing conflicts.  If we cannot reschedule, we will credit you for a summer lesson.

All beginning students learn with the KC & Friends method, an illustrated comic series that creates laughter and teaches all piano fundamentals.  These books last for two to three years, depending on the student, and then they can graduate onto any music we collectively choose.  Learn more about the method.

You do not need to buy anything.  Your teacher will provide all necessary books by either mailing or personally delivering them.  The fall semester payment includes a book deposit that covers most books for students.  If you start later than September, KC will invoice you separately for the book deposit and any balance owed will be included in the final invoice for spring semester.

Our expectations for success are easy.  For beginning students, we encourage kids to practice for five minutes a day, four days a week.  As they progress, we increase this to ten minutes and then fifteen minutes.  We are open to tailoring practice expectations based on family expectations.

Included in your books is a paper homework tracker where students write their homework down at the end of every lesson.  Your teacher will also be writing all homework down on a google doc, so parents can always check what the homework expectation is.

Yes, we offer sample lessons.  Sample lessons will give us a chance to meet you, answer questions, and learn your first songs as we try out the first dozen pages of the beginning book.  If you have previous piano experience we will learn what you know, what you are looking for, and let you know if we are a fit. You can sign up for a lesson here.

Lessons will be a fixed amount based on your lesson length with a small allotment for a book deposit.

Piano lessons start at $285/month and the minimum duration for a lesson is 45 minutes.  For siblings, the minimum is 1 hour and they meet with the teacher individually typically for 30 minutes each.  Please see a complete breakdown of pricing here.

Our minimum commitment is for one semester.  The fall semester is four months and the spring semester is five months.  Summer lessons are optional.

KC & Friends uses a service called Bill & Pay to accept electronic payment for lessons. It offers an online portal for everyone to view all of their past invoices, pay online through their checking accounts, and set up auto-payments that will automatically pay the invoice on the due date.  If you don’t want to use that service, no problem, KC & Friends will send you an address to send a check or set up a bill pay with your bank.

We do accept payments via credit cards for monthly lessons.

Late Fees:  A late fee of $20 will be issued to families who have a balance older than 45 days. Late fees will appear on your next invoice.

Sure! In the past we have loved it when parents and grandparents learn piano with their kids (or remember what they once knew).  The books are easy for adults to learn, if they remember to practice just a tiny bit so the information makes its way from your short term memory to your long term memory.  KC & Friends books are written for kids 5-12 years old, so as long as you can jump into that mindset, we’ll teach you.  For adults you can either use a couple minutes of your child’s lesson to run through the songs with your teacher or schedule a separate lesson.  For adults we offer “one lesson at a time” option that will be scheduled outside of the normal teaching hours.

The commitment for KC & Friends lessons are by the semester.  Fall is 15 lessons and spring is 20 lessons.  That is 35 lessons. There are 38 weeks between September 6 - May 28th.  We offer one cancelation and one reschedule per semester.  If you didn't have at least 35 lessons by May 28th, we will schedule a makeup in the first two weeks of June.  If you cancel more than once a semester we are not obligated to make it up. If you reschedule more than once a semester, you might have a fee added.  If your teacher cancels, and a substitute is not available, you will be credited for that lesson.

Clarification:

Cancelation - you can not have a lesson for some week.  Sickness, etc.

Reschedule - you can not have a lesson at your regular time but we found a different time that will work for you that same week.

We do not want to teach students who do not want to learn, so there are minimal commitments to these lessons. They are:

New Students –  Please schedule a sample lesson so we can know if we are a good fit.  If you sign up for the semester and lessons are not working out in the first month, we can part ways without penalty.  After the first month, the commitment is one semester at a time.

All Students – We ask you to commit for the semester.  If that is not possible, please contact KC.  There is no flexibility March – June for ending our contract.

The contract for the semester will be sent for online signing and will include a notice about video and audio recording as well as a copyright license.

No, we are open to teaching people in other locations via Zoom.  We currently have kids from California, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Washington DC, New York, and Austria!

KC & Friends will sometimes use video & audio equipment to take photos and/or videos during lessons. This material may be used for social media, website tutorials, or any other place that KC & Friends advertises or markets their materials. Lesson times will not be interrupted for this. If you see an image of your child on our website or social media and would like it removed, please inform KC.

KC & Friends encourages all kids to write songs! It’s great! If you sign up, the contract grants KC & Friends a copyright license to use these songs royalty-free for any reason.  Mainly, kids think it’s cool when other kids play their songs. We are trying to make that happen, but need your permission to put the songs in places other kids can see them.  If you think your child’s song is the next big hit and don’t want to grant the license, please inform KC in writing.

Email kc@kcandfriends.com