Private Music Lesson Program

The musical ensembles at Shipley are active in each division and provide a way for students of all skill levels to participate in music. To more fully enrich that experience, Shipley is pleased to offer the opportunity for on-site, private lesson instruction.

Whether just beginning, intermediate or advanced, private lessons reinforce and augment the work that students pursue in the classroom. Our private lesson faculty are highly trained, active performers and educators in their respective fields. With input from ensemble directors, our lesson faculty work to design goal-oriented outcomes that align with the students’ passions, character strengths, and learning styles.

At key points in the semester, students and instructors record their progress for reflection throughout the learning process. This work gets distilled and framed in each students’ digital portfolio so that evidence of their efforts stay with them throughout their journey.

List of 5 items.

  • How It Works

    Highly qualified professional musicians from the Philadelphia area teach in the Shipley private music lesson program. Lesson instruction is available in voice, piano, guitar, strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion. Lower School students may take lessons during their grade's Lunch/Recess hour and after school. Middle School and Upper School Lessons may take place before the school day in the Shipley Commons, during student Study Halls or i-learns, and after school. Music spaces are available for Saturday lessons dependent upon teacher schedules.

  • Lesson Arrangements

    Parents are responsible for contacting teachers and making scheduling arrangements for lessons. Please call or email the private lesson teacher of your choice to schedule your child’s day and time. A full list of instructors can be found on Shipleynet under Private Music Lessons. If you would like help in choosing a teacher, please contact the Private Lesson Program Coordinator, Austin Wagner (awagner@shipleyschool.org).

    Please be mindful of your other afternoon commitments, such as sports or club when scheduling the lesson time with the teacher. It is very important for students to keep their arranged lesson times as rescheduling becomes difficult. Credits will not be issued for skipped lessons without twenty-four hours notice.

  • Billing

    Parents will be billed by the school per semester of lessons; first semester typically has around 14 lessons weeks, and second semester has around 16. Lessons are $40 per lesson for a 30-minute lesson, $60 for 45 minutes, and $80 for an hour. If the student begins lessons in the middle of the semester, the amount billed will be prorated.

  • Minimum number of lessons

    All Shipley Private Music Lesson students must commit to a full semester of lessons ( approximately 14 for the fall, and 16 for the spring). Refunds will not be given for lessons dropped except in cases of health emergency or unexpected financial hardship. Accounts are charged at the beginning of each term for a full term of lessons, and prorated to the remaining number of weeks if joining mid-term.

  • Cancellations

    Please make every effort to cancel lessons 24 hours in advance by calling the private teacher directly. It is the student’s/parents’ responsibility to inform the private teacher of all field trips and other school schedule changes. Make-up lessons will be given at the discretion of the teacher for excused absences.
814 Yarrow Street
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

Phone: 610-525-4300
Fax: 610-525-5082
The Shipley School is a private, coeducational day school for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students, located in Bryn Mawr, PA. Through our commitment to educational excellence, we develop within each student a love of learning and a desire for compassionate participation in the world.