Terms of Service

Think in Music offers private, one-to-one piano lessons of sixty minutes, taught at the student's home. There is no studio or other premises to attend. Students on The Think in Music Program also take part in a weekly small-group harmony class held online over Google Meet, a third-party service with its own terms.

Lessons are taught in Burlingame, Hillsborough, San Mateo and Millbrae. The teacher travels to the address on your account; if you move outside the area we may no longer be able to teach you, and will say so rather than let bookings fail.

Lessons are for children from age 8, teens and adults. A student needs an acoustic piano or a digital piano with 88 weighted keys at home.

This website lets you request a free trial lesson and, once you are a student, view the schedule, book and cancel lessons, and manage your account. An account with accurate contact details and an accurate lesson address is required to book.

• Lessons can be booked online until 12 hours before their start time, within the published schedule window. The cutoff exists because the teacher travels between lessons and cannot accept a booking at short notice.
• Cancelling 24 hours or more before the lesson starts: the lesson is rescheduled — your lesson credit is returned to your account to book another time, and nothing is owed for bookings not yet paid.
• Cancelling less than 24 hours before the start (late cancellation): the lesson is treated as taught — the credit remains consumed and unpaid amounts remain due. A lesson given up at short notice cannot be filled by anyone else.
• If the teacher cancels a lesson, every affected booking is made whole automatically — card payments refunded, credits returned, unpaid amounts cleared — and you are notified by email.
• For in-home lessons, please make sure someone is there to open the door. If the teacher arrives at the agreed time and cannot be let in, the lesson counts as taught.

Prices are published on this website and shown before you confirm. Payment can be made by:

• Card — processed securely by Stripe at the time of booking.
• Venmo, Zelle, or cash — your booking is confirmed immediately with payment due; please pay promptly using the instructions in your confirmation. These payments are recorded manually and we may follow up on outstanding amounts.
• Lesson credits — from your monthly tuition, consumed at booking and subject to the terms below.

Prices are fixed when you book: later price changes never affect an existing booking.

The Think in Music Program and Private Lessons are paid monthly, in advance, and give you four lesson credits for that month; in a month with five weeks the fifth week is a pause or a make-up. There is no contract: you pay month by month and may stop at any time, and a month already paid is not refunded except where the teacher cancels lessons he cannot make up. Credits are personal to one student's account, have no cash value, and are not transferable or redeemable for cash. Unused credits expire at the end of the period stated at purchase, so please book within it.

Founding students — the first fifteen students enrolled — keep their monthly tuition rate for the first year of lessons. Prices otherwise may change for future months only, with notice.

Single lessons are paid per lesson and carry no monthly commitment; students on monthly tuition have priority over single-lesson students when times are scarce.

New students may request one free thirty-minute trial lesson at their home. A request is not a booking until the teacher confirms it by email; he may decline a request, for example for an address outside the service area or a home with no suitable instrument, and will say so. The trial lesson carries no obligation on either side.

Before the first lesson the account holder must sign our lesson policy agreement, which is a separate document presented in your account. It covers cancellation and lateness, payment, and — where the student is a minor — the consent of the parent or guardian who holds the account. Nothing in these terms limits or replaces the terms of that agreement.

• Keep your account details accurate and your password confidential; you are responsible for activity under your account. For in-home lessons, keep the lesson address and any access notes up to date.
• Book only for the student or students on your own account. Where the student is a minor, the account holder must be their parent or guardian.
• Provide a safe, reasonably quiet place for an in-home lesson, and — where the student is a minor — an adult present in the home.
• We may decline or cancel bookings, or suspend accounts, in cases of abuse, repeated no-shows, or non-payment.

We may update the schedule, offerings, prices (for future bookings only), and these terms. If these terms change materially, we will update the effective date above and give notice on this site. Continuing to use the service after a change means you accept the updated terms.

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in California.

Questions about these terms? Contact Think in Music at ado@thinkinmusic.com or (650) 315-0834.