My Guarantee

(or, what I mean when I say "Results Guaranteed Or Your Money Back")

I make reference to this guarantee in several places on this site. The official version is in paper format but here it is in a nutshell.

The guarantee applies ONLY to my one-on-one private students, both in the studio and mobile. It DOES NOT apply to group instruction of any sort.

None of the paragraphs in this page or document are "severable" in the sense that we can hold each other to one or two points we like while letting the rest slide. You either take the entire deal, or you take none of it.

I'm willing to teach in a low-stress group setting without a results guarantee (such as for a music appreciation or music exposure class for very young children) but I'm not willing to teach without the guarantee in an individual private lesson.

How We Work Together

Your progress on the guitar is going to be like driving a car. I provide the steering to make sure you don't go off the road, and you provide the engine power. The more effort and enthusiasm you put into the guitar and the more good quality practice you do, the more power you give to your engine and the faster you go. So if you want to roll along slowly and enjoy the scenery in a low-stress way, I'm OK with that. If you want to bring the hammer down and try to set a new land speed record for how quickly you can go from 0 to pro, that's OK too. So is anything in between.

Your duty as a student is to keep those wheels turning and the engine running. This means you practice exactly what I tell you to practice, in the way I tell you to do it, for at least 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week. This must be in addition to any playing you do for fun and any fooling around you do on the guitar. By all means play for fun and fool around as much as you want. Just please don't confuse that with correct practice.

You Do Your Part, I Do Mine

At the end of every month, we measure the progress you've made over the last month and compare it to the amount of time and effort you've put in (assuming you've kept track of your time). If you've held up your end of the deal for that month in terms of your practice, my end of the deal is that you'll be making noticeable progress. It won't always be progress at the same rate because everyone has trouble or hits a wall sometimes, but progress will exist. For any given month, if you haven't learned any new things or made progress in any aspect of your playing despite having made a good faith effort, I will refund your lesson fees and taxes for that month, because obviously I haven't been working hard enough. If it happens a second month in a row, you may be one of those very rare people whose chronic tension, learning disability, or physical injuries are so bad that I can't help you. At that point I will refer you to one of my own teachers and suspend any further effort to teach you myself. If I truly can't help you, it's unethical of me to waste your time.

I measure progress in both quantitative and qualitative ways, and encourage you to do the same.

Cause And Effect

Mostly your rate of progress will depend on the amount of time and effort you put into practice, your ability to understand and follow directions, and your personal aptitude for learning and for music. Not everyone will progress at the same rate even given identical lessons and the same amount of practice. There is such thing as aptitude or "natural talent" that allows one person to benefit more than another from a single hour of practice. Yet luckily "natural talent" is not a prerequisite for learning how to play the guitar, any more than it's a prerequisite for learning how to add.

Children learn best if their parents are involved in the process. I like for each parent to know what correct practice sounds like, and to be involved in tracking and measuring their children's progress. How involved each parent wants to be is up to the parent.

What I'm Not Promising

I'm not promising results without effort and practice on your part. Nor am I promising instant results. Anyone who does is generally dishonest.

I'm not promising to refund your lesson fees if you decide not to practice or not to show up for lessons. I'm also not promising to refund lessons if you simply decide you'd rather not study the guitar any more.

If you're not practicing the way I tell you to practice, if you're not putting in the time and effort, if you're not coming to lessons regularly or being prepared to learn, and if you're not taking your own progress seriously, then I can't cause you to make progress. It's just not possible for me to practice for you, any more than I could exercise for you. So if you aren't holding up your end of the deal, I'm not going to be capable of holding up mine.

There is such a thing as over-scheduling. If it turns out that you really can't put the practice time in, there's no point in continuing lessons with me, and you should probably stop until you've got the available space in your schedule. I have no problem with that and will not take offense. Many of my students drop out to participate in school sports or extended vacations, then they drop back in when they have the time. I can't guarantee your old time slot will be available, but if you come back I'll definitely fit you in.

I reserve the right to call a halt to lessons at the end of any month if you're repeatedly having trouble finding practice time or are losing interest in the guitar. It's not ethical of me to keep taking your money if you can't benefit from what I teach you.

The Book

For students who accept a copy of "The Principles Of Correct Practice For Guitar" in exchange for a three-month commitment, if you choose to end the agreement before the three-month period is up, you must pay for the book ($30 value) or else pay for the remainder of three months' worth of lessons (whichever is less). If I have to end the agreement from my end due to illness or some similar reason, the book is yours to keep at no cost. After three months of lessons with me, the book is yours to keep at no cost, no matter what.

All my students must have this book by their second lesson. If you'd rather not do a three-month commitment, you can buy the book from me at my cost, and save shipping and handling. From time to time Jamie puts things on sale, so if the timing is right you might be able to get an even better deal even with the shipping factored in. You can find out here: Buy "The Principles" From Jamie's Store. Feel free to check used book Web sites as well.

Besides "The Principles" you will occasionally need to buy sheet music or a method book once you get beyond the rudiments. Exactly what kind of music or method book you buy depends on the style you want to study. I'll make recommendations but I don't force anyone to commit to a style they dislike. I'm also not a huge fan of buying lots of books that end up on the shelf.