Jenny Case

Payment Policies:
Payment options: Cash or Check made out to Jenny Case Smith.

Spring Semester 2026 tuition:
Individual Lessons:
30 minute lesson: $432
60 minute lesson: $864

Payment Options:
PAYMENT PLAN I (full payment): Payment in full due at or before first lesson of each semester.
PAYMENT PLAN II (2 payments): One-half due at or before first lesson of each semester. Second payment due at or before the first lesson in the second half of the semester.

Returned check fee: $30

The best means by which to contact me is my e-mail address: jbasscase@gmail.com.  I do not regularly keep my phone with me during lessons, as it can be an interruption, so please do not call or text.

Weekly Lesson Policy (September thru May):
This studio runs on a semester-based system.

2025/2026 Semesters
Fall: September 8 - December 18 (no lessons Nov 25-28)
Winter: January 5 - March 26
Spring: April 6 - June 8

Enrolling in Lessons and Payment
By signing up for lessons, you're making a commitment to attend weekly sessions for the entire semester. I offer flexible payment options—just pick the one that works best for you (see above). Your payment holds your spot and guarantees the same weekly lesson time for the whole semester. Keep in mind that tuition covers the full semester, even if you know you'll miss a few lessons. This policy helps me maintain a consistent teaching schedule and provide the best learning experience for all my students.

Missed Lessons and Make-up Polic
My studio operates at full capacity, so make-up lessons are not available for missed sessions. If you miss a lesson, it's considered lost. Unexpected illness, sports activities, or other last-minute conflicts will also result in a lost lesson. Please don't attend in-person lessons if you're unwell, have a fever, or are experiencing any symptoms of illness.

Inclement Weather Policy
Lessons will not be canceled due to bad weather. Instead, we'll hold online lessons via Zoom (see "Zoom Studio Policies" below).

Cancellation Notice
As a courtesy, please notify me as soon as possible if you're unable to attend a lesson.

Upcoming Semester Notification
Before each new semester, I'll send an email with important dates and tuition information.

Semester Commitment
Once you have a weekly lesson slot, you'll remain in my schedule for future semesters as long as your payments are up to date. There's no need to re-register each semester.

Practice Recommendations
Beginners should practice at least 15 minutes per day (5 days a week), although this can vary by age and experience level. Younger students may practice for 10 minutes per day, while older beginners might need 30 minutes or more. Advanced students should expect to practice an hour or more each day. The key to progress is consistent, daily practice.

Studio Policies
These policies have been designed to encourage serious music study while allowing me to balance my roles as a performer, non-profit director, and teacher. By enrolling in my studio, you're committing to the entire semester (or the remaining portion if you join mid-semester). Your assigned lesson time is reserved for the whole semester. If you need to discontinue lessons, please notify me at least two weeks before the end of the semester via email (jbasscase@gmail.com). This policy includes changes to lesson times, as my schedule is typically full and can't accommodate time switches. If you must cancel or change your lesson time, please be aware that refunds are not available due to the reserved nature of your lesson slot.

A la Carte Lessons (June through August):
During the summer I am typically out for 4-6 weeks due to summer camps & travel, and for the rest of the summer I can be fairly flexible with scheduling.

A 24 hour cancellation notice applies, but we can schedule lessons on an “a la carte” basis.  We can schedule out the whole summer all at once, or we can just schedule one lesson at a time, whatever is most convenient for you.

JCMS In-Person Studio Policy (St Louis Park location):

Please let EVERYONE who may be bringing your student to lesson know about the following policies:

Drop off and pick up your student on time. I cannot run overtime due to late arrivals nor can I be responsible for supervising a student once the lesson has concluded.

Please note that I unlock the door 5 minutes prior to my lessons starting for the day, so please do not arrive earlier than that as the door may be locked.

Parking:  You can pull into the driveway to drop off or pick up your student, but please park behind my Subaru Forester on the gravel side of the driveway or on the street, rather than in the center of the driveway.  Do not block the driveway. 

For students under the age of 10, I do ask that parents accompany the student in and out, and attend at least the last 5 minutes of each lesson.

The studio entrance is the door located next to the garage.  Please come in (no need to knock), remove your shoes, and head down the stairs to the waiting room.

No food or drink allowed in the studio (water is ok).

Masking during lessons continues to be optional at this time, but please be cognizant of not sending a student with sniffles or a cough to in-person lessons w/o a mask (I would much prefer to do Zoom lessons in these instances).  I would also request if someone in your family is sick that the student do a Zoom lesson that day or at the very least wear a mask to their lesson. I am self-employed and do not get any PTO if I get sick and miss lessons or gigs, so I am hoping everyone will be very respectful of this request.  Thanks for understanding! (And I may still wear a mask from time to time if I have an important gig or event coming up, just fyi.) 

JCMS Zoom Studio Policy:

I will send a Zoom meeting link at the beginning of each semester, you will be able to use that link for every lesson during the semester- so keep the link handy!

Make sure the student is set up in a quiet location (no tv, siblings or pets making noise in the background) in the house.  The closer to your wi-fi router, the better the connection.

Zoom has two settings you should look into prior to the first lesson: "Original Sound" and "High Fidelity Audio Mode".  Please look into both of these, every device has a different configuration, so I won't personally be able to advise what works best on your device, but at least one of these needs to be working, otherwise Zooms tends to block out any other sound other than your voice (which means I won't be able to hear your guitar or piano very well).

If possible, use Zoom on one device and have a second device handy to use for play-along songs.  Because there is a delay between myself and the student when we're online, we won't be able to play in sync together, so I will need the student to play along with backing tracks much of the time, and this works best if you're playing the backing track on a separate device.