Lesson Membership

You pick your schedule!  After you enroll for your season, we’ll contact you with orientation materials about three weeks before your start date. At that time you can start selecting your class times via the calendar in your online studio profile. You’ll sign up for one lesson and one Campfire Class for each of your six Song Cycles.  Here is a pretty typical Song Cycle schedule (45 minute lessons in blue, 60 minute groups in purple):

We always offer more classes than members so there are plenty of times for you to choose from, as well as options if you can’t make it in-person. 😊

Our studio is located on the Boise Bench — just off Latah near The Stil and Push & Pour.  We also offer all our classes via Zoom so you can meet us from the comfort of your own home!

Lesson Memberships are open to adults of any age, and to families with players ages 10 and up.  

Players 10-17 must be enrolled with a parent for a couple of reasons.  First and foremost, we believe music is meant to be shared.  Second, a parent willing to play, learn, and grow alongside their teen or tween creates a supportive home environment.  At our studio, we want everyone to feel free to take musical risks and celebrate the learning process, while emphasizing experiences and exploration over outcomes.  

We get it!  Performing music in front of others is right up there with public speaking for most folks.  This is why we never have recitals in our studio.  Our program is all about sharing and celebrating musical experiences — it’s not performance-based like traditional classical music education.  

We work hard to create a safe space for our studio members to play and explore at all stages of the learning process.  As both teachers and musicians, we participate in ongoing trauma-informed continuing education and implement what we learn in our teaching philosophy and studio environment.  

We don’t allow any spectators (just players) at our group classes so everyone is equally invested and never put on the spot.  Whether you’ve been with us 1 month or 10+ years (like some of our die-hard musical enthusiasts), you’ll be supported and championed for your bravery as you play music. 

If you truly don’t feel comfortable playing with a group of other learners, you’re welcome to join the livestream from home or watch the recorded class at your convenience. 

Thank you for trusting us to help guide you on your musical journey!

We’re glad you’re excited to play music and wish we could help you get started right away!  

Our song-based curriculum is cumulative, so it’s important that you start at the beginning of a season and learn along with the rest of the studio. We want you to have the best possible experience in our program and get you started on the right foot!

We book out months in advance, so it’s best to reserve your place in the next available season (dates specified above) as soon as you know you can commit.  If for some reason we happen to have an unexpected opening near the start of the current season, we’ll contact you and offer the opportunity to start sooner.

While you’re waiting to get started you can find your perfect instrument and get your music corner rockin’!

We get it — life happens!  If for some reason you can’t finish your full season we have a variety of options available for you.  The most popular option is to transfer your remaining membership to a friend or family member.  This is awesome, because now you’ll have a buddy to jam with!  You can also donate your remaining membership to our scholarship fund and share the musical love.

Buckle up — we’ve got a lot to cover! 😂 

First off, we use Song Cycles to help you learn all of the tangible musical concepts that you’d learn via traditional method books.  The difference is, learning through popular, contemporary songs is a lot more fun and motivating!  We use these songs to teach you whatever your heart desires — from strumming chords to playing melodies, or even improvising if that’s your jam!  Here’s how it all goes down…

On-Demand Tutorials 

This interactive module includes all your awesome song materials.  We’ll release it at the start of your Song Cycle so you can dive in whenever you’re ready to play.  Each song includes:

• 12 Recorded Instrument Tutorials (options for beginners and beyond)
• 6 Custom Chord Charts (options for beginners and beyond)
• 2 Play-Along Tracks with Adjustable Playback Speeds (chords/vocals & melodic riffs)
• Sheet Music Print Materials
  • Lead Sheet (chords and lyrics)
  • Melodic Riffs (2 options with full score)
  • Optional Scale for Improvisation Inspo

And quick FYI, you do NOT need to know how to read sheet music or even learn to read it to be a fantastic musician. Most folks in our program choose to only play from the lead sheet with chords and lyrics. The other options are mostly there for the overachievers (we see you, former school orchestra peeps! 😉).

One-on-One or Family Lesson 

Now that you have a preview of the studio song, let’s use it to unlock all the musical goodness you’ve been dying to learn!  

Maybe your favorite musical artist is a great finger-pickin’ guitarist.  Then let’s dive in and try some finger style playing on the studio song!  

Need some help finding a part so you can play the song with your fam at home?  We’ll walk you through it step by step.  Or better yet, bring your family to your lesson and we’ll coach your jam sesh!

Wondering how to hit that high note while you’re singing along to the studio song?  Let’s try some vocal warmups so you can sing whatever you want with natural confidence!

Group Campfire Class 

And beyond!

For our studio songs we usually learn a variety of contemporary music that’s enjoyable to play around a campfire.  This usually means something in the folk, rock, or country genre, though we’ll play anything catchy and fun!  Songs by Brandi Carlile, The Decemberists, The Beatles, The White Stripes (the more acoustic-ey ditties), The Avett Brothers, and any artist featured on the “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” soundtrack are usually studio-wide favorites.  You’re also free to explore any songs, artists, and genres that strike your fancy at your one-on-one lessons. 

Absolutely!  Thanks for sharing the musical love!  Please email us and we’ll get you all set up.

We love jammin’ in person, especially when the weather is nice!  We run a wood stove in the winter and evaporative coolers in the summer to help keep everyone comfy in our outdoor space.  

That said, sometimes it’s good to have the option to move the party online.  We generally host group classes online under the following circumstances:

• Temperatures below freezing or exceeding 100° F
• Air quality exceeds 130 AQI (high orange)
• Icy roads
• High winds

The health of our musical community is our absolute priority.  We are closely monitoring current health guidelines and are adapting our teaching practices accordingly to keep our studio safe.  We will always offer online learning options for our members both near and far.  

In-person classes are conducted with spacing and maximum ventilation.  One-on-one lessons are hosted in our Open Air Studio.  Group classes are conducted in our outdoor Community Classroom.  Masks are currently optional while community risk remains low.

Our creative adaptations have been featured nationally by Good Morning America, and locally by KTVB and the Boise Weekly.  

Or saxophone lessons? Or the trumpet, recorder, flute, etc?

We wish we could teach all the things!  Right now we’re sticking to the instruments we know best, which are listed above under “Choose Your Instrument.”  If you don’t see what you’re looking for, please shoot us an email and we’ll do our best to recommend another great instructor.