Frequently asked questions

Ages 8 and up. Ages 8–10 start with Junior Debut in 45-minute small-group classes; ages 11 through adult take 60-minute small-group classes in Debut and 75-minute classes in Encore. From Stage 3 · Artist, every student has a weekly 60-minute private lesson plus a group lab.

Debut and Encore (Stages 1–2) are small-group classes in our keyboard lab: 4–6 students (4 at most for Juniors), each at their own keyboard with headphones. Your group has a home teacher who teaches most classes and writes your weekly practice-video notes; about one class in four is taught by another Ovation teacher, so you know more than one of us. From Stage 3 · Artist, you get a weekly private lesson plus a group lab.

Once a week, by Sunday 8 pm, you send a 60–90 second phone video of your check piece. Within 48 hours your teacher sends back a short note: one thing that's working, one thing to fix (with the moment in the video) and your plan for the week. It's how your teacher hears you on your own every week, and it's part of the performance guarantee.

Yes. Many of our students are adults starting fresh or coming back after years away. The Returning Player edition of Book 1 is written for you.

A 61-key or 88-key keyboard is enough to start. We'll recommend one at the placement session. The Artist modules need specific gear, which we'll talk through before you choose.

That's what the Momentum track is for: one small practice task a week, with most of the practice happening in the lesson. The placement session finds the right starting point.

Our first school, Ovation Beaumont, is in west Beaumont, Monday to Saturday: weekday classes from 3:30 pm and Saturday classes from 8:30 am to 2:00 pm. We share the exact location when we schedule your placement session. A Nederland room for Mid-County families is planned later.

10–15 minutes a day, five days a week in Book 1. The guarantees ask for 11 of 12 classes and at least 10 of 12 weekly practice videos in each 12-week term. Juniors have a five-minute home plan with a grown-up.

In Stages 1–2, join another group's class that week, or follow the class video and send your practice video (one makeup per 12 classes; two for Full Score families). Private lessons: one makeup per 12 lessons with at least 24 hours' notice. Missed without notice isn't made up. If we cancel, we always reschedule.

Nobody repeats a book or fails a stage: finish the book, never start over. If the end-of-book check shows a few skills aren't secure, your child gets a catch-up block of up to 4 classes or lessons on just those skills, then retakes the check and moves up. In Stages 1–2 that happens in a group at the right point in the book, or in short private lessons if no group is there yet. For Full Score families the catch-up is free (attend 11 of 12 classes and send at least 10 of 12 weekly practice videos); monthly families continue at the normal rate. The mastery policy

Yes. We move students up by mastery, not the calendar: pass the end-of-book check early and move on, even to the next stage. You can also add a private lesson alongside your class at the enrolled-student rate of $65 (45 minutes) or $85 (60 minutes).

Yes. Every program names chords by number, and the Worship Keys Lab and the Worship Keys module in Stage 3 · Artist go deep on church playing.

Yes. Debut is $239 a month for three months per 12-week term (two terms), Junior Debut $159 a month for three months, Encore $219 a month for nine months, and Junior Encore $199 a month for nine months. Paying in full saves $70, $40, $174 and $144, and makes you a Full Score family. All prices

A family who pays any stage program in full: Debut, Junior Debut, Encore, Junior Encore, Artist or Specialist. Paying through Affirm or Klarna at enrollment counts. Full Score families get the mastery guarantee, priority placement, a rate lock and a stage-up credit for the next stage, two makeups per 12 lessons, a 60-day pause, a free family group-lab seat, and the full recital film and photos. See all seven

You've played a full song on stage, and Term 2 of Debut begins: Book 1 runs 24 weeks and ends with your own program at the week-24 showcase. Then move up to Encore at your locked rate, or stop. You sign up one term at a time; there's no long-term contract.

Debut has two promises. The 90-Day Promise: Attend 11 of 12 classes and send at least 10 of 12 weekly practice videos in Term 1. If you can't perform a full song at the Term 1 showcase, we add free lessons until you can. The Debut Promise: Do the same in Term 2. If you can't perform your Debut program at the week-24 showcase, we add free lessons until you can. Junior Debut works the same way over its 12 weeks.

Yes: 10% off tuition for a second sibling, applied at placement.

Yes, Ovation books and the Technique book are included in tuition. From Stage 3, families buy Hanon and Czerny editions (about $10–20 each) or use free public-domain prints.

Stage 3 is Artist (classical core plus modules), then Stage 4, Specialist, with three paths. Stage 5 is the Ovation Fellowship for ages 15–18 or the Artist Certificate for 15 and up, both run by The Randle Institute of Music, a nonprofit. Students who finish Specialist before 15 join the Young Artist Division. These stages open as our first students get there: see the road ahead.

Because students grow at different speeds. You move up when you master the book: finish early and you move up early; need longer and you keep going in the same book. The time frames we give are targets, not deadlines.

Yes. When it opens, it will be fully funded: tuition is waived both years, Fellows receive a stipend ($1,500, then $3,000), and they're paid to teach and perform.

It prepares students to audition at benchmark schools such as UNT, Texas State, Lamar, Berklee and Juilliard. It is not a degree and carries no college credit, and admission decisions belong to the schools.

Church keys players of any level can start now with the Worship Keys Lab, six weeks of playing for a church band. A full Church Keys Partnership, training up to three of your players, comes in a later phase.

Not the gifts and sponsorships on our Support page. They go to Ovation Music Co., a for-profit school, so they aren't tax-deductible (for a business, a sponsorship may count as advertising). Named Fellowships and scholarship gifts go to The Randle Institute of Music, a nonprofit, and become tax-deductible once its 501(c)(3) status or a fiscal sponsor is in place.

Only with written permission from a parent, or from the student if they're an adult.