Cary School of Music, Cary | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

I recently finished a semester of taking voice lessons at this school. I had a great experience with one of their teachers, and I’d like to address an earlier review from Lily:

“…but when my work schedule became more intense and I couldn’t make my lessons, Cary School of Music charged me anyway. They will not refund the money and will continue taking drafts out of my account until the end of the semester. That means over $500 in charges for no lessons at all. This school is not understanding that things come up in life…”

I completely disagree with this review! Note that the school’s policy of requiring students to commit to their set time schedule of lessons *in advance* was communicated clearly up front. You do not have to sign their agreement and provide bank details if you don’t like that policy and can’t see yourself committing to it steadfastly. This is a fair policy that respects the teacher’s time commitment. Teachers are not automatons, like vending machines dispensing a product. They are human beings with a skillset that is in demand by many in the community. They commit to the same exact schedule that the student commits to – in advance. If the student can’t make their slot(s), the teacher would not be paid if the student expected a refund for their missed lesson. That is simply not fair and, furthermore, the teacher *could* have had a different, more reliable student agree to that same time slot up front, which would have guaranteed that teacher the set income that they have an expectation to rely upon, as any skilled professional would for their valuable time. Furthermore, the school itself has upkeep/admin costs and have a right to expect that the slots of time for the use of their building and resources are paid for by all students, whether they can attend at the times they agreed to or not. When a student can’t attend, that revenue would be lost unexpectedly if there were an expectation of a refund – and again, that revenue *could* have been guaranteed had a more reliable student committed to those same slots of time.

I highly recommend this music school and I completely endorse their payment policy, mainly for the sake of the teachers who are their most valuable resource.

Speaking from painful experience, regarding specifically strings lessons, do yourself a favor and keep looking elsewhere!! This is not the place for you, if you want your child to develop in any meaningful/timely way, I couldn’t believe the difference we noticed for our daughter till she switched to another place. The amount of advancement she made in the brief time she has been with the new teacher compared to this place/teacher is day and night. I feel like we got cheated on the precious time to develop with our daughter (while young). When you have another teacher to compare to, is when you realize the string teacher a this place was literally wasting 5-15 minutes of your child’s class time every single time with superfluous things (like filling out his notebook etc). The amount of solid, quality teaching we are getting now as opposed to the lackluster, at a snail pace she got from this place is remarkable COMPARE COMPARE COMPARE is all i can say, don’t waste your child’s valuable years at this place!