
Piano lessons with award-winning concert pianists
ILIA and VELLY TOSHEFF
Performed in Europe, Asia, and the U.S.
ONLINE LESSONS
We are happy to offer Skype piano lessons, FaceTime piano lessons and live video lessons
on other video calling platforms such as WhatsApp, Viber and KakaoTalk.
For our online piano lessons, we are only accepting students who have 1+ years of piano playing
experience. Brand new beginners absolutely need a hands-on in-person instructor to help them
to get started.
We are also only accepting students 9-10 years old and over. Online lessons demand an even
higher level of concentration than in-person lessons. If you fall asleep or throw a tantrum
on the other end, there's not much we can do from behind a computer screen.
For students under 18, it is advisable that a parent(s) is present at the beginning/end of the lesson
for the first couple of lessons. After that, their presence is not required every lesson, though
I would love to see and chat with you guys every now and then. This is because we need to work
together to gauge how lessons are going and work out scheduling. My most successful students
are ones whose parents work very closely with us.
We teach 20-minute, 30-, 40-, 50-, and 1-hour lessons. However, scheduling these lessons can be
flexible. If necessary, those could be scheduled every other week, although, most of our students
seem to reap the most benefits out of weekly lessons. Usually 1-hr (or50min) lessons are best
suited for adults and teenagers, and 40-min or 50-min for younger students. The 20-min and
30-min lengths are popular with students, who would like to just consult/ask specific
questions or quickly polish a piece. A la carte lessons are also available based on need/per request.
Those are usually scheduled at times of a lower demand (usually non after-school hours and non
after-work hours for the adult students.
Prior to the start of the lesson, you will need to email us a photo or a pdf of the sheet music of each
piece or song we are going to work on during that class. This does not apply to lessons where we
are helping you learn a song which we are picking up by ear for you where no sheet music is
necessary. On your Skype or FaceTime screen, you will be able to see, both, your teachers face and
theirs hands and keyboard as we constantly switch between the two.
Prices and rules are subject to change. We reserve the right to decline teaching prospective
students and discontinue lessons with current students.
IMPORTANT: You must be 18 or older to contact us directly about lessons. If you are under 18,
show our site to your parents, and if they are interested in having you do a trial for lessons,
they can contact us using their email address.
How payment works:
We will email you an invoice/Request through Venmo or PayPal, usually charging a month at a time, unless this is a trial or we have agreed to do a la carte lessons or pay as you go.
Contact us at pianoduo@yahoo.com for pricing and payment options.
IMPORTANT: We must receive the fee first before we start lessons, to ensure that both of us are committed to make the lessons happen. Lessons will not begin until the fee has been processed.
There are no refunds.
And a few more rules:
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It is up to the student to call us at a scheduled lesson hour.
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If you do not call at a scheduled lesson hour, that hour is forfeit and will not be credited back to you.
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We will only teach during the scheduled hour and will charge a full lesson hour for that time slot, regardless of when you call during that hour. For example, if we schedule a one-hour lesson at 11:00am, and you call at 11:30am, we will only teach until 12:00pm and still charge a full lesson hour. On the flip side, if on our side we get carried away with teaching you and go overtime by a few minutes, you won't be charged for those extra minutes.
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If a change in scheduling is needed, we require a 24-hour notice. If a change is made within those 24 hours, that lesson hour is forfeit and will not be credited back to you. The new scheduled hour will count as another lesson hour.
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In the case of an emergency, call or email us as soon as you can to let me know. That lesson hour will be done at a different day/time.
Tip: You are absolutely welcome to send us quick emails 24 hours before a scheduled lesson to confirm that a lesson is on.
ONE-TIME TRIAL LESSON for $10
Because online lessons are still relatively new, we are offering one-time
1-hour trial lessons at half the rate of our regular rates! Click on Rates
to see our current rates.
If after the trial lesson, you don't feel that online lessons are for you, then
no other tuition fee is owed and no hard feelings! If you do want to continue,
then we will continue with our monthly payments.
We must receive the trial lesson fee before we start the trial lesson.
A trial lesson will not be given until the fee has been processed. Just as
a fair warning, sometimes processing fees may take a couple of days,
though usually the processing time is very quick.
There are no refunds.
Similar to the regular monthly tuition, a few more rules:
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It is up to the student to call us at the scheduled trial lesson hour.
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If you do not call during your trial lesson, that trial lesson hour is forfeit and will not be credited back to you. You will not have another trial lesson. It's really only a one-time deal.
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We will only teach the trial lesson during the scheduled hour and will charge for the entirety of that scheduled hour, regardless of when you call during that hour. If on our end we go overtime for a few minutes, you will not be charged for those extra minutes.
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If you need to reschedule your trial lesson, we require a 24-hour notice. Otherwise, the trial lesson is forfeit and will not be credited back to you. You will not have another trial lesson.
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In the case of an emergency, call or email us as soon as you can to let me know. You must reschedule your trial lesson. There are no refunds.
Note: Only one one-time trial lesson per student. A one-time trial lesson is not required
for all prospective students. We are offering it for those of you who want to try out online
lessons but do not want to commit to lessons right away.
Please note that video calling our account at other times than we have scheduled for
lessons is strictly prohibited and may result in immediate termination of lessons.
All lessons that were charged but not taught at that time will be forfeit and will not
be credited back to you. Your account will also be blocked from contacting our
account henceforth.


