THE SOUND HOUSE NEWSLETTER
September 2026
I SKIPPED A MONTH
I didn’t send out a newsletter for August, and I’m not sure that anyone even noticed! That was actually the first time I skipped sending it in over two years. Because accommodating scheduling requests became a daily challenge for a while there (summer happenings), I decided to give myself a break from the monthly email.
Thankfully, we’re now settling back down into the comfort of our school year routines. I want to thank you all for doing your best to stay consistent with music studies during these summer months. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made, and I hope we can keep the momentum going into this next season.
The most recent newsletter is always available at SoundHouseVA.com/Newsletter.
CLOSED FOR LABOR DAY
Sound House will be closed on Labor Day this year. Other than that, there are no exceptions to our regularly scheduled lessons this month.
The full studio calendar is always available at SoundHouseVA.com/Calendar. I recently updated the formatting for this webpage. It takes a couple of seconds for the material to load, but it’s much easier to read on all devices.
BOOKKEEPING
Attendance: Our goal this year is to achieve a 94% attendance rate. So far, we’re on track with an average monthly attendance rate of 94.07%.
Monthly attendance rates so far this year:
January = 93.46%
February = 92.50%
March = 93.28%
April = 95.65%
May = 96.19%
June = 92.79%
July = 94.07% (111 taught of 118 scheduled)
August = 94.64% (106 taught of 112 scheduled)
Payment reminder: Please pay for all scheduled lessons at the beginning of the month. In September, there are four Mondays (three if you’re skipping Labor Day, but still four if you’re rescheduling for later in the week), four Tuesdays, five Wednesdays, four Thursdays, and two Fridays. If you think that you may have a payment carrying over from a previous month, please check your Studio Notes or send me an email requesting clarification.
Payment policy information is always available at SoundHouseVA.com/Policies and all payment methods are available at SoundHouseVA.com/Pay.
GOOD NEWS
Congratulations to voice student Adeline Nicholson for earning the role of Young Nala! All summer, she studied diligently for her Lion King Jr. audition, and her hard work has paid off. You can see her perform at Eastern View High School in Culpeper on February 19, 2027 at 6:00 p.m. and on February 20 at 2:00 p.m.
Congratulations to guitar and voice student Madelyn Reed for earning the role of Tommy! She prepared a song from Beetlejuice for her Matilda Jr. audition and earned the role of Tommy, a character who gets featured solos throughout the show. You can see her perform at Floyd T. Binns Middle School in Culpeper on November 13 at 7:00 p.m and on November 14 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Happy lessons anniversary to the following students:
Oliver – 5 years as of August 6
Anna S. – 2 years as of August 7
Addison – 4 years as of August 11
Camille – 2 years as of August 21
Maddie – 5 years as of August 25
Juliana – 1 year as of September 8
Ishy – 4 years as of September 22
I’m deeply moved whenever I think about how much time we’ve spent in each others’ lives. It’s such a joy to support you all as musicians and as friends. I sincerely appreciate your dedication to music, your trust in my guidance, and your patronage of Sound House.
EVENTS
The Remington Fall Festival is happening from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 10. I am playing a solo set at noon, and The Scoundrels (Travis, Garrett, Damian, Ashley, and I) are playing a set at 2:00 p.m. The town is expecting at least eight food vendors and eighty craft vendors. They have entertainment scheduled all day. Here’s a link to our page for the event.
The Piedmont Symphony Orchestra is inviting students in grades 2–6 to sing with the orchestra during their December concert, PSO Goes to the Christmas Movies. Students will perform “Somewhere in My Memory” from Home Alone and “Believe” from The Polar Express. They’ll also help to lead a carol sing-along in the lobby. The concert will take place on Sunday, December 6 at 3:00 p.m. in the Michael A. Hughes Center for the Arts at Highland School. Participating students will practice on their own using tracks provided by PSO. They will also attend the following rehearsals at Highland: Tuesday, December 1 at 6:30 p.m., Saturday, December 5 at 10:00 a.m., and Sunday, December 6 with a 1:30 p.m. report time. Registration is due by October 19. Each participating family will receive two discounted adult tickets, and all children ages 18 and under attend free. Here’s a link to the signup form. Direct further questions to info@psoinfo.org.
I haven’t hosted a hangout in a while. I used to host free monthly gatherings for cohorts of my students. We’d play music games, share songs with each other open mic style, practice our music skills with group jam sessions, and/or dance chaotically. More recently, when I have offered to host, I have felt like I’m just burdening over-booked families with yet another obligation. Instead of continuing to try to make it happen, I have reappropriated that time toward my own recording projects. Extra quiet time in the studio is a joy for me. This note is just to explain why there haven’t been hangouts offered in the newsletter for the past few months. Maybe we’ll try again in the future.
PRACTICE REMINDER
As a musician, you – or the music student you’re parenting – will only be as good as your practice habits. Music requires daily study and constant repetition. Start by warming up with scales and technical exercises. Then dig into whichever songs you’ve been learning, isolating and repeating trouble areas at a slower tempo before working them up to speed. Spend some time reviewing past material, seeing if you can improve upon what you accomplished before by applying new skills that you’ve learned in subsequent studies. Finally, explore your creative potential; improvise over backing tracks or make up your own songs. Whether you’re an elementary school student practicing for 20-30 minutes a day or an adult practicing for an hour, breaking your session into those four phases – warmup, study, review, and improvisation – will make the time spent practicing both more productive and more enjoyable.
Okay. That’s it for this month’s newsletter.
Your friend in music,
Maddi
🙂