The Music Discovery Newsletter

• Next Vocal Workshop this Sat. at New Beginnings — Feb. 15
• We are open on Presidents’ Day, Monday, Feb. 17
• Also on Monday, Feb. 17: Performance at Briarcliff, 11 a.m.
• Adult Salon — Tentatively Scheduled for Sat., Feb. 22 at 7 p.m.  Location TBA.

As you can see by the photos, a lot of work was done last week!  Floors were ripped out and the lower part of our walls removed (called a “flood cut”).  We have a beautiful clean slate to work with now.  Kudos to Servpro on their fast and excellent work, and much thanks to New Beginnings on their commitment to getting the work done so we can return.

The million-dollar question: When will the work be done?  Right now, I can’t give you an answer.  As soon as I know, y’all will know, promise.

In the meantime, we have created a modified schedule to get us through until the studios are once again available.  We tried to stick as closely to the regular schedule as possible, but some compromises had to be made in order to keep sibling lessons together and accomodate students who study more than one instrument.  Some of those compromises require me to travel between Caddo Mills and Greenville at certain points, which knocks out one lesson slot each time I do that.  Thank you all for being flexible while we undergo this process.  We anticipate returning to our regular Spring Schedule when the restoration is complete.

You may have already been contacted about logging in to the new portal.  If not, you’ll be hearing from either Felicia or me sometime today.  

You may be thinking, but I thought I already logged in to the new portal?  Unfortunately, we discovered during the flood reschedules that JackRabbit is not flexible enough to handle our needs, so we left JackRabbit and migrated to My Music Staff instead.  This second system is working a lot better for the way we operate.

A few features of the My Music Staff portal:

• Home: Shows how many make-up credits you have and the status and amount of your last invoice.  Right under that are the next events (lessons, recitals, workshops) you are signed up for.  Below that is “Recent News,” where I intend to copy this weekly newsletter for handy reference.
• Contact: Quick place to find our phone number, email, and number we use for Virtual Lessons only.
• Calendar: Shows everything you’re signed up for plus open lesson slots with your teacher for self-scheduling makeups.  (These slots are somewhat limited — contact us by phone/text if none of those times work for you.)
• Account & Invoices: Includes payments made since January.
• Attendance & Notes: Attendance history and any notes from your teacher.  If you think you may be owed makeups and they’re not showing on your portal, this is the place to check.  As of this week, Week 24, all students with weekly lessons should have had six lessons by the end of this week.
• News: Quick link to the most recent newsletter.

We are making February Invoices due this month on the 15th, unless you have made other arrangements with us.  On the 16th, the system will automatically add a $15 late fee, so please make sure you pay your invoice before then or contact us and get an extension.  

The one drawback of our new software is it does not integrate with our credit card processor.  When you receive your invoice, you will need to note the amount you owe and pay it via our website.  Visit texasmusicdiscovery.com and select the “pay your tuition” button in the right-hand navigation panel.  That will take you directly to a secure form directly from our processor, Authorize.net.  We do not store your credit card information; Authorize.net does.  We can only ever see the last four digits of your card number.

An easy way to avoid late fees and filling out the form is to sign up for autopay.  If you are interested in autopay, call/text Felicia at 903-385-4149, and she’ll guide you in that process. 

If you want a card set up for autopay that you’ve already used on Authorize.net, it’s a very easy process.  Just give us the last 4 digits of the card, and we can ask the processor to set it up from there.  You can also do the same thing if you want us to run your card one time for you — just call/text and give us the last 4 digits, and the card will be processed overnight.

When you make a payment via our credit card processor, be aware it will not automatically show up in your portal.  Please give us at least a day to put that into the system.  It has to be done by hand.

We also welcome checks and cash.  You may give those to your teacher.  Please put them in an envelope and label your payment with your student(s) name.

For guitar and piano students over age 6: If you find it difficult to get to your lesson, you are always welcome to have your lesson virtually instead.  

We have phased out Zoom because of issues with audio quality.  We now exclusively use FaceTime for lessons.  Don’t have an iPhone?  Not a problem!  We will send you a link to join your lesson.  We have switched to using FaceTime this week, and it has been very succesful with both iPhone and Android users.

The number you will receive your call/link from will be 903-217-7027.  Please don’t call this number for any reason other than virtual lessons.  Also, be aware your teacher may be a minute or two late calling you because they may need to connect their previous student with a parent. 

The Vocal Workshop is this Saturday, Feb. 15, at 2:00 p.m. in the sanctuary at New Beginnings in Greenville.  All vocal students are strongly encouraged to attend.  Not only are these workshops fun and educational; this is your only time to rehearse with your pianist before you perform. 

Voice students are automatically signed up to attend this workshop, and it should appear on your calendar in the portal.  If you have a friend who is interested in voice lessons, you are welcome to invite them along to participate with us.

Monday is Presidents’ Day, so we will be performing at Briarcliff, as is our tradition on one-day school holidays.  (Check your school calendar before you sign up to verify that this is a holiday for you.)  

Date: Monday, Feb. 17, 2025
Time: 11:00 a.m.  Please arrive no more than 10 minutes early.  (Guitarists will want to arrive 10 minutes early for sound check.)
Where: Briarcliff Health Center of Greenville, 4400 Walnut St, Greenville, TX 75401
Dress: Goin’ to Grandma’s
Bring: Your music, instrument and accessories (we will have an amp for guitarists)
Guests: Try to limit to 2 adults.  Adults need to supervise siblings carefully at all times. 

Please, if you feel at all sick, stay home.  This goes for performers and guests.

How to sign up: Log in to the portal from our website, select calendar, and navigate to Feb. 17.  Click on the concert at 11:00 a.m.  You will be able to register from there.

Good news!  The trophies and wristbands for January MLS testers have arrived.  You should receive them at your lessons this week if you had your test in January.

We are moving February MLS testing up a week, to Week 25, which begins on Feb. 17.

The following students are scheduled to test:

New Beginnings meets on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. for Bible Study, 10:00 a.m. for coffee and donuts, and 10:30 a.m. for worship. We are grateful for their support of Music Discovery and Kids’ Community Strings. ❤️

If you’d like more information about New Beginnings or its programs, reply to this email, and we’ll connect you with Pastor Reggie.