Jam this Summer at Sunburst!

April 7, 2022

Yes, it still feels like winter and we’ve blown through the 6 more weeks Phil promised us. The warmer months are almost here! From summer camps to family vacations, now is the time to plan for summer. We thought we’d include a little something here about what that can mean for your music practice.

With music, like so many things in life, consistency is key. So while there are a great many moving parts for families during the summer months, we’d like to start by encouraging everyone to keep up with their practice! Here’s a little bit about how our programs work over the summer:

Private Lessons

Take advantage of our flexible make up policy. You can cancel any lessons with more than 24-hour notice and have up to 30 days to schedule a make up lesson. These can even be done ahead of time, ie: cancel a lesson in July and do the make up in June, and get a little extra recital practice.

Do an “intensive”. Do you have a month where you’ll be out of town for 3 out of 4 weeks? Move all of your lessons to the one week you’re here! You can stack four 30-minute lessons into two one-hour lessons. Or, try 30 minutes each on four different instruments, including songwriting or music production. This can be a great way to dig in before some time off!

Take your lessons on the road. Can’t make it in person? Switch any number of your lessons to Zoom. It can also be a great time to learn some music theory (Here are some tips on fitting your guitar into the overhead compartment).

Attend #SummerJamz. Over the course of the summer, we’re offering a number of pickup band sessions we call #SummerJamz. Any private lesson and/or group program students can attend these for free as make ups. These are a great way to meet other musicians and get the opportunity to jam in the context of a band! (full details coming in May)

“Sublet” your lesson time. Certain 5 pm Tuesday times are more coveted than Steelers season tickets. Maybe you have a friend/sibling/parent etc. who would be interested in trying out a few weeks of lessons while you’re not around.

Request a Video Lesson. This is a new option that we’re trying out. If you can’t make it in person or over Zoom, your instructor can use the time to put together a video lesson and practice materials so you don’t skip a beat. Full details coming soon.

Donate your lesson to the scholarship fund. This is another new option this year. If you’ve got a lesson you can’t make, or make up, we can turn it into a donation to the Sunburst Music Scholarship Fund at your request. This is a great way to hold your spot and also help other kids learn music who may not otherwise have the opportunity!

Group Programs

For our Group Programs, things work more or less how they do the rest of the year. Bands that have worked hard on material throughout the spring and stick together through the summer will have a ton of great outdoor performance opportunities! It can also be a good time to work on things like songwriting and recording, which still work well even if a band member is missing from time to time.

If you’re unable to make it to any of your sessions over the course of the summer, you can attend a #SummerJamz session as a make up! #SummerJamz are pick-up band sessions where we learn songs and have fun jamming as a group (see above).

Summer Camps

Of course, the other great things happening over the summer at Sunburst are our camps! This year we’ve got seven awesome camps to choose from. Check out the full lineup and sign up here.

Performances

The summer is a great time for performances, starting with our recitals in the first weeks of June. Each year Sunburst books slots for bands and individual students at a ton of outdoor events around the city. We’ll also be hosting an Open Mic Night for everyone working hard on their material all summer. It’s the best time of year to go out and hear music, and best of all to perform and be a part of it.

If you’d like to discuss your plans for summer, get in touch with our admin team as soon as you can. We know it can be a crazy time so we really try to do our best to make it work for everyone. It’s also a busy time for new students signing up so we encourage everyone to schedule make ups, #SummerJamz, etc. sooner rather than later. Let’s make this a summer to remember!

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Sunburst News - August 2025

August 1, 2025

August- Issue #96

5 Reasons to Start Playing in a Band

July 30, 2025

As summer break comes to a close, we’re gearing up for the next term of the Sunburst Band Program and would love to see some new faces this fall. Playing in a band is one of the best ways to progress as a musician, so we put together a list of five reasons why we encourage our students to seek out opportunities to play in groups—whether it's starting a band or jamming with a couple of friends. Progress Your rhythm, timing, and listening skills improve quickly when you start playing in a band or group setting. While private lessons and solo practice are essential pieces of the puzzle, playing with others introduces new variables—like tempo changes, dynamics, and coordination—that challenge you to stay in sync with your bandmates and adapt to each other. We’ve seen so many students level up after just a couple months in the Sunburst Band Program–the progress happens fast! Friends and Connections We love watching our students and their families become friends and our band program has been a natural starting point for many of those relationships. Some of our current bands have stayed together for years, and it's awesome to see them hang out outside of lessons and support each other at shows. Plus, one of the best ways to get gigs is through connections with other musicians! Motivation Playing in a band is super motivating because you're part of a group working toward an exciting shared goal. Whether you're learning a new song, building a set list, or getting ready for a show, the process becomes more exciting and rewarding when you're making music you love with people you enjoy being around. That shared energy turns practice into something much more fun and meaningful. Performing Performing can be nerve-wracking, but it gets easier the more you do it, and being on stage with your friends makes it less scary. We love seeing how our students' stage presence and confidence grow with each performance—it’s one of our favorite parts of being teachers! As we mentioned, shows are a great place to make connections with musicians who you’d like to collaborate with in the future. Simply put, playing more shows leads to playing more shows. Creative Outlet Music is a powerful tool for expression, and it’s important to have outlets for that at any age! Life is very fast paced for many of us, and it can be tough to pause and do the things you enjoy. Band practice can be a consistent anchor in your week—something you can rely on for connection, processing, and creating with your bandmates. As corny as it sounds, playing music is good for your spirit! If you’d like to know more about the Sunburst Band Program, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us for more information. We also recommend talking with your private lessons instructor so that they’re aware and can help you prepare.