Basic Class Info

These are answers to some of the questions newer members of the Academy often have about how the classes work. If this doesn’t answer your question, please use the”Ask a Question” link in the sidebar to ask, and please use the URL of this page so we can add the answer to your question to this page for others who may have the same question. Thank you! DHC

How do I REGISTER for a class?

Once you’re registered for the Academy, you’re registered for ALL classes in the “Full” level of the Academy.
If you’re not registered for the Academy yet, you can do that here.
If you’re registered for a single class, you should be able to access that class from your dashboard – the icon for that class should be ‘red’ (and all the ones you don’t have access to should be dark grey)

When does my class START?

Almost all the classes are already open 24/7 for self-paced learning, because – unless we’re currently building a class (i.e. when it’s in “BETA”), the basic class trainings for most classes are already pre-recorded. That means you CAN usually start any time.

However …

I (DHC) also guide many of the larger classes – usually once a year for each class – sometimes twice a year and sometimes every-other year.

When we say we’re BEGINNING or STARTING a guided class that means that the Classroom (or at least the first module) has been UPDATED – meaning, we’ve removed homework and project displays from previous years and made any edits or updates to the trainings that we’ve planned.

It also means that I’ll be GUIDING that class.

What’s a ‘guided’ class?

When we START a guided class it means that

Everyone who wants to in the Academy will be going through the class on the same schedule, and I’ll be answering questions about that particular class in chats and, to some extent, on Facebook.
Each weekly chat will focus on answering questions and/or giving coaching on that particular module of that class. People who can’t make it to the chats can send questions in advance (via the “Ask a Question” form) and I’ll answer their question in the chat.
If there’s homework associated with the class, we’ll start accepting it each week, and there will be a deadline to submit it.
There’s also usually a PROJECT associate with each class, so there’s usually a deadline for the “Half-Baked” version of the project (your early draft that you can often get my feedback on) and the “Final-Beginning” project: your ‘completed’ version

When does each module of the Class open?

“Officially” each module of the class ‘opens’ on Tuesday at Noon EST. That’s the time by which I should updated the module and when you should get an email each week linking you to the next module of the class. Realistically that email doesn’t always go out exactly when I want it to – and, in reality, the classroom is generally open ti students – so they could go through it at their own pace any time.

When is the LIVE part of a class?

Classes (and each module of each class) usually ‘opens’ at Noon ET on Tuesdays. All the basic trainings for each class are prerecorded (except when a class is in Beta and we’re building it) so you can access them 24/7. In reality, you can usually access all modules of a class before they ‘open’ – but you may be seeing things that will be edited later. “Opening” just means that I’ve looked through it and made the edits I want to make for this year.
The LIVE CHAT associated with each module is held on the FOLLOWING Monday, so that you can ask questions about anything you learned, and so we can go over people’s homework – which is often the most fun and
If you’re registered for a single class, you may have access to the Academy chats and the Academy Facebook Page while that class is being guided, depending on what class it is. For example, if you’re registered for “Hands on Harmony”, “Sing & Play Harp” or “One Song: The Nightingale” you won’t have access to the Chats – but if you’re registered for “Blues Harp-Style”, “Strings of Passion”, “Hip Harp Toolkit”, “Jazz for Harps” or the other major multi-week classes you should have access to the chats.

What does it mean when a class is in ‘BETA’?

That means I’m still building the class, still developing the curriculum. It usually means students will have the option to take part in the LIVE filming of the videos that will eventually be edited down into the class trainings.