You spend more time on lesson notes than you need to. Sonata buys that time back for you.

Record the lesson, or recap it afterward. The summary, the practice goals, and why the lesson matters are written for you — and it goes out from you, not from us.

Start with one student No credit card. Nothing to sign.

How it works

Three steps. That's the whole thing.

Record

Tap record. Teach normally. Or skip recording and narrate what you covered afterward — same result.

Summarize

In 30 seconds: a parent-facing email, refined progress notes, and the week's practice goals.

Send

One tap emails the parent, saves to the student's timeline, and a copy lands in your Google Drive.

Built for music teachers, by a teacher Your studio. Your data. Summary ready in seconds Audio is never kept Teacher-led, parent-inclusive

What the parent receives

Bring parents into the music.

Parents don't quit lessons because teachers are bad. They quit because they can't see the work — and what they can't see, they can't value.

Every note shows what was practiced, what's next, and why it matters — the socially significant skills, like attention, persistence, and self-correction, their child is building while they play.

And it does something for you.

A family that can see the work stops wondering whether it's worth it. The confidence that used to rest on a recital twice a year gets rebuilt every week — in your name, in your words, from you.

You aren't only sending a note. You're giving families a reason to keep choosing you.

FromCJ Stout · Shoreline Music Lessons

Today's lesson — easy tempo, spider fingers, and Down By The Bay

Hi Sarah,

Ava focused on finding an "easy" tempo today — getting the beat first, then repeating small phrases three times, sometimes in reverse order. We worked on curved "spider not pancake" fingers, a lighter touch when things felt tight, and smooth legato connections in the tricky spots.

We also played "Down By The Bay" with careful counting and a steady pulse, then started a new section using sticky-note "slices" — starting on B♭.

Why this matters

Ava practiced isolating one tricky slice and earning three clean repeats — building steady focus and confident self-correction.

Practice this week

Five minutes of slow "Down By The Bay" with the metronome at 60
"Spider not pancake" fingers — three clean reps of the bridge slice
Reverse-order phrase practice, three minutes

Best,
CJ

A real Sonata note. Student and family names changed.

The why layer

Every lesson holds a moment that turns practice into development.

Not "Drew worked on the C major scale today" — but a line about why that scale matters this week, what it builds toward, and how to support it at home.

From the "Three Perfect Times" lesson

Restarting the "three perfect times" loop after a mistake helps Ava practice honest self-checking and persistence.

From the "Sticky-Note Slices" lesson

Isolating one tricky slice and earning three clean repeats builds steady focus and confident self-correction.

From the "Metronome at 56" lesson

Matching her playing to the metronome beat builds sustained attention and one-to-one beat-to-finger timing.

The part that adds up — per student, per lesson.

20 min

Writing the note afterward

5 min

What the work needs

15 min

Back to you

Multiply by your roster and the weeks you teach, and buy that time back.

The archive

Every lesson, still there.

Each note stacks into a per-student timeline you can read backward, all the way to their first lesson. What they worked on in October. The week the tempo held. What you promised the parent in March.

It syncs to your Google Drive, so the record is yours whether or not you keep using Sonata. Recital prep, parent conferences, and the "have they improved at all?" conversation stop being a memory exercise.

Ava BergenPiano · 34 lessons on file

Aug 13Easy tempo; spider fingers; Down By The BaySent

Aug 6Composition pages; notehead claritySent

Jul 30Measure 28 troubleshootingSent

Jul 23Legato connections; sticky-note slicesSent

Jul 16Recital selection begunSent

The per-student timeline, synced to your own Drive.

Start with one student tonight.

Start with one student

← Back

Pricing

You're in as a founding user.

Sonata is in its founding period. Pricing isn't set, and you'll get plenty of notice before anything changes.
No credit card. Nothing to sign. Nothing to cancel.
Nothing is locked and no student limits. Notes and the archive work from the first minute.
You decide what to connect. Sending from your own address and syncing to your Google Drive are both optional — switch them on when you want them, leave them off if you don't.
Schools and multi-teacher studios: contact me and we'll work it out directly.

← Back

Questions teachers ask

You record lessons with children?

Only with consent, and I give you the script to get it — a parent letter and a thirty-second verbal version you can use at the start of a term. If a family isn't comfortable being recorded, you can dictate your own summary and produce the same note without capturing student audio.

Is the audio kept?

No. Audio is transcribed and then deleted from Sonata's servers immediately. It is never stored.

Who owns my notes?

You do. They're yours, and if you choose, they sync to your own Google Drive.

Do I have to replace my studio manager?

No. Keep your studio manager. Sonata replaces your lesson notes. It doesn't do scheduling, invoicing, or attendance, and it isn't trying to.

Does the email come from me, and does it sound like me?

You choose. Sonata can send it for you out of the box, or in one click you can connect your Gmail or your own SMTP so it goes from your address instead — your name on it, replies coming back to you. Parents hear from their child's teacher, not from a software company with its own sign-up link in the footer.

And it sounds like the lesson, because it came from the lesson. You taught it, the summary is a faithful record of it, and Sonata just finished it for you. You read every note before it goes, and nothing sends without you.

Who built this?

I did. I'm CJ — I've taught guitar and piano in Seattle for almost a decade and I run my own studio, about forty students between weekday afternoons and weekends.

I love teaching. I do not love the hour after a lesson. After six years of staying up late to write notes I'd half-forget by morning, I built Sonata. Because I needed it.

I'm sharing it because I think you might need it too. Email me at cj@usesonata.com — it comes straight to me, and I read everything.

What's doing the writing?

Sonata uses AI to turn the recording into a transcript and the transcript into a draft note, using a prompt I wrote myself and refined over months of testing in my own studio. It's a drafting tool, not a decision-maker: nothing sends until you read it and press send, and your lessons are never used to train anybody's model.

The full detail — every step, every third party, and what they're held to — is in the privacy policy, in plain English.

← Back

Have questions? Let's talk.

The fastest way to start is just to start — sign in, add one student, and record your next lesson. It takes a few minutes and you don't need me for it.

But if you'd rather talk it through first, put twenty minutes on my calendar. I'll sit with you while we set up your first student — in person if you're local to Seattle, on a call if you're not. No cost, no card, nothing to sign.

Book a time

Nothing to prepare. Bring one student you teach regularly and we'll do the rest together.

Or just email me

cj@usesonata.com

It comes straight to me, and I read everything. If you run a school or a multi-teacher studio, tell me how many teachers and what you're using today, and I'll tell you honestly whether Sonata is ready for you.

← Back

Privacy Policy

Sonata — a product of North Seattle Music Lessons LLC · Last updated: July 19, 2026

Sonata helps independent music teachers turn their lessons into clear summary emails for parents. This policy explains, in plain English, what data Sonata handles, where it goes, how long it stays, and the choices you have. We lead with this because privacy is the product, not a footnote to it.

If you have any question this page doesn't answer, email cj@usesonata.com and a human (the founder) will respond.

Who we are

Sonata is operated by North Seattle Music Lessons LLC, based in Washington State, United States. Throughout this policy, "Sonata," "we," "us," and "our" refer to North Seattle Music Lessons LLC. "You" refers to the teacher using Sonata.

The short version

Lesson audio is uploaded, transcribed by OpenAI, and deleted from Sonata's server immediately after the transcript comes back — within seconds.
The transcript and summary live in your account, visible only to you.
If you connect Google Drive, a copy of each summary is saved to a folder in your own Drive, under your control. Sonata uses a narrow permission that can only see files it creates.
We do not sell, share, or use your data to train AI.
You can delete your data at any time by emailing us.

What data we collect

Account information. When you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address, and basic profile information (via the openid, email, and profile permissions). We use this to create and identify your account.

Studio and student information you enter. Student names, lesson days, instruments, parent email addresses, and any notes you choose to add. You enter this; we store it so you can run your studio.

Lesson audio and transcripts. When you record a lesson (or dictate a summary), the audio is processed as described below. Transcripts and the summaries generated from them are stored in your account.

Email addresses you send to. When you send a summary to a parent, we process the recipient address you provide so the email can be delivered.

Gmail connection (optional). If you connect Gmail for sending, we store your connected Gmail address and the authorization tokens Google issues, encrypted at rest. We use these only to send the emails you choose to send.

We do not collect payment card numbers, government IDs, or any special-category data beyond what you voluntarily enter in lesson notes.

How lesson audio is handled

When you record a lesson or dictate a summary, here is the exact path:

The audio is captured in your browser and uploaded to Sonata's server.
Sonata sends the audio to OpenAI's API for transcription.
Once the transcript returns, the audio is deleted from Sonata's server immediately. It is not stored in a database or saved anywhere on our end.
The transcript and summary land in your account, visible only to you.
You decide what goes to the parent. Nothing is ever sent without your action — you press send.
If a recording fails to transcribe, Sonata gives you a one-time download link to save the audio to your own device. After you close that screen, nothing is held on our end.

About OpenAI: Under OpenAI's standard API terms, API audio and text are not used to train OpenAI's models. OpenAI may retain API inputs and outputs for up to 30 days for abuse monitoring, then deletes them. This is OpenAI's standard policy across all API customers. Their full policy is published at platform.openai.com.

How we use Google services and your Google data

Sonata's use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Sign-in (openid, email, profile). Used solely to authenticate you and create your account. We do not use this for advertising or share it with third parties.

Google Drive (drive.file). If you choose to connect Google Drive, Sonata requests the drive.file permission. This is a narrow, per-file scope: Sonata can only see and manage the files and folders it creates — a "Lesson Archives" folder and the lesson summary documents it saves there. Sonata cannot see, read, or access any other file in your Google Drive. Connecting Drive is entirely optional.

Gmail sending (gmail.send). If you choose to connect Gmail, Sonata requests the gmail.send permission so the lesson-summary emails you write can be sent from your own Gmail address — so parents see the email coming from you, not from a stranger's server. This permission is send-only: Sonata cannot read, see, or access your inbox, your contacts, or any existing message. It is used for exactly one thing — delivering an email after you press send — and nothing is ever sent without your action. Connecting Gmail is entirely optional; teachers can use their own SMTP settings instead.

What we do with Google data: We use it only to provide Sonata's features to you (signing you in, sending the emails you write, and saving lesson summaries to your Drive folder if you connect it). We do not use Google user data for advertising, we do not sell it, we do not transfer it to third parties except as needed to provide the service or as required by law, and we do not use it to train AI or machine-learning models.

Disconnecting and revoking. You can disconnect Google Drive or Gmail from Sonata's Settings at any time. When you disconnect, Sonata revokes its access on Google's side and clears the stored authorization from our database. You can also review and revoke Sonata's access directly at myaccount.google.com/permissions.

How your data is stored and protected

Google authorization tokens are encrypted at rest using industry-standard AES-256-GCM encryption. Your data is stored on managed cloud infrastructure (database and hosting providers) under their security controls. Lesson audio is never stored — it is deleted immediately after transcription as described above.

Who can see your data

Role	Can see
You (the teacher)	Every lesson you've recorded — transcript, summary, notes. You can edit, delete, or re-send anything.
The parent	Only the summary email you choose to send. Optionally, if you grant it per family, a Google Drive folder of summaries.
The student	Whatever you choose to share. Students do not have logins by default.
The founder (CJ)	Technical access to the database to operate the product (bug fixes, support). We do not read your summaries as routine practice.
Anyone else	Nothing. No advertisers, no data brokers, no partners.

What we don't do

We don't sell your data. Sonata is a tool, not a data business.
We don't share lesson content with anyone outside the parent emails you choose to send.
We don't train AI on your lessons — not OpenAI's models, not anyone's.
Sonata never sends an email you didn't initiate. You press send. Always.

How long we keep things

Data	Retention
Audio on Sonata's server	Deleted immediately after transcription
Audio at OpenAI	Up to 30 days for abuse monitoring, then deleted (OpenAI's policy)
Transcripts and summaries	Kept while your account is active
Google Drive copy	Lives in your Drive folder, under your control
If you delete your account	All Sonata-side data removed within 30 days

To delete your data at any time, email cj@usesonata.com. It comes to the founder, who will confirm and delete it personally.

A note about minor students

Most music students are under 18, which makes lesson audio sensitive. Sonata is a tool used by the teacher; the teacher is responsible for obtaining consent from families before recording. Sonata provides language teachers can use to ask families for permission, and recording is always optional — a dictation mode produces the same summaries without capturing a full lesson. Teachers are responsible for complying with the recording-consent and student-privacy laws that apply in their location.

If you are a parent with questions about how your child's teacher uses Sonata, start with the teacher, or email cj@usesonata.com.

Your rights and choices

Access and correction: You can view and edit your studio and lesson data in the app at any time.
Deletion: Email cj@usesonata.com to delete your account and associated data.
Disconnect Google: Disconnect Drive or Gmail in Settings, or revoke access at myaccount.google.com/permissions.
Email: You control which parent emails are sent; Sonata never sends without your action.

Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this policy, we will update the "Last updated" date above and, where appropriate, notify you. Continued use of Sonata after changes means you accept the updated policy.

Contact

North Seattle Music Lessons LLC
Email: cj@usesonata.com
Web: usesonata.com

Sonata is built by a music teacher, for music teachers. If something here isn't clear, ask. We'd rather over-explain than leave you guessing.

← Back

Terms of Service

Sonata — a product of North Seattle Music Lessons LLC · Last updated: May 30, 2026

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are an agreement between you and North Seattle Music Lessons LLC ("Sonata," "we," "us," or "our") governing your use of the Sonata application and website at usesonata.com (the "Service"). By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you don't agree, please don't use the Service.

We've written these in plain English. If anything is unclear, email cj@usesonata.com.

1. What Sonata does

Sonata helps independent music teachers record or dictate lessons, generate summaries, and send those summaries to parents. The Service is provided to you as a tool to run your teaching studio.

2. Your account

You need a Google account to sign in. You're responsible for keeping your account secure and for the activity that happens under it. You must be at least 18 years old to create an account and use the Service as a teacher.

3. Your responsibilities

You agree to use Sonata lawfully and responsibly. In particular:

Consent to record. You are responsible for obtaining consent from your students and their families (especially for minors) before recording lessons, and for complying with the recording-consent and privacy laws that apply where you live and teach. Sonata provides optional language to help you ask for consent, and a dictation mode that does not record the lesson, but the responsibility for consent is yours.
Accurate information. You're responsible for the student, parent, and lesson information you enter, and for what you choose to send to parents.
No misuse. You won't use the Service to break the law, infringe others' rights, send spam, or attempt to disrupt or reverse-engineer the Service.

4. Your content

You keep all rights to the content you create and store in Sonata — your lesson notes, transcripts, summaries, and student information ("Your Content"). You grant us only the limited permission needed to operate the Service for you: to store, process, transcribe (via OpenAI), and display Your Content so the Service works. We don't sell Your Content, share it outside the emails you send, or use it to train AI models. See our Privacy Policy for the full data story.

5. Third-party services

Sonata relies on third-party providers, including Google (sign-in, optional Drive storage, and optional Gmail sending) and OpenAI (transcription and summary generation). Your use of those features is also subject to those providers' terms. We are not responsible for the acts or omissions of third-party providers.

6. Service availability and changes

Sonata is offered as-is and is actively being developed. We may add, change, or remove features, and we may experience downtime. We'll make reasonable efforts to keep the Service running and to protect your data, but we don't guarantee uninterrupted or error-free service.

7. Fees

The Service may be offered free of charge or under a paid plan. If paid plans apply to you, the pricing and billing terms will be presented to you before you're charged, and you can cancel in accordance with those terms. Current beta access may be free; we'll give reasonable notice before introducing charges to your account.

8. Termination

You can stop using Sonata and delete your account at any time by emailing cj@usesonata.com. We may suspend or terminate your access if you violate these Terms or use the Service in a way that creates risk or harm. On termination, we'll handle your data in accordance with the Privacy Policy.

9. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

We don't warrant that summaries or transcripts will be accurate or complete — you review and decide what to send.

10. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, North Seattle Music Lessons LLC will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, profits, or goodwill, arising from your use of the Service. Our total liability for any claim relating to the Service will not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim, or (b) one hundred U.S. dollars ($100).

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless North Seattle Music Lessons LLC from claims arising out of your use of the Service, your content, or your violation of these Terms or of any law — including any claim relating to consent to record lessons.

12. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Washington, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Washington, and you consent to their jurisdiction.

13. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we'll update the "Last updated" date above and, where appropriate, notify you. Continued use of the Service after changes means you accept the updated Terms.

14. Contact

North Seattle Music Lessons LLC
Email: cj@usesonata.com
Web: usesonata.com