Knowledge Base

Lesson Types

Octavia uses lesson types to define the lesson formats your studio offers.

Each lesson type includes:

• A name (for example, "Individual Piano — 30 min" or "Group Theory")
• A category — either individual or group
• A duration
• A default price

Every lesson type must be either an individual lesson type or a group lesson type. A single lesson type cannot be used for both.

You can create as many lesson types as your studio needs. For example, you might have:

• An individual 30-minute lesson
• An individual 60-minute lesson
• A group theory lesson
• A discounted family-rate lesson
• A senior-student rate
• An online lesson format

These are all separate lesson types.

Where You Set Up and Edit Lesson Types

Lesson types are created and managed in School Settings.

When you first set up your studio, Octavia prompts you to create lesson types during onboarding, so you will usually already have at least some in place before adding students and scheduling lessons.

You can return to School Settings at any time to:

• Add a new lesson type
• Edit an existing lesson type
• Adjust the name, duration, or price
• Add separate types for individual and group teaching

How Lesson Types Are Used

Once a lesson type exists, you assign it as part of the student's or group's lesson setup.

For individual students, the assigned lesson type becomes part of the student's lesson setup.

For groups, the assigned lesson type becomes part of the group's lesson setup.

From that point on, Octavia uses the lesson type when working with lessons:

• The duration comes from the lesson type
• The price used for billing comes from the lesson type
• Only individual lesson types can be used for individual students
• Only group lesson types can be used for groups

This is why lesson types matter for both scheduling and billing.

The assigned type is the default for the student's or group's lessons and is used for recurring lesson generation. When adding an ordinary one-off lesson, you can choose another lesson type from the same category for that lesson only:

• an individual lesson can use another individual lesson type
• a group lesson can use another group lesson type

This does not change the underlying student or group enrolment. Makeup lessons continue to use the type attached to the enrolment.

Lesson Pricing

The price on a lesson type is the rate Octavia uses when billing a lesson of that type.

That means the rate is not typed in separately each time you invoice. For calendar-based billing, Octavia uses the price from the lesson type saved on each lesson. This is normally the type assigned to the student or group. If you select another same-category type for an ordinary one-off lesson, that one lesson uses the selected type's price.

If you need different pricing for different situations, the usual approach is to create separate lesson types. For example:

• Individual Piano — 60 min
• Individual Piano — 60 min (Family Rate)
• Individual Piano — 60 min (Concession Rate)

Each variation becomes its own lesson type, with its own default price.

Lesson Types and Billing Contracts

When billing is set up for a student or group, the assigned lesson type establishes the usual rate and default lesson format.

There is no separate per-student lesson-rate override inside the billing contract itself. If you want a different standard rate for a particular student or teaching format, create a separate lesson type and assign that instead.

For an exceptional one-off lesson at another duration or rate, you do not need to change the enrolment temporarily. Choose the appropriate lesson type when adding the lesson:

• choose another individual lesson type for an individual one-off lesson
• choose another group lesson type for a group one-off lesson

The enrolment keeps its usual type, while calendar billing charges that lesson using the selected type.

This keeps pricing explicit on each lesson while preserving the student's normal setup. See Creating an Individual Lesson and How Your Lessons Are Counted.

Multiple Lesson Types

Most studios use more than one lesson type. For example:

This structure gives you flexibility while keeping lesson setup clear.

Lesson Packs and Other Billing Flows

When you later use other billing features, such as lesson packs, lesson types still matter. For example, packs are tied to a lesson type so Octavia can tell which lessons the pack should apply to.

See the Lesson Packs section of the KB for more on that.

Completing the Setup Step

The onboarding/setup step completes automatically once at least one lesson type with pricing has been configured.

You do not need to create every lesson type you will ever use before this step marks itself complete. You can add more lesson types later whenever your studio needs them.

---

Previous: Configuring Your Billing Settings · Next: Reviewing Your Attendance Settings