Piano instruction has a long history of one-on-one lessons. That’s what I thought, anyway, until I started seriously looking into group piano lessons.
Do you know what I found?
Piano instruction has a long history of GROUP lessons. And why not? The group dynamic is powerful in any subject.
I first started teaching group lessons circa 2005. I immediately loved it. There was so much more energy and excitement in my lessons! I very quickly learned that the energy and excitement were only the beginning of vast benefits that come from learning piano in a group. Here are a few more.
1. Less pressure. When multiple students are playing together at the same time, every little mistake is not as glaring. I’ve seen timid students become much more confident in their playing when they join with others.
2. Socializing. Speaking of timid students, they often become much more animated when they are with other students of a similar age. I taught a little girl in private lessons, where she barely spoke above a whisper and was cautious and quiet in all she did. She moved to group lessons and suddenly came alive! She is spunky and dynamic and so much fun.
3. Competition and motivation. Friendly competition, only, of course. And I generally let it happen organically. I hardly talk about it at all. If a student isn’t keeping up because he hasn’t practiced, he knows. I don’t have to say anything and neither do the other students. Generally, he fixes it on his own.
4. Teamwork, friendship, encouragement, and peer support. I have randomly assigned preteen girls to the same group, only to learn that they are still friends years later. They have so much fun working on their pieces, struggling through scales, and playing games together that they really learn to support and encourage each other.
5. Confidence. Playing with other students can go a long way in building confidence!
6. Technical skills. Scales, Chords, Arpeggios, and other exercises are only improved when playing together. Students can no longer stop and fix mistakes or pause to find the next note.
7. Performance opportunities. It can be challenging to perform in front of other people. Imagine your child having that opportunity during her lesson every week. Talk about overcoming fears! And if she’s not playing a solo, she is still playing in front of the others (albeit with much less pressure, because they are also playing).
8. Repetition is easier. Repetition is key to learning something new, but it can get old fast. In a group lesson, it’s much easier to turn it into a game, making the repetition funner and easier to accomplish.
9. Listening skills. Students can’t escape the need to LISTEN when playing with a group. They are constantly needing to adjust their tempo, their volume, and sometimes their notes to match the group. LISTENING is challenging to learn for many students. They focus so much on reading the notes and rhythm that they don’t always even listen to themselves and may not recognize when they play something wrong. But in a group, they simply have to listen.
10. Ensemble playing. One of my personal favorite parts of being a pianist is playing in ensembles. I love to accompany other musicians or vocalists, and I love to play in duets, quartets, or other small groups. Making music together is fun. Students in a group lesson get this opportunity built-in each week.
11. Rhythm. Playing in a group makes it impossible to stop and fix notes, pause to find your hand position, or forget to hold notes for their full value! I mean, you COULD do all those things, but then you would definitely not be with the class anymore! Rhythmic security improves dramatically when playing regularly with other musicians.
12. More instruction time. My group lessons last 60 minutes once a week. Private lessons usually are 30 or 45 minutes. This gives us more time for games, composition, improvisation, and other extended activities.
13. Games. Speaking of games, it’s much more interesting to play a game with a small group than it is to play it alone. Or alone with your teacher. And with the longer lesson time, there is plenty of opportunity to play games! The benefit of games is undisputed: playing is how kids learn best.
14. Price. At Play Fortissimo, a 60-minute group lesson has a lower fee than a 30-minute private lesson. More instruction time, more money to spend on other endeavors!
15. Communication skills. Playing with other musicians means opportunity to talk and practice communicating effectively. We have to be able to talk to each other to play in unison. This, in turn, develops empathy, listening and speaking, pausing, and turn-taking.
16. Concentration. All of the skills above contribute to improving a child’s ability to focus. We do move from one activity to another, both on-the-bench and off-the-bench, and it’s necessary to focus in order to stay with the class.
In summary, these are just a few of the many reasons that group piano lessons are so beneficial to students. If you would like to observe a class or participate in a free introductory class, please reach out to me so I can get you registered. I guarantee you will love it!
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