Biggest Myth About Small Group Lessons
Biggest Myth: Students learn better in private lessons.
There are many reasons I gave up teaching private lessons but the reason I’ve stayed with group lessons for 20 years now is because I have seen that lessons in small groups clearly result in better growth and development.
This completely busts the myth that private lessons are the best way to learn piano.
So how do I measure the comparisons?
I use a method book with step by step concepts of reading, chording, technique and music history. I’d used this method for about 10 years and could confidently tell parents that unless their child had a learning disability, I could give them benchmarks throughout the year of where they’d be at and what they’d be playing, after 3, 6, 9 & 12 months. After teaching nearly 1,000 students to this point, I was confident in my timeline. I had a concrete measurement.
When I began the group teaching, it was in private schools and after school programs, with 16 students at a time. It took 45 minutes a week with 16 students in a class, to reach the same progress as 75% of the private lessons.
After I retired from teaching in the schools though, I began taking on just 6 students at a time, in 30 minute classes in my home studio. That’s where the really impressive comparisons began showing up.
In 3 months, my small groups of 4-6 were at the same spot as my private students. Imagine my delight then when at the one year mark, most of the students were either at or beyond the private lesson levels. It really surprised me.
As I thought about it, I realized I had kids begging me to pull out the drums, the spoons, the 12-foot floor keyboard and all the other games we played together. They were developing rhythm better and faster plus doing it all with a smile. Practicing also became the greater factor because I was no longer the practice nag or motivator. Students didn’t want to show up to class unprepared to play for their classmates.
The truth is that students progress faster and better in small groups than private lessons. And the synergy is so much more lively, it’s pure fun for me too. Being on a mission to teach the world to play, small group lessons is the focus of my career.
