Students Are More Motivated in Small Group Lessons
3 benefits most parents notice right away with small group classes
- Motivation
- Performance
- Exposure
Motivation Magic
Motivation happens because class members don’t want to show up unprepared. It’s not just their teacher who will hear if they didn’t practice, it’s the friends in their class. Traditional excuses are not given on a regular basis, because the students themselves don’t accept them.
Bottom line is that no one wants to show up and embarrass themselves. They are proud to show their progress. This is a win for me as the teacher too. It’s way more fun to teach a student who has practiced than one who is on the same song for several weeks. This motivation magic naturally shows up again in adventures like in performing.
Performance Experience
Performance happens on the weekly in our class. Every week, every student plays what they practiced for the whole class. Without even realizing it, they are learning to play in front of others. When we have our community service performances, classes come and perform together.
Small classes build security when playing with classmates that makes this so much fun. As performance ability grows weekly and through public experiences during the year, there is a noticeable difference that develops even before, and completely outside the traditional recital season. Performances increase interest in what music to learn too.
Exposure to great varieties of music
While there are some songs everyone learns, one will choose a Michael Jackson hit, while another learns to play jazz. This week, in one middle school class we had student playing “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” (Green Day) while another polished up “We don’t talk about Bruno.“ I think the student playing Don’t Stop Believing (Journey) was of greatest interest to the others. They hadn’t heard of it before and now they have all come to enjoy it. Classics live on in pop music as well as the traditional masters.
Synergy
Wish I could bring you into the class to watch delight grow when song options are presented. Fantasia 2000 convinces a lot of students to try music they’ve grown up loving on the screen, as does most Disney music. But when I play In the Mood, the top swing hit of 1940, a whole new generation responds with enthusiasm. There is true synergy in learning with others, even when performing and committing to practicing. An extended repertoire is just icing on the cake.
