Group vs Private Lessons

When I was learning piano, I only ever had private lessons. Since becoming a piano teacher I have read about group lessons, and over the past couple of years I have been able to try it with some students. I've come to the conclusion that it would benefit every student to be a part of a group that meets regularly as a supplement to private lessons.

Here are some of the benefits of group lessons versus private lessons:

The dynamic is completely different. In a private lesson, there's just one teacher telling one student what to do. There are creative things teachers can do to play with that dynamic, but it's practically impossible to escape that. In a group lesson, the presence of more students takes the pressure off.

Motivation increases. A student needs more than just two adults (teacher and parent) to please. They need to please themselves, and impressing the other students in the piano group is a very satisfying feeling. The right group can provide just enough of a friendly competitive dynamic to push each student to reach their potential, more so than just having to face the same teacher who can only do so much to compel the student to work hard.

They learn more. A group provides an atmosphere appropriate for games which can be used to teach concepts that will not be remembered from just being told in a private lesson. Playing a game against other students of the same ability is infinitely more fun than playing against the teacher who you know is just going to set you up to win. Private lessons tend to focus mostly on playing ability, with concepts being thrown in when they become useful. A group lesson can be used to present these concepts in an exciting and organized way that is more likely to be remembered and can then be applied in the private lesson. It also takes the pressure off the teacher to spend time on these concepts in the private lessons.

It's more fun! It's always more fun to learn and practice with friends.

This was the first year I tried doing a group lesson as a weekly lesson for three girls whose parents wanted to try it. I was very surprised at how well it worked, and how far they could advance in just a year. Of course, their parents have done an excellent job keeping them practicing and ready for each lesson, but I believe the group dynamic also has played no small part in their success.

Around the middle of the year, different learning styles and rates emerged, and I began to consider whether the girls would need to start having their own private lessons. It wouldn't be fair for anyone to be either held back by the group, or to be overwhelmed by the fast pace. This is the main problem with group lessons, because of course, each student is unique.

I and the parents have decided to do private lessons for each student followed by one group lesson for the last lesson of the month. This way, the students can progress at the right pace with private lessons tailored to what they need, and can still have the group lesson to look forward to at the end of the month where they can share what they've been working on, and can learn and practice theory and eartraining.

 Ideally, I would like all students to participate in such a model. Scheduling and determining which students to group together makes it logistically hard to do, but I'd like to start working towards it.