Piano lessons are a great activity for children. They encourage creative thinking, develop math and reading skills, and improve students' overall educational progress, as well as building a fun life-long skill. As a result, over six million children in the United States take piano lessons! One of the choices that parents have when their child is beginning piano lessons is whether to enroll their son or daughter in a private or group lesson. Parents often have misperceptions, or at least several questions, in making this choice.
Q: What is the difference between private and group lessons?
A: Individual lessons are usually thirty minutes in length, with the piano teacher working one-on-one with a student. Individual lessons provide a high degree of personal attention for a student. Group lessons are generally 45-minutes to an hour in length, and consist of between two and four students working with their piano teacher. During group lessons, each student plays their own piano or keyboard and receives both individual and group instruction. Students are introduced to new skills in the group every week and are then given individual playing assignments. They practice these assignments using earphones and the teacher rotates among the students to check on their progress and provide additional instruction.
Q: Don't children learn more in a private lesson?
A: Not necessarily, and it depends very much on the student. Some children thrive with individual instruction. However, private lessons can also create a dependence that students may have a hard time overcoming, as some children grow to feel that they cannot learn on their own without their piano teacher repeatedly showing them every new thing. To prevent this, successful piano teachers create supportive learning environments that let children know that they are responsible for their own success. This helps children learn how to set goals and that their own effort makes a difference. That's why, even in a private lesson, students need some time to work independently.
Group lessons are a great way for children to learn, and many children learn faster in a group setting than in individual lessons. Group lessons create a fun and supportive environment, and students learn both from the teacher's instruction and from each other. It also helps many children to know that other students are learning the same skills.
I encourage most new students who are seven years of age or older to start out in group lessons. However, I have found that private lessons typically work best for two groups of students. First, they can provide a solid learning foundation to very young students (ages 5 to 7) who need one-on-one instruction to help get started. Parents of these very young children sometimes stay with them during their lessons. When children get a little older and have the basics, they usually can transfer to a group lesson. Second, private lessons are appropriate for late intermediate to advanced students who are looking to apply music theory and advanced playing techniques requiring intense instruction and dedicated home study.
Q: Can't group lessons be intimidating for students due to peer pressure and competition?
A: While some parents may initially be concerned that group lessons create peer pressure and competition, the lessons actually help students feel more independent and confident in piano. Students play the pieces they've just had instruction on before they leave the lesson, which helps them feel secure about playing the songs at home. As students often play their songs for each other during lessons, it helps avoid the performance anxiety that students taking individual lessons can feel before recitals. Plus, students generally find that working together with other students increases creativity and fun! Over time, experience has shown that most children learn more in small group lessons because these lessons encourage independence and build confidence, which is a strong foundation for success not only in piano lessons but in the other areas of student's lives.
Copyright 2005, Cynthia Marie VanLandingham
Cynthia VanLandingham is the owner of TallyPiano & Keyboard Studio in Tallahassee, Florida where she has been teaching piano for 20 years. She is a member of the American College of Musicians, the National Guild of Piano Teachers, a graduate of the Florida State University College of Education, and President of TallyPiano Enterprises, LLC.
You can visit her website and download her original compositions free at http://www.tallypiano.com
Cynthia is also an author of a series of exciting books for children, with the mission of Using Music, Art, Science and Literature to Help Children Achieve their Dreams. Her illustrated series for piano students is called, Little Bear's Piano Adventures!TM These stories take young piano students on a Musical Adventure to find out what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that children can easily understand.
For more information about these wonderful books E-mail Cynthia at cindy@tallypiano.com, where you can also subscribe to her free internet newsletter, Piano Matters!
TallyPiano Studio: (850) 386-2425
Hotline: (850) 264-7232
One of the things that makes New Age piano so... Read More
We all have so many critical voices in our heads.Telling... Read More
There are essentially two ways to learn piano - note... Read More
For the self-promoting independent artist, the idea of taking on... Read More
Most of the guitar lovers playing guitar for few years... Read More
Michael Jackson was born Michael Joseph Jackson on August 29,... Read More
Throughout the past few years downloading music on the internet... Read More
The guitar is considered the friendliest musical instrument there is.... Read More
This is counterintuitive, I know. Our natural response to seeing... Read More
Mp3 music is audio that has been digitally encoded and... Read More
If you've been playing piano for some time, you may... Read More
It is believed that the custom of dining in began... Read More
Learning piano chords can help you in all your piano... Read More
Whether played by a marching band, an orchestra, or a... Read More
I can't believe how much of the year has gone... Read More
As an independent musician and/or recording artist, if you did... Read More
You've got your recording (or songwriting) contract in hand and... Read More
CORRECT PRACTICE IS INDISPENSABLE!Your success or failure at the keyboard... Read More
One of the things New Age pianist George Winston is... Read More
The harp that once through Tara's halls the soul of... Read More
Every once in awhile a guitar student will express a... Read More
All right, folks, here you go: My 12 reasons why... Read More
You know your songs are great (and so does your... Read More
How would you like to spend 4 years in a... Read More
Performance anxiety is not something that only happens to musicians,... Read More
Change is good. Just ask the millions of unsigned artists... Read More
If your band is in rehearsals, either preparing for gigging,... Read More
When most people hear the word composer, they automatically think... Read More
Everybody's doing it: downloading music and sharing files. People who... Read More
Gibson guitars have been around forever. It's funny, but although... Read More
Ann Powers said: "Don't censor the music and artistic... Read More
The Solid-bodied Corvette (not to be confused with the Corvette... Read More
Learning to fiddle the Orange Blossom Special is not easy,... Read More
The guitar is considered the friendliest musical instrument there is.... Read More
Boy, I really detest how some people do websites. Bands... Read More
Some of you may remember a book titled "Drawing on... Read More
IntroductionThe fact that you are holding this in your hands... Read More
New York born singer songwriter Michael Alan, who records with... Read More
Small independent record labels are facing a different fight today... Read More
Piano lessons for adults is generally LOTS more fun than... Read More
To most people, owning the "genuine article" is the only... Read More
This article takes a look at musicians' injuries. For an... Read More
Let's face it. The world will not end if there... Read More
Here's the method I use every time I want to... Read More
This article gives the essential basics for how to play... Read More
It's no secret that virtually everyone loves music in some... Read More
Lately I've been listening to some pretty cool music by... Read More
Rocket Piano is a very professionally done piano lesson package.... Read More
Rarely is a chord played with its tones contained in... Read More
The previous two Tech Tips took a look at eight... Read More
The harp that once through Tara's halls the soul of... Read More
The Greg Koch Fender guitar began to take shape all... Read More
Ideally each page of your website should serve a specific... Read More
Did you ever wish that it was your song playing... Read More
Performance anxiety is not something that only happens to musicians,... Read More
It may surprise many to find that the hobby of... Read More
Mid 1959 Stratocaster vintage guitars have a slab rosewood fingerboard... Read More
Before they got together as Green Day, Billie Joe Armstrong,... Read More
When you think of music in Atlanta you generally think... Read More
We call it music, ever noticed how vividly music triggers... Read More
A lot has been said about the 'post-rock' revolution as... Read More
CORRECT PRACTICE IS INDISPENSABLE!Your success or failure at the keyboard... Read More
My friend, guitarist Brian Hughes, toured with the Chieftain's in... Read More
I met New York jazzman Tim Armacost in college almost... Read More
Playing by ear is the ability to play a piece... Read More
Do you sit down at the piano and feel anxiety... Read More
Music & MP3 |