Let's talk about Group Lessons! I'm not talking about regular weekly piano lessons with a group of students; rather, a once-a-month or once-a-quarter get-together with your private piano students where students perform for each other, play games to reinforce music theory concepts, and learn about a topic in music history like a composer. In my piano studio, we call them “Piano Parties”!
Group lesson “Piano Parties” are an essential part of my piano studio offerings. So much of piano study is done in isolation that we forget there are others “just like us” who are learning and pushing through challenges at the piano bench! It is important for students of all ages to experience music in community with others, to hear others play, and to collaborate in fun musical experiences. My group lessons serve to form community among the students, provide for more in-depth teaching time and reinforcement of music theory and history concepts, offer a welcoming space for informal performances, and give me time every 4-6 weeks to offer make-ups or work on admin/lesson prep.
Two big questions always come up: “How do you structure your Group Lessons?” and, “How do you schedule your Group Lessons?”
STRUCTURE
My Group Lessons always follow a simple format: an opening game, student performances, learning about a composer, and closing games. I have a collection of music theory games that are accessible to beginner and intermediate students of different ages and are easy to incorporate in a mixed group setting. I've put together a free Group Lesson template (click HERE to get yours!) of my schedule, along with a resource list of over a dozen music theory games and suggestions for composer-focused activities that you can use to help guide your planning.
SCHEDULE
It can be tricky to schedule private students for a group lesson. The way I accomplish this is by publishing a calendar of my private and group lesson weeks for my piano families, and releasing it in the spring so that families can plan for them. Group lessons take place during my normal private lesson days and times and are in lieu of the students' private lessons for that week. So, for example, if I teach half-hour private lessons on Saturdays from 8:30am-12:30pm, I will schedule an hour group lesson on a Saturday from 9:00-10:00am. This overlaps the normal time of some of my private students, and isn't too far off from the remaining students' lesson times. I schedule the same way for my weekday lessons.
There are always families who have a conflict on some week or other, and they may opt to come to a different group lesson day that particular week, or if that doesn't work, they miss the lesson altogether. In the latter case, I will send home the activities/worksheets from the group lesson for them to complete on their own.
Because I operate my studio on a tuition model, group lessons are bundled into my studio offerings for the year and are subject to the same “no make-up” policy as that of my private lessons.
I hope this helps you think about how you can make group lessons a part of your piano studio and takes some of the guesswork out of planning a fun and productive time with your students!
Click HERE to get your free Group Lesson template!
Let me know if you have any questions in the Comment section below!
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