Group Lessons - What to Teach

What to teach in a group lesson really depends on the level of the students.  Beginners will spend more time on fundamentals of technique and using the tutor book.  More advanced students can work on their ensemble playing skills.

Solo repertoire in a group lesson

Solo repertoire is harder in a group lesson than in a 1-1 lesson, but it is absolutely doable and shouldn’t be neglected.  It your students are working towards an exam or solo performances for school or competitions, you will need to figure this in to your lesson plans.

Ideally, if your students are working on exam material, they will all be playing the same pieces.  I have written before about preparing for exams, saying you should choose music that best reflects the strengths of your students, but in a group lesson (where you may have only limited time for lessons and few to no extra rehearsals) it makes life soooo much easier if they can play the same music.  (It also helps the accompanist if you have limited rehearsal time, which can often happen if you’re teaching in a school).

I like to give students a recording of the music (with the accompaniment if possible) so they can get used to it.  We’ll learn the piece together and then later I’ll work with individual students on the parts they need help with.  If you’re in a school, you can often send one student out to other practice rooms (or the corridor/hallway/storage cupboard/sick bay – it’s been done…) to do some individual practise while you work with another.

Another advantage to learning solo repertoire in a group is that you have a readymade audience.  I’ll get students to perform to each other once a week to gain experience at performing in front of others.  I have three rules for the audience for these solos: you need to be silent, still, and sensible.  It’s important for the performer to be able to focus on what they’re doing and it teaches the audience how to be an audience.