Group Lessons - Structuring a Lesson

I have outlined lesson structure in an earlier post, so this post is specifically about structuring a lesson for a group class.

Beginning of the Lesson

I begin every lesson, group or individual with a warm-up.  There are many purposes for a warm-up.  It physically warms the body up, ready for playing.  In a group setting the warm-up helps the players come together as an ensemble.  Some students may be late, and the warm-up serves as a time when they can get their instruments ready and join in without missing any new learning.  Psychologically a warm-up signals the beginning of the lesson, the time for non-related chat is over, and we need to get ready to work.