Group Piano Lessons – The Good and Bad of Group Learning

Group piano lessons. What are the positives and negatives of taking part in group piano lessons? Is it better to learn as a part of a group or should you go it alone?

The good news is that we live in the best age ever for those who are looking to learn how to play the piano, and you have a lot of different choices. You can follow a set of online lessons, learn in person, or you can attend group sessions. People learn in different ways, and it is important to work out what is best for you.

So what are the best things, and the worst, about group piano lessons?

Pros of Group Piano Lessons

There are a lot of positives to group piano lessons. You don’t have to be in school or college to take part, either, a lot of local community groups get tutors in to teach to more than one person.

Here are some of the positives:

• Doing your lessons as part of a group can ensure you are more likely to stay motivated. At home, it can be easy to forget to practice. Going to the group with a friend is even better as it can ensure that you get some encouragement to keep attending.
• If you are getting something wrong then someone can tell you. A lot of people learning online may develop slightly bad habits if they aren’t careful. If you are worried about this, you can look at this list of potential bad habits, and address them.
• You can compare your skills with those of others at a similar point in their piano journey. It can be easy to become disheartened, but seeing other people making progress at a similar pace can encourage you to stick with it.
• You can ask questions. This is not something that it is possible to do if you are following a course online. Getting feedback is possible, but not as easy.

Cons of Group Piano Lessons

Piano lessons in person, or in groups, aren’t for everyone. Some of the cons of group piano lessons can be found below:

• Some people are nervous in public situations, and doing group lessons might well involve meeting new people.
• If you are quiet and nervous, you might not get as much out of the lessons. People who are louder might ask more questions, and you might find the pressure of playing in front of others is difficult.
• You might find that you can’t go at your own pace. If others are slower, or quicker, then you might have to go at the pace of others.
• You might miss some of the group sessions. It sounds obvious, but if you miss something then you might have gaps in your knowledge.
• You are also relying on one teacher or tutor to be good at what they are doing. If not, the knowledge might not stick.

It’s probably best to use a combination of lessons in person and online lessons if you want to go down the route of group piano lessons. Just going to a session for an hour a week might not be the ideal way to learn, and you can forget during the week. Following a course in private helps you to keep the knowledge fresh. One of the best ways to learn how to play the piano is to continue to practice daily.

Finding Group Lessons

It really depends upon where you live, in some big cities it might be easy to find group piano lessons, but in rural locations, it might be difficult. A Google search can be a good first step, as well as local Facebook groups. If you have a local music store then it is worth going in to see if they are advertising group sessions. They might have a noticeboard and local musicians and tutors might be offering their services teaching groups.

Do you have a local community learning college? For instance, is there a place where you can go and participate in evening classes in painting, music and other hobbies?

Conclusion – Learning Alone or In a Group?

The truth is that you will build your piano knowledge up in a variety of ways and it is a good idea to mix up the methods of learning. Some private practice without a tutor is important, one-to-one sessions and group sessions can both supplement this to allow you to pick up different knowledge, get feedback, and spark your passion for playing the piano.

Consider your personality type, too. If you are the kind of person who is fearful of going into group situations then you might not want to do so, and there is no specific need to. We live in an age where people can teach themselves at home, and there’s nothing to say people have to learn in person at all.

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