I have taught group piano for many years–almost three decades worth! I always wanted to be a piano teacher and knew it even when I was very young. My dad had a record collection of classical piano music and I would stay up late at night listening while sitting in the big rocking chair in our living room. I loved listening to Chopin, Debussy, Beethoven, Grieg, and
Rachmaninoff over and over again for hours into the wee hours of the morning. I started my career teaching piano at the age of 13 and charged my first piano student 25 cents for a 30-minute lesson. And I loved it!
I was introduced to the concept of teaching piano in group settings in college and I was intrigued to learn how effectively piano could be taught outside the “normal” totally private 1-on-1 lesson structure. I spent much of my time in the music department as a student teacher in the youth conservatory.
One of the things that caught my attention was seeing how so many children in the area drove to the university to take a group piano lesson. There were hordes of kids every day! College students were assigned to come up with methods for teaching various aspects of the piano program, then we had to teach all of the students as part of our grade.
I thought it was interesting that parents were so eager to sign their children up for piano lessons at the college conservatory even though they had to drive a lot farther and pay a lot more!
Didn’t they understand that our teachers were mostly inexperienced college students in the beginning stages of their piano journey? Somehow our program worked very well and parents kept bringing their kids.
Our college professors had little to do with the youth instruction other than to issue grades after coming to group recitals. I wondered if parents chose this because of the prestigious feeling they got from attending the university for piano lessons.
As I continued to teach kids at the conservatory, I started to see all the things that could be done differently, and better! I began to test my ideas and quickly began to see results. Back in those days group piano was limited to a university setting like the one I was involved in, and it was certainly not in an individual’s home! I was starting to think outside the box…
Seven years later I launched my first group piano class with eight kids in my own home. I already had two pianos plus some digital pianos and keyboards, plus the obligatory big table and chalk board. I had my studio set up in a half-finished basement.
It was tough talking people into signing their kids up for group piano! I heard it all:
“How are you going to teach piano to more than one student at a time?”
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
“I’ve never heard of this before!”
“It can’t be done!”
I had to offer a cheaper price than I was charging my private students to get people to give it a try, but even from the start my lessons worked and students did well.
I made lesson plans a week ahead and kept all my notes as I taught the class over and over with revisions every time. I enlisted the help of other teachers who were interested in learning how to do group piano. I gave them the weekly group piano outlines for free and got them to fill out weekly evaluations so I could see their progress. I prepared feedback forms for the parents, too. With all this indispensable feedback, within a year I had the makings of a very outstanding group piano program!
I had these same teachers track their group students’ progress compared to their private students over the nine-month course. The outcome of this experiment was fascinating! After the nine month course, we concluded that group students had more basic knowledge, but slightly less ability to play, while the private students’ fingers were a little more trained and they
could play a little better.
But the private students had little or no retention of basic theory like note reading, rhythm, etc., all basic skills necessary to improve quickly. These same students were tracked throughout their 2nd year of private study. In every single case the students who started out in the group piano class surpassed all the beginning private students in the second year; every time!
Along the way, I also learned that a large investment in expensive equipment is not needed.
These classes are even more successful with only two pianos! With modern keyboards, this class can be taught almost anywhere! It can be taught with different aged children using different method books ranging anywhere from beginning to level two all in the same class. Students all progress at their own individual capacity successfully, especially in a group
atmosphere.
It became very clear that it was no longer necessary for everyone to play the same songs in the same books on digital pianos all at the same time. Fast learners can go fast and slow learners can take their time. Students who need to can even go through the class again without starting over! This is perfect for second or third year transfer students who come to new teachers with “holes” in their learning. It has truly turned out that group lessons are simply better and more successful!
I began to charge the same amount for a group class as I would a private student. (In-fact, I believe the group classes should be priced higher for all the benefits the students get above and beyond private lessons, but I haven’t done that yet!) I have greatly maximized my income and time by tripling my regular salary without adding extra time.
Over the years this program has continued to evolve, becoming even better with every passing class. It has continued to prove more successful in most cases than private lessons.
Simply stated, this method combines the benefits of a one on one lesson and group teaching into the same program, giving rise to the name “Brighter Notes Piano Course”.
~ Emily Hibbert