Autumn
2004, Vol. 15 #3
Group lessons for the
"private-only" student -
a bonus or a necessity?
Over the years, Keyboard Companion has featured a number of articles dealing with the topic of group instruction (most recently, one in the Spring. 2004 issue of the magazine in which the TEACHER/STUDENT/PARENT column posed the question, "What do you like about group lessons?") And in this Autumn issue, the subject of teaching reading in a group lesson format is addressed in Craig Sale's Music Reading column.
As teachers, I'm sure that we all share considerable concern about the importance of enhancing the motivation of our students, and that most of us are always on the lookout for ways to energize their positive attitudes about music, piano study, and practice. Unfortunately, for many students, I suspect that having only a one-on-one weekly private lesson followed by six days of "all-by-myself" practice in between lessons, and then, having very few opportunities to share music and music-making with others (particularly with peers) can create the impression that involvement with piano lessons is a pretty solitary experience that happens mostly outside of the mainstream of their lives. Obviously, if such an attitude prevails, it is not likely to promote the kind of enthusiasm that generates ongoing motivation for wanting to remain involved with music study on a long-term basis.
Audio
clips that accompany articles by Sophia Gilmson and Linda Barker
in this issue's Rhythm Department.
One
thing which many teachers have done to help dispel the notion
that piano study is a "lonely" activity, is to add
group lessons as a regular part of their instruction plan. There
are probably as many ways of designing this mode of study as
there are teachers who do it. Some teach only in groups,
offering no private lessons. Others schedule both a private and
a group lesson each week (in my opinion, the ideal plan!).
Still others have weekly private instruction plus some regular
group experience, biweekly, or once a month, or twice a term,
etc.
I, personally, think that the addition of group lessons is not just a "bonus" for private students. Rather, I view it as a necessity. For this reason, I enroll no students on a "private-only" basis. The study plan always includes both a weekly private lesson and a once-a-month group lesson.
The students in my classes are
grouped according to their age and grade in school with most
classes meeting for an hour and usually involving three to four
students. Occasionally, there will be a group of just two students
(a "partner lesson") which will last for forty-five
minutes. Although the latter is perhaps not quite as stimulating
for the students as a larger group would be, still, it provides
the same opportunities for performing, listening, and sharing
the fun of music-making with a peer.
The group lesson format
Technique: Our group lessons usually begin with some sort of technique warm-ups. These are sometimes done individually with each student selecting one of the exercises from his/her assignment (a scale, an arpeggio, a Hanon study, etc.). Or perhaps the students will choose to do an exercise which they have created themselves especially for the group lesson. Whenever warm-ups are done individually, the non-performers are asked to stand at the piano and watch, listen, and then evaluate things such as posture, hand position, tone quality and projection, evenness, clarity, etc.
Occasionally the warm-ups are done by two students at a time, and since I have two pianos, sometimes all students will play together. Whenever the warm-up involves more than one student, it usually consists of an easy-to-remember 5-finger pattern which I dictate on the spot.
Repertoire: Since the primary focus of the group lesson in my studio is on performance and the development of listening skills, each student always plays at least two pieces, one of which is a memory piece usually selected by the student. In addition, each student also performs a creative piece of his/her own, based on composition criteria presented at the previous group lesson, i.e., "For next month's class, make a piece in which one hand always plays only on black keys and the other hand, always on white keys"; or, "Make a piece in ABA form using both major and minor"; or, "Create a piece in which one hand plays an ostinato pattern"; or, "Create two variations for a familiar tune" (such as "Twinkle, Twinkle"), etc. (The students are not required to notate their creative pieces--just to be able to play them convincingly for the class.)
Drills: Besides
performance, each group lesson usually also includes a few brief
drills in areas such as interval reading, rhythm, aural awareness,
and theory. These are interspersed between performance segments
to provide a change of pace as well as to assist with reinforcing
concepts which the students are learning. However, during a one-hour
class, a total of no more than 15 minutes is ever devoted to
drills so that the major emphasis can always be on making
and listening to music.
Goals for group lessons
As I see it, the main goals of
group lessons are:
1) to provide students with regular opportunities to experience
the enjoyment of sharing what they are learning with others -
particularly with their peers.
2) to provide students with regular performance opportunities.
3) to provide more opportunities for students to become actively
involved as listeners - not only to their own performance
but also to the performance of others.
Because the development of aural skills is so critical, I believe that one of the most important challenges for the group teacher is to be sure that each non-performer is always as actively involved with listening as the performing student is with playing. Below are a few ways to make sure that all students become involved with active listening.
1) Structuring pre-performance activities based upon student examination of the music prior to hearing it performed:
* Before a piece is played, we
all examine the music and then I assign each non-performer
one or two specific things to listen for (f or p,
legato, staccato, phrase endings, accents, fermatas, clear pedal
changes, ritards, etc.). The auditors then follow the score
as it is played, checking to be sure that they hear whatever
specific element(s) they were assigned to listen for.
(Ideally, there is always at least one extra copy of the score
available for students to follow as they listen. If not, then
they gather around the piano so that they can see the score on
the music rack as it is being performed.)
At the end of the performance, each non-performing student is asked to report on the player's success in projecting whatever specific thing(s) that he/she was assigned to listen for.
* For another piece, each non-performer might be asked to examine the score and select two specific things to listen for but to not tell the other students what they are. At the end of the performance, each student then reveals what two things he/she had chosen to listen for and evaluates the performer's success in projecting them.
* Still another activity asks the auditors to follow the score as they listen and then at the end of a student's performance, to be prepared to discuss: 1) one thing that the performer did very well, and 2) one thing that might be done to make the playing even better.
* The non-performers can also sometimes be asked to serve as judges and rate the performances on a scale of one to ten. As they listen, the "judges" list on a piece of paper all of the "good" things about the performance as well as those things which the student might do to enhance it. At the end of each performance, the teacher averages the scores, announces the overall score, and then reads aloud the "judges "comments. (This activity is particularly effective for older students who are preparing to enter an audition or contest.)
2) Listening activities to be done without the students first having an opportunity to see the score, and without being able to look at the music as it is being performed.
* As students listen to a performance (without first seeing the score and without following it as they listen), they can be asked to make a list of all symbols which describe what is heard (triads, crescendi ,diminuendi, legato, staccato, accelerandi, ritards, fermatas, pedal, etc.) It is always fun to see who ends up with the longest list!
* On the basis of just listening,
students can also be asked to determine a piece's form, or
its quality (major or minor?), or to make a list of the
elements out of which it is made, i.e., scale passages in RH,
and chords in the LH, or to be ready to describe its character
(mood), etc.
Other miscellaneous group activities
In group lessons, students
are also frequently asked to present short "bios" of
the composers of the pieces they are performing, and/or to tell
the class a bit about the history of the piece's period, or to
define various musical terms found in the score. Sometimes the
performer is asked to suggest specific things he/she wants the
auditors to listen for, or to tell the group what he/she particularly
likes about the piece. Sometimes the performer is asked to evaluate
his/her performance before the other members of the group
are asked to comment on it.
Once in a while, students are assigned an "on-own" piece. (The same piece is assigned to all students, and it is usually fairly short and a level or two easier than the repertoire the students are actually working on.) At next month's class they will each be asked to perform the piece as well as to be prepared to demonstrate the practice steps they used to learn it.
Group lessons also provide a
great opportunity for collaborative performances, as well as
a forum for practicing recital protocol, i.e., getting to the
piano, arranging the bench, beginning and ending with the hands
in the lap, bowing, etc.
Coda . . .
In spite of the many obvious advantages of group lessons for the private-only student - particularly as a motivating factor - whenever I am involved in a workshop or teachers' meeting in which the subject of group lessons is addressed, it is always surprising to discover the number of teachers who say they do not provide any kind of regular group experiences for their students. Some of the most common reasons given for this are:
* "My teaching schedule is already
so full, I just don't have time to add group lessons."
(In my own set-up, to
"free up" time so that it is possible to provide group
lessons without adding lots of additional time to my teaching
load, during group lesson weeks, all private lessons are abbreviated
- 45-minute lessons become 30-minute lessons, and one-hour lessons
become 45-minute lessons. In previous years when I had a much
larger class than I do now, we did away with the private lesson
altogether during group lesson weeks - and I never heard
a single complaint about this practice -- either from students
or from their parents!)
* "I only have one piano."
My response to this is: "That's all you need! One piano
and some children!and perhaps a marker board which comes in handy
once in a while."
* "I don't have tables and/or chairs
for a group."
"Neither do I, but
no student has ever objected to sitting on the floor."
* "I don't have any electronic
keyboard equipment."
"Neither do I. Again, all that is really needed is one piano
and some children."
* "All of my students are so busy
and involved with outside activities, I could never find a time
when all of those assigned to one group could come."
"I have been teaching group lessons since the late 1950's
and I have yet to run up against a single instance where it has
not been possible to find at least one time during a week
when all students could come--yes, even in the year 2004!
The hour of the class may sometimes not be my preferred choice,
but somehow there always is an available time. The long
and short of it is that when students enroll, they understand
that they are committing to a study plan consisting of weekly
private lessons and a once-a month group lesson. They
know that I always bend over backwards to find a time that will
work for them, and I've found that they, too, are always willing
to go the extra mile when necessary.")
The more involved we become with group lessons, the more obvious it becomes that this mode of teaching adds a dimension to music study that the private lesson by itself can never provide. Hopefully, more and more students are experiencing the pleasure and adventure inherent in group lessons and because of this, we are finding ourselves not only producing a generation of performers who play for others with ease and enjoyment, but who are also able to intelligently and imaginatively listen to music as well! And most important, our students are able to experience music study as a part of their lives, rather than apart from their lives!
Since it's still early in this
new teaching year, there is still time to seriously consider
adding some group lessons for your students if you're not already
doing so. Needless to say, I urge you to take the plunge,
and if you do, I guarantee that neither you nor your students
will ever again be willing to settle for private lessons only!
About Our Cover Picture
We wish to thank the Neil A. Kjos Music Company for providing us with the photos of the Bastien family that appear on the cover and on p. 48 of the print magazine. The cover composite was made by Scott Lewis, the production designer for Keyboard Companion.
To see a larger image of our cover art, please visit our Art Gallery.
MULTIMEDIA ARTICLE
Rhythm Department
 Sophia Gilmson and Linda Barker discuss, "How do you help your students achieve rhythmic continuity in slow pieces without sounding mechanical?" Prof. Gilmson's audio clips demonstrate at the piano all of the excerpts mentioned in her article. Linda Barker's student, Elyse Kakacek, performs the entire slow movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata, K. 545, as illustrations of the points made in Ms. Barker's article. |
Also be sure to check out our page of
links to ALL of our multimedia articles in past
issues.
These are the other articles that were in the Autumn 2004 issue
Information on obtaining back issues
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The Magic Triangle: |
What qualities do families that support their children's piano study share? |
John, Joan, Billy, Elaina, and |
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The Other Teacher: |
How do you get students to listen to themselves as they practice? |
Scott Donald |
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Independence Day: |
How do you teach reading in groups? |
Serena Mackey |
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Let's Get Physical: |
Is there a way to make technical practice fun? |
Stephen Cook |
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The Heart of the Matter: |
How do you help students achieve rhythmic continuity in slow pieces without sounding mechanical? |
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Issues and Ideas: |
Can we teach piano technique without physically touching the student? |
Gail Berenson |
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It's Never Too Late: |
What motivates adults to continue piano lessons? |
Sandra Leibowitz |
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Putting It All Together: |
What repertoire do you use when a student can play with only one hand and how do you assign it? |
E. Douglas Bomberger |
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Tomorrow Today: |
How did you get started with technology in your studio? |
Susan W. Flinn |
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The World Around
Us: |
An in-depth interview with the Bastiens |
Helen Smith Tarchalski |
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Keyboard
Kids' Companion |
Puzzles, Practice Projects, Meet the Composers, and more! |
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