My group teaching philosophy

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Subject: My group teaching philosophy

You expressed interest in teaching multi-level groups… and potentially registering for my group lesson training.

So…

I’m going to write out a series of thoughts here about group lessons, student motivation, what makes groups work, and the underlying teaching and education philosophy that I have.

If you are considering joining the training, it’s important that you know the foundational beliefs of the instructor!!!!

These beliefs and philosophies are what allowed me to help hundreds of young students quickly pass their music in a group context… and even compete in judged events, like my student Gabby here who got the highest RCM score in the state for her grade level

Group Lesson Teaching Philosophy

1. I fundamentally believe that if learning a skill feels easy, the student will have a good experience. This is because students will tend to take the path of least resistance most of the time. They want lots of support.

2. The best way to make something “feel” easy for a student is to equip them very early with the most important fundamentals they need to learn the skill.

3. I believe that the most important building blocks in learning to skillfully play an instrument are the ability to sight-read rhythm and notes proficiently. A close second to this is to develop the motor skills and body control necessary to play the instrument.

4. Given these beliefs, I think that what a student needs most at the beginning of their journey is:

The ability to learn all of their music with the teacher
Instruction that primarily focuses on what they must do instead of what they must think (I spend hours in the training fully unpacking this statement and teaching how to do this)
The ability to learn in an environment that has equal parts of support and independence
Instruction that supports the goal of proficient sight-reading, but also gives the room to do lots of it in a short period of time with instant feedback

5. Having taught both group and private lessons, I’ve found that out of those four goals that I just mentioned in point #4… three of them are best achieved in an hour long group lesson. In some cases, they can only be achieved in a group lesson

Another candid from within my group studio

6. I believe that the music lesson’s primary purpose is for the development of the student’s skill. It is not there for the teacher’s self-aggrandizement, mentoring, building a “connection” with the student, meeting the emotional needs of the teacher, or providing a career or income for the teacher. All of those things are secondary to the mission and purpose of the music lesson.

7. Given this, I believe the three most valuable objectives in a lesson are (a) teaching music to the student, (b) teaching how to skillfully play the instrument, and (c) repertoire acquisition (more on this in point #9).

8. In developing the student’s skill, there are a multitude of things that the teacher must teach to the student. Musicianship, style, accuracy, body control, practice habits, proper technique… just to name a few. The teacher must judge the student’s ability in each of these areas. And, the teacher can judge their own instruction by noting areas in which all of their students struggle. These typically line up with deficiencies in the teacher’s methods and instruction.

9. As I became a better teacher, I noticed that better instruction resulted in more songs passed in a shorter amount of time. From Primer to late beginner method books… my students learned songs faster, played them more expressively, and experienced less stress in the learning process. Speed was never the goal (nor should it have been)… it was a happy byproduct of better instruction / better students.

I was even able to see very young students in my groups… like my little guy (pictured here when he was 4 years old)

10. Closely correlated with this was the student’s participation in a group lesson. When I had the ability to immediately see the results of my teaching in the student’s performance, I was able to correct problems in my teaching IMMEDIATELY and not let the poor students go home and practice their music wrong for an entire week. We got better together… and this could never have happened outside of the group environment because I simply didn’t have the time to see this in greater depth.

11. An hour-long group is NOT the same as an hour-long private lesson. You cannot decouple the educational results from the learning environment in which those results are achieved. In every case that I’ve been able to work with the same student in both a group and a private lesson, I got better results out of the student in the group lesson (I’m going to go into more depth on this in tomorrow’s email - you really don’t want to miss that one).

I was even able to see older students and work with them on intermediate music in the context of my multi-level groups… like my nephew here who was halfway through the Keith Snell Repertoire Series when this photo was taken

12. Each child should be allowed to progress and develop at a rate that is good for them! This is why I reject a group curriculum that forces all students to “learn” at the same rate (this idea is preposterous to me). This is why I teach multi-level groups (I made a video about this - you can watch it here).

Do you have questions or comments?

I’d love to hear from you.

And, if you would love to learn how to get fantastic results with your student in a multi-level group... Simply click the button and register for our Successful Group Lessons training.

Yes! I want all the benefits that groups provide!

Open enrollment extends until early next week.

Look forward to working with you!

Best,

Daniel

PS> If you are a larger school that wants to run group lessons or improve your current program or get more enrollment for your current program…. Please reach out to me. I have a special solution for you.

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Subject: My group teaching philosophy