There are many ways to use the group lesson format in your studio.
A few:
Makeup lesson groups (infrequent groups)
Preschool group programs
Rock band programs (usually for students in addition to a lesson)
“Practice clubs”
Camps
Short-term beginner classes
Group classes based on a curriculum
These are good and they have their place…
But for my money there is nothing better than a year-round group lesson program that is the MAIN offering of your studio… that allows children to be scheduled with students of any other age or level.
In other words… a multi-level group program that isn’t just an “add on” to your studio.
Since 2008, my studio only offered one option for an incoming student:
Multi-level group lessons until that student completes a basic method.
This is why I created Successful Group Lessons…
If you are a single-teacher studio and you teach piano, guitar, drums, or strings…
I strongly recommend running a multi-level group program to avoid the following headaches:
(a) Small studio scheduling issues. If you have less than 50 students enrolled, it’s going to be almost impossible to get all of your students in the same level to meet at the same time. Multi-level groups solve this problem.
(b) What happens if a student gets sick? Illness, schedule conflicts, sporting events, school functions… Anything that pulls a student out of your class means that you now have differentiation. One student is now behind… It doesn't take long in a “group curriculum” for students to be out of sync, making the teacher’s life extremely difficult. Multi-level groups solve this problem.
(c) Punishing your good students. Bright, motivated students are held back in a group curriculum that forces students to “march in lockstep.” Multi-level groups allow students to progress at the rate that is best for them.
(d) Burning out your casual students (poor retention). Similarly, if you are force-marching casual students… they are going to get burned out and leave the studio because they feel dragged by the curriculum. Multi-level groups solve this problem.
Yes, there are workarounds for these problems… but why try to fix something that’s broken when you can just use a model that works right out of the box?
Today is the last day to join the January 2023 class of Successful Group Lessons.
Those who register now get special benefits that those who join during the rest of the year don’t receive:
Access to live Q&A’s with me
Additional community support for all of those who are going through the training currently
Ability to choose when our live webinars will be
The ability to prepare for a strong group summer camp or fall enrollment in your new group program
You will receive a number of reminder emails from me today…
And then after that, I go “silent” on group lessons for a while.
Click below to join:
