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Parents often ask us if they should let their child start with private lessons or group lessons. The answer could never be one or the other. If you have a child who is about to begin his or her musical journey, please take a look at the following comparison chart for the private lessons and group lessons.
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Advantages of Group Classes- Fun Factor: Children enjoy learning in games and with their peers, and a well-run group lesson includes plenty of musical fun.
- Price: Typically, a 30-min group lesson involving about 2-4 students will cost less than 1/2 of the price for a 30-min private lesson at Arete Music Academy.
- Performance classes: Children learn to perform in front of their peers.
- Group activities: These are ideal for teaching musical concepts such as rhythm and counting. Marching around the room to a beat, dancing, and clapping are all more fun for children in groups, and these activities teach fundamental skills that will set the stage for a student's later learning.
- Lower stress: The low-key recreational approach of many groups may be appropriate for younger children who don't yet have the dexterity to develop finer instrumental skills.
Advantages of Private Lessons- Individual attention: Private lessons focus on the individuals strengths and weaknesses. Learning an instrument is a multi-sensory, complex activity requiring learning by ear, eye, touch, and intellectual understanding. Each student combines these elements differently.
- Appropriate pace: A group class that involves mismatched students will deprive both slower and faster learners for the attention they need. Private lessons go at the student's learning pace, stopping whenever necessary to review concepts, repeat material, or explore a topic the student shows an interest in.
- Skills development: For more advanced students, private attention is needed to work on micro issues such as fingering, as well as finer points of expression and interpretation. Issues such as technique and hand position are also better dealt with privately.
- Progress: Progress is almost always faster in a private lesson than in a group lesson.
- Stability: While the advantages of a group class often fall apart under the weight of an unruly or mismatched group, private lessons can follow a tailor made plan developed for each student, without being derailed by the needs of the group.
It is a difficult decision to make, and no one knows your child as well as the you as a parent. But if you still need help deciding which type of lesson to take, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]
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Music is a part of life from the earliest stages. Many
children begin encountering and experiencing music prenatally through
recordings that parents play for them as they develop. Newborns will hear
parents singing lullabies to them and begin associating music as something to
be enjoyed even at that tender age.
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Babies realize that they can create specific vocal sounds themselves and make percussive sounds with rattles and clapping within months of birth. Creating
sounds becomes fun for them, and the next natural step for children is to learn
how to create and explore sounds in a more structured way through listening to
and learning about music. Children under the age of five and even those in
elementary school enjoy music, because it is fun and often provides some social
time for them. Studies of children who have received music lessons in some form
since early childhood demonstrate that music is beneficial in other ways as
well.
When children take music lessons, they develop skills necessary
to excel in other areas of learning. The NAMM Foundation is an organization
that advocates music study and collects information about research supporting
music study. It states that playing music positively affects the development of
children’s cognitive skills, and it builds confidence, self-discipline and
inspires creativity.* It encourages the use of listening skills, cognitive
skills, and fine motor skills simultaneously. In a study done by professors at
Boston College and Harvard Medical School, there were changes in the brain
images of children who studied music and practiced for just fifteen months.
They showed measurable improvement in sound discrimination and fine motor
skills.+
Studies also show increased neural activity and even structural
differences in the brains of those who have studied music. Magnetic source
imaging was used to measure activity in the auditory cortex of the brain. Those
subjects who had studied music demonstrated a notable increase of neuronal
activity as opposed to subjects who had not studied music. The strength of
neuronal activation to piano notes coincided with the age of the subject and
the length of time music was studied.^ Another study showed that students who
began music study before seven years of age showed an advanced level of
sensory-motor integration. The same study notes that starting study later still
provide benefits in correlation to the amount of music practice.
The effects of this increased brain activity in the sound
processing centers of the brain shows in early speech and reading skills.
Studies clearly show that music training physically develops the left side of
the brain, which is accountable for processing language.+ Professor Nina Kraus,
director of the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern University,
states that “to learn to read, you need to have good working memory, the
ability to disambiguate speech sounds, make sound-to-meaning connections. Each
one of these things really seems to be strengthened with active engagement in
playing a musical instrument.”#
The benefits of music study continue beyond early childhood.
Studies done by the University of Sarasota and East Texas State University
indicate that middle and high school instrumental music students score
significantly higher on standardized tests than nonmusic students.* Music also
give students a noticeable benefit in understanding advanced math concepts. A
group of second-grade students were taught some advanced math concepts using
math software. Some of the test group was also given four months of piano
lessons during the study. The students who studied music as well as using the
software scored twenty-seven percent higher on tests than those students who
only learned with the aid of math software.* A study done by Dr. James
Catterall at UCLA tracked more than 25,000 students over ten years. Music
students scored higher on not only standardized tests, but also on reading
proficiency tests, regardless of the student’s socioeconomic background.*
Parents should get their children interested in music as early
as possible to reap the benefits of a good music education. Many older infants,
toddlers, and preschoolers enjoy a small group experience that gets them
listening and moving to music, singing simple songs, and experimenting on
different instruments like drums, keyboards, and recorders. There are private
music schools, Kindermusik programs, and even some good preschool programs that
can offer some very good early music experiences. One thing parents need to ask
when making decisions about early music education is whether actual
professional music teachers are teaching the music. Even the very earliest
musical lessons should have some structure and objectives, and a qualified
music teacher is needed to provide that. Some young children are able to begin
very elementary studies on an instrument. A preschooler who shows interest in
sitting down at a piano and playing should be encouraged to try some private
lessons. Violins and guitars are made in a variety of sizes for tiny fingers to
play. The key is to find a qualified music teacher who has some experience
training very young children. Whether it is a group class or private lessons,
children need to enjoy music while they learn about it.
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- Children who are involved in music lessons show greater brain development and memory improvement within a year than children who receive no musical training.
- Regardless of socioeconomic status or school district, students who participate in high-quality music programs score 22 percent better on English and 20 percent better on Math standardized exams.
- Children who study music tend to have larger vocabularies and more advanced reading skills than their peers who do not participate in music lessons.
- Schools with music programs have an estimated 90. 2 percent graduation rate and 93. 9 percent attendance rate compared to schools without music education who average 72. 9 percent graduation and 84. 9 percent attendance.
- Children who study a musical instrument are more likely to excel in all of their studies, work better in teams, have enhanced critical thinking skills, stay in school, and pursue further education.
- In the past, students who participated in a music group at school reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances (tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs).
- Children with learning disabilities or dyslexia who tend to lose focus with more noise could benefit greatly from music lessons.

Kent State University’s Online Masters Degree in Music Educationn
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