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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask a guitar teacher to teach 3 kids?

12 replies

NameChangeAgain2 · 08/06/2021 13:36

I want to pay for guitar lessons for DC but I'm not sure how it works. I have 3 DC, 5,6 and 8. Would the instructor teach them in a group session for an hourly fee or would I need to book 3 hours? I'm just trying to get an idea of what's normal before I phone.

Thanks for any advice.

OP posts:

busybanana · 08/06/2021 13:55

I'm a music teacher (not guitar) and I sometimes teach pairs of siblings. I talk with the parent in advance and we decide together what will work. I've sometimes started off two siblings in the same lesson, if they're close in age and happy to do that, but then we've moved to individual lessons after a few weeks. I'd vary the lesson length according to the child, but it would either be 15 or 30 minutes for a young beginner. I do ask parents to stay and supervise the child who isn't being taught - I know some teachers are happy to have the other child sitting and reading or whatever, but I prefer not to do that.

busybanana · 08/06/2021 13:56

Oh, having said 15 or 30 minutes, I'd happily do 20 minutes per child but I've never been asked to!

ChangePart1 · 08/06/2021 14:01

I think the thing to bear in mind is that they will quite quickly all be at different levels, wanting to learn different pieces, studying for different exams. So while it might be possible to have a few lessons together initially you're going to need separate lessons very soon anyway.

Otherwise in an hour long lesson for three kids each one will only be getting instruction specific to them for around 20m. Which isn't a lot.

Having said that not all music lessons are an hour long, I only ever had 30m instrument lessons as a kid and then as an adult, it's very mentally exhausting. I'd be temped to ask for three 30m lessons.

DancesWithDaffodils · 08/06/2021 14:09

Lots of the school lessons round us are group lessons.
So they all go at the same pace. Much cheaper than individual lessons, but weve seen much greater progress with individual lessons. That said, if you were to monitor all the practice, you would know pretty quickly if someone was struggling because the pace was too fast rather than because they weren't practicing.

MasterBeth · 08/06/2021 14:11

Of course you could ask. And of course they will probably all learn more slowly.

UrAWizHarry · 08/06/2021 14:19

At the very start having them as a group would probably be ok, providing the youngest can be trusted to concentrate as well as the oldest, but eventually you'll be better off with shorter individual lessons to allow the tutor to help each kid progress at their own pace.

Just discuss with the tutor and see what he/she thinks would be best. Probably once they have had a few lessons you'll be able to make a better judgement as to which is the best way to go.

nancy75 · 08/06/2021 14:23

If he currently offers an hour session per child you should expect to pay more for a group session/3 children.

ChangePart1 · 08/06/2021 14:24

@nancy75

If he currently offers an hour session per child you should expect to pay more for a group session/3 children.

I had hoped that was a given, but worth mentioning in case OP was assuming it'd be the same cost for three as one!

nancy75 · 08/06/2021 14:28

@ChangePart1, never assume! I work for a tennis club, I’ve lost count of the number of times people have turned up for a private lesson & brought a friend along, expecting it to be the same price

xyzandabc · 08/06/2021 14:31

Find a teacher first then talk with them about what they think would work best. I've never know hour long music lessons even for older children, most are 30 minutes and for beginners often 20 mins.

I suspect your eldest will be able to progress faster than the youngest, so perhaps starting off a few lessons as a group but then splitting them on to a 2 and a 1 or 3 individual 20 minute lessons.

If you have them all in one group you'll need to buy 3 guitars, if they have different lessons, they can share! At least until they all do a performance together.

Trivium4all · 08/06/2021 14:49

At those ages, I'd expect private lessons to be only 30 minutes. I think I moved up to an hour at about 9 (am professional now), but know plenty of people taking short lessons for longer than that. It might be ok to start them off in a small group lesson, but like others have said, they will make progress more quickly in private lessons, and may be at different levels quite quickly. Perhaps the teacher could have a few introductory lessons with them all together, so they overcome any initial shyness, and then split into private lessons? See what they think! I hope your kids will enjoy making music!

lanthanum · 08/06/2021 17:26

If they end up splitting to go at different speeds, it can be an advantage if the teacher comes to you - the time can be divided more flexibly. We used to pay for the same block of time each week, but the division between three of us varied depending on who had an exam approaching (and we also sometimes did duets, so overlapped). Going to the teacher could mean a lot of hanging around if they're not all together.

DD's piano teacher did a trial lesson with her, and said that for some 6 year olds she'd suggest 20 minutes rather than 30, but DD was okay for 30 - it does vary how much they can concentrate. My brother was a very musical 5 year old, but although he had a half hour slot, his lesson used to end when he'd had enough.

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