Cello for 6 year old - Class or Private lessons

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Hello, I have a 6 year old daughter wanting to learn the cello. What is the best way forward..?

She could learn 1:1 in school or at home.

Or she could join a music academy for young string players. They don't have 1:1 lessons but have small group teaching, Kodaly, ensemble etc going on.

For a string instrument player, is it necessary to learn and play in an ensemble?

At that age, I would really recommend having lessons out of school where you are able to be involved as well.

It does depend a bit on the individual child, but we found everything worked a lot better where I was able to see the teacher weekly and know what DD needed to work on - and also step in if she was having problems during a class (I never sat in on lessons, but would be in next room etc if needed).

The group class at the music academy might be a good way of starting off if the kids are all well matched for experience and age - and then move to individual lessons once she's got started and is still keen.

We did find with a couple of instruments that DD started at 6/7 that we needed to take a break after a year or so and then DD has gone back to them later, but that was a maturity thing more than anything. Going back has been a big success and she made incredibly fast progress when she did and more than compensated for the gap.

My dd plays cello. She is now 17, and has a music scholarship (cello is her primary instrument).

she started when she was 4, through school, in a whole class (I know, totally bonkers!) lesson. As time went on, classmates dropped out each term, and by year 2 she was in a group of 3. They all went on to have individual cello lessons, and all still play now.

ds also played cello for a while - he started age 4 too, in a whole class lesson, and carried on until about year 6. He started individual lessons at the beginning of year 2, due to more children dropping out faster. He still plays instruments (guitar and drums), but has now stopped cello.

I would try to assess the quality of teaching in the different settings. Playing as a whole group gave both dd and ds a fantastic grounding in group playing, which can be hard to achieve (without adding another activity on another day) if having individual lessons at home, but had its drawbacks too, especially at the beginning when there were so many of them (progress was not very fast, initially, but it came together really well)

DS (8) started cello 6 months ago. His teacher also teaches in group lessons for school but we have chosen 1:1 with her outside school. Personally I would always go for 1:1 as it is more tailored to child's ability and need. For example teacher is able to skip some content and teach some more advanced topics as he could do it. We have no experience in group lesson, I also only had 1:1 lesson for piano so can't comment.
DS's teacher also runs ensemble, which is really beneficial and I hope DS will join once he advances a bit.

My DC did the Kodaly Saturday music school. DC had been since they were 2yrs doing a 45 minute kindergarten class, which they loved. Started a string instrument early in yr 1 and hated it. It was a long day.

It was badly timetabled so we were in school early doors for 4 lessons (2.5 hours worth - group, choir, musicianship and individual) with a massive gap after the first lesson. By the time DC had 30 minute instrumental lesson (last of the day) they were exhausted and fed up.

I will say it is a fabulous school and the teaching second to none. I was really upset to have to leave but it just didn't work for us at such a young age.
We did agree with school to change the timetable for the next year but travel was also a major issue (technically it's 30 mins away but in reality it was a two hour round trip). Also these are the years for whole year school parties so spending 9-3 every Saturday going to and from a school wasn't ideal.

Now in year 2 now DC does a 20 minute individual lesson on the string and 20 minutes on piano at school. They are loving it. I find the notes from the teachers far more use than sitting in the class taking notes (although I think some teachers are much better at giving notes than perhaps the one we had!).

From the amount of home practice DC gets and the fast progress they are making (since they are now happy to practice!!!) I don't think the extra 10 minutes matters and I'm happy to keep it at 20 minutes for a good while longer.

Doing it at school rather than at home frees up the evenings for other things and it doesn't bother them if they miss a bit of playtime to catch up on class work. I do think shorter individual rather than group is more effective - especially in the early years for strings when holding it correctly and getting a nice sound is a major issue.

DC does also attend a different Kodaly based music school (London Youth Conservatoire) but just for 2 hours (consecutive choir and then musicianship classes) and it is 15-20 minute drive away and we are home by 11.20am! I may move string in a year or two to the music school, but piano will stay at school as DC loves the teacher (and although I haven't met her we communicate really well via email and her practice book).

Hope my ramblings help

2.5h music lesson at y1 is really long! Even with breaks, I am not surprised your DC is fed up!
My DS started piano at y1, 30min private lesson. He had good attention span for his age but even for 30 min I could see him getting fed up towards the end. He now does cello and piano back to back (conveniently the cello and piano teachers are married so it's just 1 trip for us) and he's old enough to last through those lessons which often would overrun.
I agree especially in the early years of learning any instrument, private lessons are better because they get more attention to correct bad habits, like bow hold for string instrument, hand posture for piano.

Between at school 1:1 and at home 1:1, I would always choose at home (or at teacher's home) where I can listen to the lesson. It means we know what DS needs to work on and can supervise during practice. DH has zero music knowledge but now he knows quite a bit and managed to get DS to play dynamics effectively before his piano exam when I was away. It also brings us together as a family. My parents did the same with me.

The 2.5 hours wasn’t a problem. They just didn’t like the individual or group lesson, if they had the length of the day (even with travel) would have been fine (was at school 7.45 to 4.15 most days with no issues) I was just trying to make OP aware of how a Sat music school usually works. They are a massive commitment . Some kids love it some don’t. Mine prefers the new Saturday school as if you don’t have your instrumental lesson there you can pick and mix, making it much shorter, so they can do other things on the weekend. You can’t have an instrumental lesson without doing the whole course though (choir and musicianship). Also they won’t let you sit in.
My DC doesn’t want them at home as they weren’t keen on me sitting in lessons and then correcting (as per teacher instructions). We are both much happier now I just listen to the pieces. I can read music etc so know if what DC is playing is correct and sounds ok and I do break it down and go over wrong notes, phrasing etc.
Some advice I was given is to let the teacher teach them in the lesson and let them perform at home (and give feedback). So any big issues I pop the in the book for the teacher to deal with. I’m not a string player anyway so this works well.

Compared to last year DC is happy and speed of progress excellent. So I’m a big fan of lessons at school, especially if like my DCs they have other afterschool options on offer. All children are different. At least mine never hid under the table and refused to go to their individual lesson… I saw that happen a few times 😆
iMO I think that at this age (KS1 and even KS2) good quality musicianship classes are just as important (maybe more) than the individual lessons.

My dc started violin at 5. Initially they had a private 1:2 lesson (twins) then, in addition, joined a Saturday music school and took part in a singing and rhythm class as well as a string starter ensemble. It required a lot of input from me when deny were young but now they are very independent when it comes to their music. The ensemble definitely helped them progress, they’re in a chamber orchestra now.

My DD started 1-2-1 cello lessons just after she turned 5 and has been doing for 2 years now. I find it quite helpful to be there at the lesson myself so that I have an idea of what she has been taught. That way I can make sure she practices regularly at home. I would say 6 is a good age to start but still quite young to practice independently.