In article ,
"Donna Metler" wrote:

Whatever happened to private music lessons. I was always the only one
in my class. Or is this in school?

There are several good group keyboard curricula, and if they're well done,
can be more effective for the first couple of years of piano study than
individual lessons. It's also more cost-effective for parents. At any level
of piano, having a group component in addition to private lessons can be
beneficial.

Donna is correct; it's a small-group curriculum. The owner was a music
teacher before joining the franchise (I discovered one of her ex-pupils in my
Breastfeeding Association group!) and strongly supports small-group learning
because of the opportunities from learning from each other, performing in
front of a small audience, and for ensemble work. Yes, it is also
cost-effective.

Having said that, my guess is that this 10 yr old really doesn't want to be
there. She's old enough that she might be acting this way in part because of
the age of her classmates-even a 1 year age range seems like a lot at this
point, and usually stays that way until adulthood, so private lessons or
school-based classes often work better, and it may simply be that she
doesn't want to play piano, but mom thinks it's a good idea.

I see a number of things going on. I am sure Mum dragged her to lessons;
there is an elder sister in another class who looks like the classic Good
Girl. Throw together a strong will, a rather pliant mother, the usual lack of
desire to practice, and (I suspect) a high but hidden level of perfectionism,
and you have a recipe for music class refusal. The pity is that she is so
used to trying for negative attention that she probably no longer really knows
what she wants out of music.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

http://chookiesbackyard.blogspot.com/