Every parent wants the best for their kids – the best schools, friends, interests and activities. And a great many parents would also like their children to be involved in music in some way, whether through singing or playing an instrument. Music, whether in a private or group setting, can provide countless benefits to any child.

Research has shown time and time again that learning and making music in a group setting has a few added benefits, including improved quality of life and deeper relationships, over solo classes. Parents who worry about their kids making friends should seriously consider group music classes for their shy children. The benefits of being part of a group with similar interests and a common goal cannot be understated. In fact, we’ve collected just a handful for the benefits you can see in your child after just a few group lessons.

Greater Interest

One of the very first things that group lessons can do for your child in increase the level of interest they already have for playing music. This is thanks to the greater levels of interaction between students with similar interests. A student and their teacher might have a bit of a generational difference between them, leading to more formal conversations. While in group lessons, however, there is little to no communication barrier between students, making learning much more of a group activity from the beginning.

Improved Technical Music Skill

As a pretty dry, often boring, and sometimes challenging subject, music theory is not for the faint of heart. But learning theory in a group gives the teacher more opportunities to present the subject matter in more fun and engaging ways that can help all the children in the class enjoy it more, and learn it more easily. This goes for ear training too.

Overcoming Shyness

Private lessons can mean a lot of pressure on a child, but playing in a group can relieve a lot of that stress by helping them relax and enjoy the music more. Since playing with a group means playing music in front of people every week, children will become less inhibited, and more confident with their instrument. If your child is on the shy side, group lessons could be just what they need to overcome their insecurity and build some confidence – with a ready-made group of like-minded friends!

Less Pressure

Another benefit of group music for kids is that group lessons and ensembles take some of the pressure off learning. Many people, kids and adults alike, avoid starting music lessons out of fear around starting something new, and being embarrassingly bad at it. Far too many potential music students picture sitting in a room, just one-on-one with their instructor, and get horrified at the idea that they may not get as good as they want, as fast as they want. They worry that the things they think they’ll be bad at will be obvious and terrible.

But group lessons can help relieve that pressure, whether it’s real or just in their head. Small mistakes get lost in the sound of the group, progress is made together as an ensemble, and the act of learning is supported by the entire band or orchestra. The more relaxed atmosphere helps many children relax a bit more, and just enjoy the music they are helping to create.

Versatility

Thanks in no small part to the inevitable diversity in a group music class, the teacher is often able to expose the class to a wider variety of types of music and instruments than they would be able to in solo classes. This can lead to more musical curiosity, as well as an enhanced level of flexibility and versatility in their playing.

Reinforced Learning

Even if your child participates in one-on-one lessons with a music instructor, playing with a group can still provide them with some benefits. One of the more important of these benefits, especially when it comes to their progress as a musician, is how playing with a group can help to reinforce what they have already learned by themselves.

Usually, general techniques are taught within the confines of one-on-one lessons, with these techniques being built on with the entire ensemble. Student of all ages can better understand why they learned to do something in a particular way when it fits into place with the rest of the group. This in turn can help them to be more engaged and motivated to progress even further in their technique and musicianship.

Motivation & Competition

As a parent, you already know that nothing motivates a child quite like their peers. In solo lessons, the only people pushing your child to improve is their teacher, you, and hopefully themselves. On the other hand, in a group lesson setting, your child will be motivated and inspired to work hard, try new things, and keep up with the progress of the group. Group lessons, and playing with a group in general, encourages positive competition, pushing students to learn from and encourage one another to improve.

Teamwork

Every parent knows the importance of teaching their children the value of teamwork. Most of the time, the go-to teaching method for this lesson is a sports team, and while that is a perfect place to learn how to work with others, it is not the only place those skill can be taught. If you have children who are less interested in sports, group music lessons can teach teamwork just as effectively as any team.

For children, playing with an ensemble can teach them how to work as a team by teaching them how to let go of their own ego to benefit the group. Regardless of which part of the piece they have, be it harmony or melody, they can learn to listen and communicate non-verbally as a team to bring the music together.

As you can see, there are many benefits from playing music in a group. Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to have this idea that they or their children will progress faster in an individual setting. And while for some people that may be the case, music is usually best when shared, and playing with a group adds in all the ingredients needed for full and complete training built on a solid foundation of technique, as well as these social benefits. In fact, many students will actually progress just as fast, or even faster, in group classes. In the end, if you’ve decided to stick with just individual lessons, you might be missing out on something amazing!

Check out all our group classes and ensembles and sign up today!