Question: I am considering doing a weekly theory group class as a ‘make-up’ piano class. I have 32 piano students (I live in a town of 2800 people) and feel like I need to do make-ups but trying to come up with 5 to 7 make-up slots each week is difficult. Do you think a weekly group lesson for make-ups is a good idea?
In short… yes… but read the disclaimer.
Disclaimer – I am not intending this post to be “to-do or not-to-do” commentary. It is simply a post written to help any piano teachers who choose to do make-up lessons.
Group Piano Classes Add Value
Offering group piano lessons at your studio is a great way to add value to your program. Parents will appreciate the “extra” you are offering and students will appreciate the added opportunity to have some fun at your studio! If you do offer make-up lessons, then this is a great way to avoid the scheduling nightmares that inevitably ensue when attempting to reschedule students for missed lessons. Offering a group class (I’d do it once a month) gives you the opportunity to “cover” these lessons while maintaining control over your schedule. Or… offer these group classes more regularly for a nominal fee and cash in on the beauty of a group of paying students!
Group Piano Classes Build Community
Building a sense of community in your piano studio is extremely important. If your students and their parents feel connected not only to you, but to each other, your student numbers will stay strong, participation in studio events and recitals will be enthusiastic and your relationships with your clients will be healthy… all very good things! Creating opportunities for your students to get to know each other can do nothing but good.
Group Piano Classes Are Fun!
Piano can be a fairly solitary instrument. Unlike our woodwind or brass instrument friends who almost always play with a group… we pianists spend a lot of time alone. We don’t even face our audience when we perform! Bringing your budding pianists into a group situation adds a fun-factor to piano lessons that comes from musical collaboration. Your students’ enjoyment of piano lessons will increase substantially if they associate piano lessons with friendships.
Group Piano Classes Are a Great Alternative
Most piano teachers choose to offer no make-up piano lessons at all. And with a jam packed schedule, for many it’s just not possible! However, if you’re feeling the need to make-up missed classes, then group piano lessons are a great option. Not only is it an efficient use of your time (one lesson vs. many) but you also avoid having your clients cancel with the assumption that their individual lesson will simply be rescheduled at their convenience. Group piano lessons enable you to maintain your clients’ appreciation for your flexibility without sacrificing your personal time.
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Kimberly Bennett says
I don’t offer ‘make up’ classes. Parents understand that if they have to cancel, I don’t carry over payment for that lesson. I ask parents to try to switch with another student if they can’t make it to a lesson. But I do hold a theory group class once a month which I charge an extra small fee for and parents don’t mind paying, and my students really look forward to it!
Karen says
I don’t do “make up” lessons for students that forget their books or go on a trip or something like that. But i do make up if I had to cancel or if they were sick or something. That is IF I can find a time to make it up. I don’t charge by the lesson, so the fee is still the same if they miss.
Elizabeth says
This summer I am exchanging one week of private lessons for a group session in my studio. They will be based on age and involve games, mini recitals, crafts, and a snack. I try to make up all the lessons that I have to cancel for health or family reasons, if not I reimburse the student. However, lessons that they cancel are not made up unless it is convenient for me, about half the time. There are those parents who INSIST and continue to harangue me until I make them up. I guess I should get a backbone about it, since it is in our policy that they WON’T be made up. Still learning how to do that though!
Patricia says
Another way to handle make-ups (and this is not my original idea-I got it from the piano adventures teacher forum) is to hold a make-up week at the end of each semester. Put in your policy that if they miss one or several lessons during the semester, they are entitled to ONE make-up during make-up week. The make-up lesson will be at their normal time. If they had perfect attendance, they get a free bonus lesson!
And I love the idea of group lessons too! 🙂
Jan says
Giving make up lessons creates all kinds of slippery slopes. I have it in my policy that make ups are not guaranteed, but if someone will be on vacation, I will need 2 weeks notice to reschedule. Just this week I got an email from a mom expecting me to give a make up lesson because she scheduled her son’s birthday party during his lesson time next week. I told her I’d think about it and get back to her. She informed me that she would never expect me to make up an absence without notice but on the rare occasion that she gives advanced notice, flexibility on my part was important to her. What to do?? My policy states that if people choose to schedule appointments, or other activities during their lesson time that they should be willing to forfeit the lesson. This mom has been late to lessons on many occasions, yet her boys have received the entire lesson anyway because I didn’t have anyone after them and was able to do it. I don’t know if she even has thought about those occasions, but the birthday party request is definitely a touchy subject for her.
Cheryl says
When I was a child I took piano classes weekly starting about aged 8 to 14 years old. In those years, I never “made up” any classes. If I missed one, I missed one. We just started off where we left off. In other classes other than piano that I’ve taken as a child and adult I do not remember anyone giving students “make up” classes. If anyone asks about make up classes I ask them how does their teacher in school do that? It always kind of surprises me that for some reason people think of piano classes as somehow “different”.
David Barton says
Group sessions are not at all common in the UK (in fact, I can’t think of any teachers who offer these – it’s hard enough getting people to commit to an individual weekly lesson!). What I do is to offer occasionaly group sessions which have a particular ‘theme’ – some are workshop based (we’ve recently done one on singing in harmong, and one on piano duets) and some, for example, offer an informal opportunity to perform.