Disclaimer – I know this won’t work with all siblings, but if you have a couple of little angels or “best friends”, you may discover that the following experiment can work for you too!
On Wednesday afternoons I teach piano to two delightful brothers. Recently, their mom had a baby, so needless to say, things for mom are a little busy.
To help ease the pain (hey… I’ve been there!) I offered to keep both boys in my studio for the full hour so she could have a little break with just the baby. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this new arrangement. Would the younger brother happily read on my studio couch while his older brother learned piano? Would the older brother happily do the same?
As it turns out, the results of my unintentional experiment were remarkable!
Kids Are Social Creatures
Both brothers (granted… very well-behaved brothers) turned out to be very patient. But as you might expect, after about 20 minutes the younger bother would start to get a little antsy.
Did this interfere with the lesson? Quite the opposite!
Rather than make the younger brother sit and squirm, I instead invited him to join in on his brother’s piano lesson. After all, I quite often spend the last 5 minutes of a piano lesson playing a game to reinforce whatever we’ve been learning in lessons anyways, so having an extra player just added to the fun.
I then carried the piano game on for 10 minutes… which also wasn’t a problem because it is not uncommon for me to begin a piano lesson with some sort of game.
Did You See What Just Happened Here?
So, if you’re following along, here’s how this arrangement played out: both brothers received their regular piano lesson. On top of that, because we combined the last 5 minutes of one lesson with the first 5 minutes of the next lesson, each brother actually received a 35 minute lesson, and because we normally play piano games for 5 minutes of every lesson anyways, no lesson time was wasted!
As a lovely addition to this arrangement, the youngest of the two brothers is so determined to “keep up” that his at-home practice time has increased in leaps and bounds as he works to be on par with his older brother. A little friendly competition can do wonders!
Could this work with Non-Siblings?
I love any opportunity to facilitate family music making.
But I also intend to experiment with a few non-siblings in my studio as well. I see it as a win-win. Not only do only my piano students receive an extra 5 minutes of lesson time, but they get to take advantage of all the benefits that come along with learning in a social environment.
There are of course a few obstacles that might derail this experiment… and it may turn out to be more hassle than it is worth, but as the saying goes…
There is no fault in trying and failing, the fault is in failing to try.
Wish me luck 🙂 … and if you are feeling brave, and if you too schedule siblings back-to-back, I’d love for you to give it a shot and let me know how it works out!
Where To Find Games For Your Newly Discovered Lesson Time
These two brothers have been having a blast playing a new game each week from our newest project PianoGameClub.com. If you are looking to engage, motivate, and educate your piano students, all the while having an absolute blast, check it out here!
antonia says
go for it – my students love it!
I teach 45 minute lessons and one of my special studio feature are the “overlapping lessons”. That is: one student comes 10 minutes earlier, the next stays 10 minutes longer = 20 min lesson time together, great opportunity for games, playing duets, playing for each othr and and and ..
no extra charge, if one studnet is ill, the other one has his normal 45 min.
Very easy to establish and everybody is happy!
Angie Tse says
I also run overlapping lessons for pupils of similar levels or siblings. I find that this helps the piano ‘buddies’ bond. I use the overlap time in the same way as Antonia’s description above. Great for motivation and progress.
natalie whittington says
I overlap as well. I have several siblings and non-siblings playing duet or ensemble pieces, so it gives them a chance to rehearse their song together. plus it gives them a partner to play against in games instead of beating me all the time!
Abigail Poirier says
Ever since I’ve been using “Ribbit Rhythms” I’ve been overlapping most students. It works well!
Lisa says
I do this whenever I can. It is a lot of fun for the students to play games together! Many of my games are more fun with more people.
Cherilyn says
I always have siblings together in the studio. I live in a rural area where any break for moms and dads is welcome, and parents can get errands done in an hour better than half an hour. Usually students work on homework while waiting, but I have activities and a digital piano with headphones for extra practice time (it also has games and scores of features my students love). I have started doing more games though at the half-way point, and the kids love it! If there are any behavior issues, a quick text to mom solves it really quick.
Christie says
I use this technique to help myself out when I’m running a little behind. If I am 5 minutes late to end a lesson, I will try to play a game at the end of the next student’s lesson and bring in the following student too. That way they both get the time they are paying for by doing something fun and musical with another student and I get caught up on my schedule. Works great!
Jeanette says
I have overlapped lessons to work on duets. Sometimes a young student’s attention span is used up before the extra minutes are used up. But working with a friend is fun for them.
Tanya Brooks says
I have several families with two or three siblings. I always have them come together. It gives the parents a break and it makes for lots of possibilities to have fun making music together with rhythm instruments, games, ensembles, etc. I grew up in a musical family so it also keeps me motivated! Typically, one has free time (or does their homework), one has lab and the other is having their lesson. Then they switch. If I want one of them to play along with the other, I just pull them to the piano or violin and they love it.
Jeannie says
I also ‘babysit’ for siblings because it does create new lessons and the kids love it — and yes, the parents get to go to the grocery store. I have a digital piano with headphones but I also have a computer next to it with nothing but music games (CD Rom) so no one gets on the internet and get into thing they shouldn’t. It is more fun on a computer with a big monitor to play games. win-win situation!
Heather Kolankowski says
Love it! Been overlapping for years! Your games make this so easy to do! I even go so far as to try to schedule families with similar level children at the same time (I have more than one teacher at the Studio). The children make friends too, which is awesome for a solo instrument! Thank you for your amazing insights and teaching games!
Brian Jenkins says
Working on my undergrad my teacher would often overlap lessons as a way to give her students a chance to perform. Often we would spend the last 15 minutes of lessons just performing for her next student. She would also invite comments from the student. It was a great chance to have a chance to perform, and also to learn to analyze music and become a better teacher in the future as well.
Rebecca says
I do this a lot too. My favorite is a mother-daughter flute duo who both around the same level. We warmup together at the beginning and eventually will do scales together (when they’re ready!), and at the ‘overlapping’ time I have them play duets instead of me playing one duet parts. So much fun!
Jennifer says
I’ve also combined students. I had an older student who was waiting for a parent while a younger student was getting ready to play. We did the Kick Flix game. I used two sets of cards – one for the younger and another for the older. They had a blast playing a game they wouldn’t normally get to play together. It game my younger student someone to look up to and the older student a reason to “look good”.
Lindsey says
What I wouldn’t give to just sit in on a couple of your lessons. Would you accept an apprentice? 😉
Helen says
I’ve always taught siblings together – there are just so many advantages to teaching this way. We play games together, have quizzes, play duets. When appropriate, I’ll have percussion instruments available for the ‘spare’ sibling to accompany the pianist. But my favourite spin-off is when one student wants to explain a concept to the other, thereby reinforcing his/her own learning at the same time as helping the sibling. 🙂
Mallory says
I have 2 brothers that are so precocious and eager to play more and more pieces that the only way I can fit in much needed theory games is by overlapping their lessons. This has worked really well for them, and their reading and understanding of music had leaped in bounds since I finally found a way to work in the games we kept running out if time for.
Lindy says
I am an adult student and now getting into teaching. The reason I have come so far in my piano (I simply wanted to earn a Grade 1 certificate to put on my wall, nothing more) is because of the social atmosphere of the studio I attend. Not only do lessons overlap but our teacher has an ‘open door’ policy during studio hours. She encourages students to come practice ‘on the grande’ or work on their pieces/theory throughout the week. There is a designated ‘theory room’ near to where she is teaching which she can monitor and have students help each other with marking. Students help each other with scales or with pieces in prep for exams/competitions. This adds another dynamic to learning. When students are completely done their lessons, there are board games, colouring, playing quietly with older students supervising any younger students if necessary. It may sound chaotic but it is a very calm, therapeutic environment which has created a wonderful community.
Christi says
I definitely encourage back-to-back sibling lessons. I currently have a wonderful beginner brother-sister pair who began taking lessons at the same time. While the big brother is beginning to pass his little sister in the lesson books just a bit, I have been teaching them almost the exact same material each week. I take the very beginning of the lesson time to work on theory, ear training, or a game with them together, and then divide the remaining time equally between the two of them. Whoever is not having their lesson at the time works on their theory assignment. Occasionally, if one child doesn’t know the answer to a question I ask in the lesson, Brother or Sister will jump in. In their case, Mom is an amazing model piano parent who sits in on the lesson and helps the “other” child with the theory assignment.
Rhonda Barfield says
I have shared partner time, usually 10 minutes total, with almost every student I’ve taught the past 20 years. There’s always something we can do together: music history lessons, games, duets, performing, etc. Sometimes the partners are siblings, sometimes parent and child, sometimes friends, sometimes up to four at a time. Always fun!