Hi stringplayers,

I would be interested to know what length your lessons are, 30, 45 or 60 minutes? And any views you may have on duration, frequency and the relation to playing ability.

Many thanks.

I have 60 minute lessons. I find that any shorter, not everything gets covered!

Son moves to 1hr lessons in September as his teacher can no longer cover everything in 30mins. He's probably around grade 6 standard now (plans to sit grade 7 in the spring, did grade 5 last xmas). He has an average of 10 lessons per term (ie: weekly but not in holidays).

I have 45, don't get enough done in 30 minutes but I always find the full hour tiring...

I get hour long lessons on cello.
Having said that, I did a piano diploma on 30 minute lessons because my teacher refuses to do longer lessons (she teachers around 80 pupils a week) - that was interesting, trying to cover a 35 min programme in 30 minutes! It worked though, so I suppose it's the effectiveness of the lesson which is more important than the length.

Mine range. My violin lessons used to be 30 mins, but if i had to miss a week i would do 60 mins to following week. I now do 45 mins though. My flute lessons are still 30 mins but they gonna go down to about 20 mins probably if i get them at school (argh - 20mins, it normally takes that long to set up and tune)

I have a different answer - 20

As much as I would like to have a longer guitar lesson, there's nothing I can do about it because my guitar teacher only comes into school two days a week, and he needs to fit as many people in as he can for both days.

Car Expert

60 mins.

Oh that's a point, my 45 mins was for viola.

I forget guitar is strings. *Bangs head on desk* Guitar I have 90 minutes these days, just becaus eI have so much I need to get through.

I have 30mins lesson for violin and piano. I find it comterble on the violin, but when piano lesson, my teacher sais about the 30mins beeng too short, because of taking time in getting fingering of scales right.
I am going to have 30mins oboe.

Thanks everyone for your answers. There seems to be a fair amount of variation, so I am still not quite sure what length I should be aiming for. Suck it and see I guess...

I had 30 mins a week for the last few years (except the term before my last exam when I had 2x30 mins a week) but as of September I get 2x1 hour a week, which was my teacher's idea.

An hour for guitar and cello, 30 minutes for singing. 30 minutes for trombone

Most of my teachers overrun by quite a bit though.

As do I. Whenever I feel like it

I have half an hour, I find that when I stand still for too long, especially when I stand up straight, my back starts to hurt, so that's just long enough for me. But I do have lessons through the school so they decide really.

Hello I am a 10 year old violin player. I have a 1 hour violin lesson a week on a Wednesday.

I also play in a orchestra on a tuesday for 2 hours (with a 15 minute break in the middle)
I also have go on a string course called Pro Corda which is spectacular (I recommend it)
I like to pratice my violin.

From Daisy (10)

I play violin...but only get 20 minute (max - can be 10) lessons every week.

I'm glad you started this thread, Immy, as I'm about to start viola lessons and would like to know what length to plump for. The teacher seems to offer 45 and 60 min sessions, but, owing to budget, I think I can really only do 30 mins. I'm assuming this is OK for a beginner and I can leave it like that until something needs more time and more advanced work? Having said that, 30 mins will be gone in a flash!

I had 20 min viola lessons at school and am looking at 20 min viola lessons in college, unless the teacher can teach me privately. The lesson length wasn't my choice, it was just the way the county music service operates (although my teacher was good at giving me extra time if she could)

The county Music service has 30mins lesson in Cornwall.

Yes, I find it goes by in a flash. I started with 30 minutes, am now on 45 minutes but want to go for an hour. In the beginning I found it wasn't the budget that constrained me, but the pain in my hands and the tips of my fingers of the left hand. But that passes with time and the build-up of callouses.

Oh joy! What a beauty accessory that will be!!!!

I would think 30 minutes would be plenty for most beginners from a stamina and concentration point of view. There's only so much information you can take in when it's all new! And to hold an instrument for large chunks of 30 minutes can being tiring sometimes even if you're completely used to it.

It's a reasonable place to start, and it could always be extended as soon as it became appropriate.

I don't play a stringed instrument, but on the piano I'm supposed to have one 60-minute lesson a week. However, my teacher gets so carried away (in a good way!) that the lessons are always at least 90 minutes and often 2 hours long. The current record is 3 hours! It's tiring, but we get loads done and it shows how much she loves teaching, since she only charges for one hour.

I also teach the piano to a clever 6-year-old who has one 30-minute lesson a week. After 20-25 minutes his concentration is waning, but I still think that 30 minutes is better than 20 because we can get through all his pieces in that time and even do a few scales! As time goes on, he is getting more used to sitting still for that time. Anybody else teach young children?

Same here: My piano teacher teaches for up to three hours for a supposedly one hour lesson. However, I only have a lesson once every 1-2 months when he is around and I travel to London for it.

My previous violin teacher gave me 30 minutes but now my new teacher teaches me for 45 minutes once a week. I don't think 30 minutes is enough, though, because we always ended up with hardly any time left after working at just the scales.

Yes, 30 minutes isn't enough in the higher grades. Even the scales are longer! My previous teacher used to give 30-minute lessons but would give up to an hour extra nearing exams. However she charges A LOT for the accompaniment and does not allow anyone else to do it.

My current teacher gives 1 hour lessons.

Never less than 90 minutes, which still goes like a flash. One thing I have to do though very quickly after lessons, is go through everything I have done with my teacher and make notes of each point he has raised. Otherwise I think I would forget things. Practise over the next couple of days is quite satisfying as I tick things of the list. After that I'm usually left with the real problems! The list also serves as a useful checklist before the next lesson!

I know, lessons pass really quickly but I still manage to get everything covered.

[quote name='__piano__' date='Aug 5 2006, 03:39 AM' post='370480']
I don't play a stringed instrument, but on the piano I'm supposed to have one 60-minute lesson a week. However, my teacher gets so carried away (in a good way!) that the lessons are always at least 90 minutes and often 2 hours long. The current record is 3 hours! It's tiring, but we get loads done and it shows how much she loves teaching, since she only charges for one hour.

Sounds familiar.