I am curious to know how long other teachers make their lessons. Judging by a few peoples comments and some advertising I have seen recently it looks like I make my lessons a lot longer than most!

For my absolute beginners I do a half hour lesson. In this time we do a couple of finger exercises, flash cards or "the running game" (finding notes on the piano), play the songs from the previous week and learn one or two new songs.

For my more advanced beginners (normally moved onto book 2) I do a 45 minute lesson during which we cover grade one scales, a dozen a day, a few songs and flash cards.

For anyone preparing for exams or at a similar level I do an hour long lesson to ensure all scales, exercises, aural, songs and sightreading can be covered each lesson.

My students seem to maintain their levels of concentration throughout the lesson, some even excaiming that the lesson seemed to go by too quickly when we finish!

But then I hear about people who teach a half hour lesson for a student preparing for grade 1. How do you fit all of the material in each week?

The only reason I have started to question myself on this one is that I recently told a parent that her daughter was ready to move onto a 45 minute lesson as we're covering more material and struggle to fit it into the half hour. She was very taken aback at the idea of a 6 year old doing a 45 minute lesson (this is the girl who always says the lesson goes too quickly!) and seemed to think that I was only doing it for the extra money.

So, I'm curious to find out how long other teachers teach for to see if my lesson lengths really are unusual or if i'm just being paranoid!

Thanks

At our Junior Conservatoire the principal study is an hour and second and third instruments are 30 minutes and there is no theory or aural in that time.
Dora

well my teacher tells me all his lessons outside the school he teaches in 2 days a week are 1 hour long.

believe this is sensible becuasein 30 mintes you just finish scales and start pieces and bam the time is already up. In 1 hour there is even time to do 15 minutes theory as well.

Most of my students' lessons are 45 minutes. Some are an hour, some - mostly younger ones who haven't a long attention span and those whose budgets are tight - are 30 minutes. My lessons with my own teacher are an hour and a half.

My lessons are 45 mins or so, no-one is after me and my teacher sometimes lets the lesson run over a little bit.

The first 10-15 mins I do theory work while she marks the homework and the remainder is spent on the piano. I normally have a couple of books going at once and with aural, sight reading, scales and dozen a day we don't get through everything but start where we picked up last week. Although the aural work definately gets neglected, such a shame

All 45 mins apart from one talented 8 year old where I do an hour and one tiddler who had 30 mins.
Some of the 45 mins do run over though to an hour without any problem.

My lessons are mostly 30 mins for younger pupils and / or lower levels. When they get to Grade 3 or 4 standard, I usually suggest they graduate to 45 minutes. A few have lessons lasting an hour. But there's no hard and fast rule; it depends on the individual. Often, for those having a 30-minute lesson in the weeks leading up to an exam, I add on an extra 10 minutes where needed to make sure we cover all aspects, and then revert back after the exam. It seems to work well.

My private lessons are half an hour. At work it depends on the school, what the music service has suggested, how much parents are willing to pay etc. I teach college students for half an hour or an hour, high school students from 15 mins (!! - not my choice!) to half an hour, and primary school students from 15 mins to 20 mins.

Our peri lessons are 20mins either in a group of up to 3 or individual for GCSE music, or 30minutes individual for A level...I suspect if my teacher needed to make up his hours my parents could offer to pay for an extra 15/30mins (if finances were solvent enough). At present I get whatever the school pays for me to have as they pay for GCSE and A level music instrumental lessons.

That's about the same as me. About Grade 4ish, up to 45 minutes, about Grade 6, up to an hour.

In the run up to exams I've started running aural classes at the weekend, with two or three pupils at once. Seems to be giving people a bit more confidence.

I don't seem to have any trouble fitting in scales and sight reading, but then we work on them all through the year, not just when folk are working on an exam, so a little time in the lesson seems to go a long way.

My standard lesson is an hour. Anything shorter for someone who isn't a beginner is just too short. Even with an hour I find that I don't spend as long as I would like on things.

I have 1 student who just started and he just turned 6 - he is having 1 month of 30 mins then we're upping it to 45 mins.

I also have a student who has 2 lessons a week, each one for 1 hour and a half.

My own lessons when I had them were for 2 hours and if I had the money I would have had that twice a week.

When I moved to the UK, I found it bizarre that lessons were only once a week and for maximum 1 hour! How the teachers who do 30 mins cope, I don't know!

My teacher does 30 mins or an hour depending on the level. But I do my theory and aurel at music school on saturdays so I don't do any theory or aurel in that time. I am preparing for grade 1 violin. But I do a lot of practice at home every day. Although the 30 mins does seem to go much to fast.

My pupils all get 30 minutes with the exception of a student who is preparing for grade 7 who gets 45 minutes. The students getting 30 minutes range from total beginners to grade 4/5. So far it works well and if anyone needs any extra help they get it in the form of an extra lesson at some point in the term before their exam. In their lessons they all do scales/exercises and two or three pieces. Their results are good so I'm happy with that!

Don't most study guides etc say that people's concentration dries up after 40 minutes anyway?

I also work as a choral conductor and so am accustomed to running rehearsal where I have to rehearse a whole mass, anthem, psalm and hymns in an hour, so maybe I am just not used to taking very much time over things!

They will vary : some will have 30 minutes, some 45, some an hour, depending on age, experience on the instrument etc.

45mins - over running to an hour if there's no one next and we're both having fun.

Extremely young beginners (age 4/5) have 15 minutes (but these are rare and hand-picked).

Some school lessons, and younger private pupils are 20 minutes, and the average is 30 minutes. Grade 6+ I like to give at least 45 minutes.

For some of the children round here, I think that it would be very hard to fit an hour into their schedules (between the tennis, drama club, etc etc).

My normal private lesson is 45 minutes. I have a few 30 minute pupils, generally at the younger end or beginner level. I'm going to encourage a couple of those to step up to 45 minutes next year. I have just arranged to teach one pupil for an hour, which is consolidating her two lessons a week into one (she has one at school and one at home at present).

My college lessons are usually 30 minutes, but I have had 45 minutes with recitalists during the last couple of years.

My school lessons are all 30 minutes.

Interesting to read this, and so many of the other contributions here.

My standard lesson is 30 minutes and has been all my career. More is available on an I-need-it, or an I-think-you-need-it basis.

My approach puts a lot of responsibility for progress on the shoulders of my pupils. I tell them what to do, show them how to do it, then leave them to do it. Sometimes this works, sometimes not. When it does not, I am not critical; they lack experience, after all.

Using these methods, I have even prepared Grade 8 students for successful presentation to the examiner. I am not often called upon to do this, thankfully.

I've prepared a DipABRSM and music college audition candidate on 30 minutes. (She achieved both the diploma and an offer.)

Mostly 30 or 45 minutes. A few very young ones start with 20 minutes.

I find it interesting that most people in this thread have said they do 30-45 minute lessons. I was expecting that more people would give hour lessons as the norm, with 30 mins being for younger kids or those who couldn't afford (either for lack of time or money) a full hour every week.

It is probably to do with us all having different approaches of course, but what I don't get, is how a half hour can be made good use of.

For example: student coming in, setting up if it isn't a piano (but even then they have to get their books out and adjust the stool) asking about practice done during the week, takes a couple of mins. Then listening to a student present the work they've done for instance, takes about 5 mins in total maybe. Plus a few minutes at the end to consolidate what we've covered in the lesson and to clarify what it is they need to prepare and work on between now and next week ... that takes up about 10-15 mins in total. In a 30 minute lesson, that gives you 15 mins, or a bit more, to work on whatever it is you are going to do in that lesson! In a 1 hour lesson, that is still a quarter of the lesson, but it leaves around 45 minutes to work on things.

Fabulous. Goes to show what can be achieved by a determined student.

Most of my young ones have 30 min lessons, with more advanced ones having 45 mins. I find that I nearly always overun anyway, and my students are used to this and don't seem to mind. I just find it hard to watch the clock and be strict about stopping on the dot. The upside of this, of course, is that lessons overlap and the students get to hear each other, which I like. I often involve them in the other's lesson!

violin is 45 mins and that always seems to short. piano is 1 hour, we do 45 mins of piano and 15 mins aural for my exam in a couple of weeks, after the exam I will go back to 45 mins.
I had 30 mins until I was working for grade 7 on violin and grade 8 piano.

Longer lessons are obviously ideal for more advanced students, but there's the not-so-little matter of whether they can afford it. One of my students had to do grade 7 on half an hour per fortnight as money was so tight. She achieved a merit. Unfortunately we don't live in an ideal world...
Also - a consideration if this is your sole income - longer lessons mean fewer students (because of time not money). If one cancels for a reason you wouldn't charge for it's a bigger chunk out of your income. I am happy we can cover things in 45 minutes for up to grade 8. I would like longer with my diploma students, but again, it's a matter of money for them.

I think that you've probably over-estimated the amount of time it takes to set up (even if it is for piano lessons) and to consolidate. I rarely ask about practising - I let the results during the lesson speak for themselves! I don't chat very much, my attitude is that the lesson is for me to hear what the pupil has to play (and to demonstrate, if necessary, myself). At the end of each piece I make some brief notes in the notebook, or if I think that may not be opened from one week to the next, on the music itself, but this takes only a minute. I would say that I hear 20 minutes of playing in a 30 minute lesson, maybe more if the pressure's on for an exam. Obviously I'll do a bit of talking about the work during that 20 minutes. That's enough for most pupils to be getting on with during the next week. Sometimes obviously I would like the lesson to be longer. I'm usually reminding them about scales or whatever as I see them out of the door!

I have found this year though that 20 minutes is a real challenge to do a good job for a grade 1 pupil. It is in school and was unfortunately due to time-tabling difficulties. I have struggled, and I'm reasonably certain that he will pass, but would probably have done better if we'd had 30 mins. Fortunately, I've been able to send home some aural work for Mum to do with him as she can play too.

Thanks for all of the responses guys! It really is interesting to see how diferently we all operate!



It would be great if this worked, but experience tells me that in 99/100 cases it just won't happen! In lessons where I have wanted to spend extra time focussing on something that really needs improvement and we therefore have not been able to play scales (for example) I will always say something along the lines of:

"okay, we aren't going to go through your scales today however i'm going to trust that they've been practiced and that you'll keep practicing them regularly throughout the following week so that they'll be good for next lesson."

Everytime this has happened the following lesson the scales have slipped. Even with the good students! That's why I prefer to cover everything in every lesson. That way it's all fresh in their minds and they are reminded about what must be practiced.

Yes, I agree that quite a lot can be achieved in a 30 minute lesson. I find I do have to keep an eye on the overall lesson plan, on what I initially hoped to get through, and on how the time is going, especially if lessons are back to back and overrunning may cause problems for other pupils. I often find I'm commenting and writing things down at the same time. Many of my pupils prepare for exams on half-hour lessons, although I much prefer a longer time for middle and higher grades. Even for lower grades a temporary longer lesson is useful if possible.

Like Susie I don't chat very much - that's not to say I'm unwelcoming or uninterested in the pupils' lives outside music lessons: a brief 'how was your week' or 'how was school today?' is enough I think at the start, but really only a minute or two before we get on with the lesson. Adults who come for lessons outside the busier times tend of course to get a slightly more relaxed time with chance to chat.

my lessons are all 60 min., apart from the ones for kids, which are 30 min. most of my students are adults and teens though.
over the years, i found short voice lessons impractical since the time the instrument/the body needs to warm up tends to be considerably longer than with other instruments.

I am a student, not a teacher, and not typical, as I am quite old and already a fairly good pianist. I get 1.5 hours once a fortnight. But most my teacher's students are children and the majority of her lessons are 30 minutes, weekly.

30 minutes is the minimum for my young beginners on piano or recorder. Theory and aural included though not always both every week.

Once they start working for Grade 1 I find 45 minutes much more comfortable for pianists but 30 mins for recorders seems still to be adequate.

From Grade 2 until Grade 4 (pianists) I insist on 45 minutes because I find it impossible to cover theory, aural, sight reading and a bit of listening plus pieces and scales in less. We don't do everything every week -there still isn't time. Grade 4 I find possible with 45 minutes if the pupil can practise sufficiently at home but some of mine can't. and I really prefer an hour at this level. I won't do Grade 5 in less than an hour.

I have one recorder player who does an hour combining Grade 5/6 standard work on descant and preparing Grade 4 exam on treble.

I have one flautist preparing Grade 3 and I have never been able to survive more than 45 minutes on flute. I've never taught flute above Grade 5.

For reasons external to music (finance, large families, boarding school etc) I sometimes have to juggle with alternating lessons or shared lessons. No hard and fast rule - just what works.

I sometimes have to explain to parents that a longer lesson doesn't necessarily mean more practise to be done at home but is rather for work that needs to be covered with the teacher present.

Mine are all 30 minutes at the moment - but as I've only recently started teaching, they are mostly beginners.

However, I've got an inherited violin pupil doing Grade 2 in a couple of weeks. It is hard to fit everything in (particularly as sight-reading is not her strong point) but she is an absolute gem with her scales, so I trust that they will be OK even if I don't hear them.

When I was learning to play piano, I had 30 minutes up to Grade 6. Then my teacher had a quiet word with my parents, suggesting that I come for an hour as 30 minutes wasn't enough. My parents negotiated down to 45 minutes because of lack of money (this was the early 90's when the recession was at it's worst) and I had 45 minutes til I passed Grade 8 and left home for Uni.

Violin - I had lessons at school in 25 minutes up to Grade 7 (and in the early grades I was sharing that with someone else too!)

All my primary children have 30 minute lessons weekly, except one who is currently having extra for exam preparation in a few weeks. I have one teenage pupil who has an hour.

I have taught adults for a range between an hour, 45 mins or 30 mins depending on what time they can fit in and what they can afford.

At school, lessons are either 20 mins or 30 mins individual lessons. Sometimes I get pairs which are 30 mins for two pupils together - these have usually been siblings which generally works reasonably well in the early stages but there comes a point when they need their own individual lesson. There are advantages in getting them to do things together but invariably they develop in different ways and have different needs so it becomes difficult to manage them both together without one getting bored or frustrated in some way.


Louise

My daughter started with 30 mins,from grade 3 it became 45 mins, she is doing grade 4 work and is still 45 mins at the moment.

I'm not a teacher, but my singing lessons are and have always been 30 minutes weekly. I'm currently preparing for grade 8 singing and that includes theory as well. I wish I could have longer, though!

I teach most of my pupils for 30 minutes which frankly for some of them is just not enough -I always seem to be chasing my tail, particularly with exam stuff. However, some of them have 45 minutes or an hour.It's amazing how much more I can cover in a longer lesson but not all the parents are willing to pay for longer or they say their child cannot concentrate for longer.
Today my 9 yr old beginner was really glassy-eyed after 20 minutes!

I think that age is an important factor. When I was a youngster at school (not too many years ago! ), all my lessons were 70 minutes in length which was, frankly, too long for a youngster to sustain interest and concentration. We were always flagging after 50 minutes or so at the outside.

However, all of my adult pupils have an hour's worth of tuition - even if only once a fortnight in a few cases. I think an adult should be able to concentrate for that long, at least. For a youngster, I would suggest 30 minutes' tuition sufficient.

Most of my lessons with pupils of junior school age are for thirty minutes. We include lots of changes of activity during the lesson and if they arrive looking very tired we spend some time on fun things for a few minutes. They all love doing aural work, echo singing, listening to me playing a piece that they are working on or sight reading a simple duet. We have scale races sometimes too, having an end of the piano each! A little fun injected into a lesson works wonders I find. It keeps everything fresh.

I love this idea! I must try to use it.

As a student I have an hour each week. Even that doesn't seem enough sometimes, it goes so quickly!

Half an hour, although with older pupils they will sometime ask for an hour. It depends on exams and work.