“WOW, that lesson sucked today.”

I’ve heard that statement over and over again from experienced group piano teachers, newer group piano teachers, and myself at times…Especially when we are just starting to teach group lesson.

When we are juggling multiple students at the same time, whether at the same level or different, it feels like we have more days where we just feel like the entire lesson went up in flames (at least more often than we ever felt when we just taught 1:1 lessons).

And when that happens, it can feel like starting group lessons was a mistake.

Why did we do this to ourselves?

We were so comfortable…

…but were we, really?

| If everything was going perfectly in our 1:1 studio, then we probably wouldn’t have started looking for other answers. 

Table of Contents

1. The “Perfect Lesson” Myth

2. Elsa Had It Right All Along

3. You’re Doing Better Than You Think

The “Perfect Lesson” Myth

But don’t we forget that so easily when things get hard?

I am going to say something controversial that’s going to make you squirm a bit: We are the ones making it hard. 

Before you think this is some type of toxic positivity post where I tell you to “put on a smile and choose to be happy about it,” there is a very real problem within the mentality of most piano teachers:

Somewhere along the way, our profession absorbed this idea that every minute of lesson time must be optimized for growth. We track, assess, plan, and measure constantly…because we care deeply about our students’ progress.

| But progress in music (and especially in children) isn’t linear!

Some days, they’ll successfully complete 3+ songs in a single lesson.

Some days, all students are actually participating & engaged in the weekly game.

And other days, they’ll crumble halfway through their assignment and tell you about their new favorite show instead.

And both of those days are okay.

Because sometimes the real lesson isn’t always in the music.

Elsa Had it Right All Along

If this sounds like a relief as you’re reading this, then you’re probably putting way too much pressure on your expectations of what progress & results should look like each week.

When my son is doing cartwheels in the outfield at his T-Ball game, his coach could care less.

When my daughter gets overstimulated at dance and puts herself in a corner with her arms crossed while her peers are all participating, her instructors let it go.

| And yet, my kids are still learning and have a great time.

Other extra-curriculars don’t hold themselves to this unrealistic expectation that we seem to hold over ourselves as if it was the “gold standard”.

So that feeling that every minute must be efficient?
Let it go.

And that expectation that your lessons must follow your perfect plan or else the week is wasted?
Let it go.

What about that pressure to produce sight-reading masters, creative improvisers, confident performers, and theory whizzes all at once?
Let it go.

When we stop trying to manufacture progress, we make space for authentic growth.

You’re Doing Better Than You Think

Now I’m going to place some responsibility back on you: if we are choosing to make our lessons feel hard and like they’re failing because our expectations remain unchecked…

| We can ALSO make the intentional decision to let our expectations go and it will feel easy again.

Maybe your student spent 5 minutes telling you about their pet hamster.
Maybe they clapped a rhythm wrong three times in a row and you just laughed together.
Maybe today, there were no major musical breakthroughs…

And yet there was still connection and growth. That connection is progress.

So the next time a lesson goes off the rails, remember this: You’re doing a better job than you think you are. And you have permission to let it go 💛