Individual or group music classes? How to decide

To advance quickly with a technical or concrete goal, the individual class usually yields more: all the time it's for you and the teacher sets every minute to what you need. A small group, however, works very well at musical initiation, to accompany songs or to sing, and adds something that the individual class doesn't give: to learn to listen to others and to play together.

The decision depends on age, instrument, goal and sometimes something as useful as having two brothers who want to learn at home.

To sum up

The individual class is best for fine technique, concrete goals and very personal advanced rhythms.
The small groups work well with musical initiation, singing and accompanying guitar as long as the level is similar.
In a group, each student takes less time but gain an ear as a whole, motivation and sense of a shared pulse.
Brothers with very different ages or levels tend to advance better with individual classes, one after the other.
The groups work better in person: in a video call you cannot play together in real time.

Individual or small group: Comparison

Differences between individual class and small group
Aspecto	Individual class	Small group
Attention of the teacher	All for you, fix every detail.	Reparation and alternation among students.
Rhythm of advance	It's up to you, both faster and slower.	It fits the group and someone may feel retarded or hurried.
Technology and posture	Fine and constant correction.	More general correction and individual remains for practice at home.
Play with others	Just if his teacher's with you.	From the first day: a shared pulse, listening, and entering in time.
Reason	It's more up to you and Repertoire.	The group pushes and creates commitment with partners.
Repertorio	That's his choice.	Negotiated and have to serve them all.
Horarios	That's easier to agree and move.	Several people or families have to be coordinated.

No choice is better at all. What changes is what you prioritize: individual depth or shared experience.

When the individual class best

Instruments with a lot of technique at firstas a violin, cello or wind, where posture and sound require constant correction in the first few months.
Specific and date targets: an audition, an [university entrance test]](/preuniversitario-musica) or a repertoire for an event.
Students who need their own rhythm, because they go faster than the average or because they need more time at every step.
Adults who prefer privacy To be wrong without an audience, especially with a song, where many beginners feel bad at first.
Filling agentsThat we have been trying to achieve and we have been trying to achieve this.

When a small group works

A small group isn't a massive class: they're few students with age and level alike and a teacher who can see and listen to each other. It works especially well in these cases.

Early music education

With children 3 to 6 years old, class is game, song, movement and rhythm. To do with other children is natural: they are imitated, they wait for turns, they listen and enjoy rounds. [Music initiation]](/clases/iniciacion-musical) That's probably the format where the group contributes more.

Guitar to accompany songs

When the goal is to play chords and scrape to sing, a group of two or three people advanced quite well: they all practice the same chord changes and play together and force them to maintain their pulse. To aim at tipting, reading or classical repertoire, the individual class of [guitar]](/clases/guitarra-acustica) He's more likely to surrender.

Singing

To put something that the individual class doesn't teach about: tuning with other voices, keeping your line while someone sings another different and intermingling your bell with that of others. Still, vocal technique - breathing, registration, care of the voice - works best individually, and so many people combine [singing] classes](/clases/canto) with a choir.

Friends or partners

Learning with someone close to them holds his motivation and converts his practice into a plan. It works if they both have a similar commitment and if one lacks a great deal, the other end up with a brake. We give you more ideas about Learning music with families or partners.

What if they're brothers?

It's one of families's most common doubts. Sharing class looks as if it's best but it's not always what's best. It's up to the age difference, instrument and personality of each.

Brothers: What a format usually works
Status	What usually works best
Brothers and sisters 4 and 6 years old, both at a musical initiation	Shared class: The game and songs work well with partners.
Brothers and sisters with different instruments with 8 and 12 years old	Individual classes followed, with the same teacher if you teach both instruments, or with different teachers.
Mills with the same instrument and level	The shared class can work, keeping an end to a competition.
One advances far faster than the other	Separate class before one gets frustrated and the other gets bored.
One's shy and the other gets his attention	Individual class, at least at first, so that the most quiet person has his space.

A midterm option: individual classes after each other and sometimes a few minutes to play a song together. Thus each person advances at his or her rhythm and his or her music becomes something they share at home. with home classes this is comfortable, because his or her teacher can care for them both at the same visit.

A teacher's advice: avoid comparisons. A "look at how your brother's already playing that" demotivates more than any technical difficulties.

How to set up a small group that works

He's looking for a level that's something. That's the factor that weighs most: a big difference frustrates some and bores others.
Take care of age. In children, a few years difference greatly changes care and interests.
They have an equal goal.: play songs, prepare a sample for families, learn how to read.
They figure out what's wrong with someone missing.: if the class remains unchanged or if the content is adjusted.
Name a person to coordinate timings and timings with his teacher.
Each person practice his or her own. The group does not replace individual practice at home.

A note about online groups: by late sign, students cannot play together in a video call, so the class becomes a succession of shifts and the others wait. That's why the groups work best at home and they usually agree with the individual class. If you are deciding between modalities, check [home or virtual classes].](/blog/clases-de-musica-a-domicilio-o-virtuales).

Signs that formatting should be changed

In the group, it's always the same student that's sitting back or that's ending up waiting for others.
A good part of the class goes about organizing the group and there's little time to play.
In the individual class, a child felt under pressure or lost his or her motivation and a small group could give back his or her gain.
Someone who started up as a group now has a concrete goal, such as an audition or a recital.

To change format isn't to step back: it's to put class back to stage. Many students start as a group, move to individual class as they wish to deepen and play with others again in a choir, a high school band or an ensemble.

Frequently asked questions

How many students should have a small group of music?

Those that are sufficient for teacher to be able to see and listen to each and every class. At home classes, groups of two to four people are usually manageable and with more students, individual correction will be diluted.

Do a child learn more in an individual class or as a group?

It depends on age and goal. At musical initiation the group usually adds up and when a child starts an instrument with a demanding technique, the individual class allows to build a more solid base.

Can two brothers have class with the same teacher?

Yes, if the teacher teaches the tools that each person wants to learn. They can share the class or have individual classes followed by them and best decide with the teacher after meeting them both.

What's best to learn how to sing, individual classes or chorus?

They are complementary. The individual class works with your technique, your registration and care of your voice. The choir teaches you how to tune with others and listen. Many people start with individual classes and then add up a choir.