Make More Money Teaching Online Group Music Classes
Have you always wanted to teach online group music classes but didn't know how to start? This is the perfect place for you! In this episode, we dive into the tips, tricks, and strategies that make group classes a fun, efficient, and effective way to expand your music studio and engage your students.
Enjoy The Transcript From This Episode!
Happy Monday. If you're tuning in the day that this episode goes live, I'm so happy that you're here. This show is all about helping you become a better business owner so that you can not only teach more students, but increase your income and get more time back for your creative pursuits. You don't have to be teaching all the time and charging nothing. You can charge a premium, so that you can work your own hours and have more time for the other things you enjoy.
In today's episode, we are talking about teaching online group classes. This is one of my favorite topics to talk about because it's one that some teachers feel very hesitant about. If you've never done group classes, then you are going to learn a ton of new ideas. And if you've been teaching group classes already, I hope to share with you some new ways to be creative with your teaching and maybe give you some new ideas.
I've broken this topic down into three sections. The first one is why teach group classes? Then we'll talk about all of the benefits of group classes and then third, we'll talk about how to choose what type of group classes to add to your studio.
Why Teach Group Classes?
First, there are a lot of reasons to host group classes, and all of them benefit different studios differently. Group classes could be offered as a monthly makeup class for those who missed a lesson that month. This can help you to avoid scheduling nightmares, and parents no longer plan on being able to reschedule every single lesson that they cancel. If you've had issues scheduling tons of makeup lessons, I love this option. The best way to introduce them is to start with one group lesson, add it in at the end of the month, for a Friday or Saturday. Maybe you decide that for your studio, your online group class is a great performance opportunity. Maybe you teach a theory subject, and it gives your students who had to miss class a chance to make up for that lesson without you having to reschedule an entire lesson for each student.
Another reason to teach group classes is to add value to your studio. I love talking about adding value to your studio because the more things we have packaged in our studio, the more opportunities we have to market ourselves and to charge more for lessons. This also gives you further chances to connect with your students and teach them additional topics. I have several teachers in the program that do weekly theory classes, and these classes are a great opportunity for students who want to go deeper into theory, to take that dive, because you have that extra time with them.
Increasing your income is another great reason to teach group classes. With group classes, you are adding variety to your teaching and bringing more students into that 1-hour lesson, so you're making more money in that hour. That is a huge draw, and wanting to make more money is nothing to be embarrassed about. You're a business owner, and you should be thinking about these things. So maybe for you, that’s the number one reason to add group classes into your schedule.
Hosting group classes can also be a great way to create a community between your students. For you, as an online teacher, you have students that are in all different places. Students are more enthusiastic about learning when they feel like they have others by their side learning with them. Then they get excited about learning and get a sense of friendship and community from your lessons. Participation will also be higher when you have groups together, because they want to perform for one another.
Beside all the reasons that are business-beneficial, group lessons are fun! They are so much fun, especially when you come up with a framework that you love and that works well for you. There is less pressure in group lessons, because there's a social element where students can see other students struggling, having questions, and doing well. Some of them might feel a lot of pressure, or feeling some perfectionism, with the one-on-one lessons. In a group, they’re able to feel like they’re not alone in their struggles, which can be really beneficial for their journey as a student.
Benefits of Group Classes
Okay, number two, we're going to talk about the benefits of group classes for the student, and there's some in here that you probably haven't thought of before. Why do we teach? We teach because we want to impact and help our students grow as musicians. And I think sometimes, we get stuck in this very traditional way of thinking. We only think about the way we were taught or about what the norm is. We don't think beyond the traditional one-on-one 30-minute lesson where a student comes to your house. There are so many other ways to be creative. And when we focus on the benefit for the student, and think about how the student is learning in the rest of their daily lives, then we can come up with all kinds of ideas. Then our focus shifts from the typical day-to-day, to what is best for the students.
There are so many benefits of group classes. It exposes students to a wide variety of repertoire. It provides limitless performance opportunities for students. I could talk about this so much, I could do a whole episode on the benefits of performing for others, especially when a student is online. We need to make sure we are giving them opportunities to play for one another. It helps them develop performance confidence and poise. It encourages the development of critical thinking and problem solving skills. It's a dynamic and motivational learning environment that can challenge students to higher levels of preparation and commitment. It's an excellent format for teaching functional musicianship skills. It facilitates the study of ensemble literature. It's a great chance for you to have students learn how to play with one another, how to play duets. This might be more possible with your in-person group lessons, but if all of your students have a high-speed Internet connection, then they can actuall play duets live during the group class. It's also a great environment for the students to study piano technique as a group, and it encourages the development of strong rhythmic senses. So many benefits.
What Type of Group Classes?
Lastly, we're going to talk about choosing which type of group class you should offer and create in your studio. There are so many ways you can bring group lessons into your schedule. Now that I have coached thousands of teachers, I have heard a lot of ways that you can use group classes. I've taken some of these ideas from teachers that I coach and what they are doing, as well as things that I have implemented in my own studio.
The first idea is doing a monthly group makeup class. I mentioned this in the beginning, but this monthly group class could be a theory class, performance class, composition class, or a practice session. You could offer two different class times at the end of each month for those who missed a lesson to attend live. What I really like about this is the fact that you're making it their decision. You're making them take responsibility for missing a lesson, then giving them the choice of making it up. And I just love that because if you have a large studio of 30-40+ students, you don’t have time to make up every lesson. If you are still doing makeup lessons, I would challenge you to stop doing that, because I don't think it's a smart business practice to provide those. Group classes could be a great in-between alternative to just canceling makeup lessons altogether.
Another option if you would like to do one group class per month, is to make it replace their one-on-one lesson for that week. I did this for two or three years in my online studio. Basically, the last week of the month was a group class, and we got to focus on other topics during this class, and I would alternate each month. So one month we do composition, performance skills, improvisation theory, music production, creating a YouTube channel, recording skills, et cetera. So I did that. If a student had a normal lesson every Tuesday, the last week of the month, they wouldn’t have their Tuesday lesson, but instead they would have a group class on Friday. Then I had it broken up into different times on Friday afternoon. I think I did a 3:00, a 4:00, and a 05:00, and I broke them up into three different groups, and I loved it. It was so fun, and they loved it as well, because they got to perform for one another. They got to see their friends. It was really great. Another option is supplemental group classes offered to all of your students. So this is something they would pay separately for. It's an additional group class that maybe you offer on Saturdays or on Fridays. Lastly, you could call it a monthly workshop, with an additional cost.
I would never underestimate group classes. If you think about the need for education and the desire a parent wants for their students to have more education, you can see the value it has. I say that because a lot of teachers may be thinking that it’s a lot to ask of the parents or that they can’t afford another class, or they don’t need it. Well, you actually don't know that. So you won't ever know either, unless you try it. I would say adding a monthly workshop could be really beneficial. Let’s say the last Saturday of every month, you rotate those workshops and are charging for those. Let’s say it’s a $50 workshop that you just add onto their tuition, so it can be an optional way of adding group classes. And then the last and the most obvious type of group class would be group classes in place of one-on-one lessons with your students.
I do have teachers who are shifting from teaching one-on-one lessons to only doing group classes. Some of them do offer the one-on-one lessons, but only for their most advanced students, and they charge quite a bit for those, because of the time it takes to do the one-on-one lessons versus the group class. But if you really do think about it, it’ll be worth it for the students, even if it is an extra price. If you’re having a hard time figuring out the worth of different classes, you can check out the pricing information we have inside the membership when you join. I don't want you to think of it as dividing your hour rate into parts. That's not what you are doing. That will lessen the perceived value of your studio. If you normally charge $60 an hour and then you only charge $10, they're not going to take that seriously. You can. If you’re not comfortable with that, then you could charge a little bit less. Maybe you charge two thirds of the price or $10 less per hour than normal. It's up to you. So they're paying that same 30-minute rate, but they're getting the hour-long group class with lots of options of how to do it. I don’t want you to think you’re dividing your hourly rate into six people's worth. That's not true. I wouldn't suggest doing that.
Start Today!
I want you to think about how you could start implementing group classes periodically into your studio. When could you offer these group classes? How does it fit into your schedule? What do you like to teach? What is something that gets you excited about teaching? And how can you start implementing a little bit more of that in your lessons? You don't have to wait for a brand new teaching year or a new semester to try any of these things. You could start tomorrow. You could start next week or next month. Just go for it. Stop questioning yourself. Stop hesitating and making excuses and start now. Start trying things that get you excited and help you better understand what will work for your students and what will work for your business. I hope that you have at least one or two ideas that you can implement right away. I want you to be willing to try new things with the pandemic as well. I know that you've been through a lot, and look what you've been able to do with online lessons! I am continually blown away by teachers' ability to adapt and embrace new things. Group classes may feel like it's another step and another learning curve, but I know there are a ton of benefits and the biggest being that can increase your income beyond the “normal” student schedule. And if you are creating these group classes online, you can take those students with you anywhere. That is the biggest, most amazing thing about teaching online. You can take your teaching with you anywhere.
Please leave a review on iTunes
Please don't forget to review this podcast on iTunes, your reviews mean so much to me! Your reviews also help other teachers find the podcast and know that it's one that can benefit their business as well. Click the link below to review the podcast:
Don't forget to watch my free masterclass!
I'm currently running a marketing masterclass - have you taken this free class yet? Click here to sign up for an upcoming time!