What is the most effective lesson frequency and duration for adult beginners attending piano classes?

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Efficiently or steadily

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As I wrote in an article about practice time, the classical piano teacher I study under

There are no shortcuts to improving at the piano.

You hold the view that,

My teaching method is orthodox.

There are many teaching methods nowadays, but the orthodox approach has virtues of its own.

so they say.

Personally, I’m rather the meticulous type, and I tend to work steadily, step by step. That said, it’s a mixed bag: sometimes it’s appreciated, and other times I’m criticized as being inefficient.

It’s just that, in terms of my values—or rather, at a fundamental level—I hold that kind of mindset, so I have absolutely no resistance to starting piano from scratch; in fact, that’s exactly the kind of lessons I was hoping for.

Because of things like that, from the teacher,

I think ○○ and I have similar personalities and a similar attitude toward music.

There are virtually no adult beginners who want to learn properly from the basics in an orderly, step-by-step way.

It’s also been said that we’re a good match, so I think that’s why we’ve been able to continue with this lesson content.Previous articlesAs I wrote, this is the result of looking for a teacher who suits me.

The standard once a week

Now, regarding the number of lessons, when I went for the trial lesson, the teacher presented two options.

• One lesson is 30 minutes, four times a month (almost every week).
• Two 60-minute lessons per month

The monthly fee is the same.

As for the latter option, they kindly proposed it taking my work circumstances into account, but the instructor said they would prefer me to come without spacing out the sessions until I get used to it, and asked whether I could try to go with the former option—even if the practice ends up being somewhat incomplete.

As for me, if it had been five years ago, I think I would have gone with the latter, but given my current living situation (to be precise, as of a year and a half ago), I decided to take on the challenge and chose the former.

Until about five years ago, I was subjected to rather strict attendance rules, and I fell into a vicious, self-defeating cycle where I didn’t leave work because I had finished my tasks, but because the last train was about to depart.

Once I get home, I’ll just take a shower and go to bed.

Although that was how my life used to be, now—except during busy seasons—I can usually get home around 9 to 10 p.m.

As I mentioned in the article about practice time, because I’m able to practice even on weekdays for just 30 minutes—or, if I can’t, at least live in a way that I don’t end up bedridden on the weekend from weekday work fatigue—I’ve been able to attend four times a month (every week).

Pros and cons of four lessons per month (once a week)

Advantages

• It's easy to keep pace (since I feel guilty taking lessons without practicing, I push myself to practice—almost forcing it—even when I feel like slacking).
• If, like me, you don’t have an acoustic piano at home, you can still get to play an acoustic piano regularly once a week.

Disadvantages

• I feel reluctant to go to lessons when I haven't been able to practice.
• When I’m mentally and physically drained in my private life outside of work and piano, I feel like quitting everything all at once.
• Because the lesson times are fixed, while I can adjust my schedule within a single day, I can’t do things like full-day outings unless I skip the lesson.
• To secure practice time almost by force, I can’t easily make plans on non-lesson days either.

Supplement

Taking a weekly lesson from a teacher who follows the orthodox, traditional, standard method—what you might call the royal road—doesn’t mean you’ll immediately be given the pieces you like (want to play), so...Including in terms of maintaining motivation, I think it’s suited for people who can secure practice time—even if it means sacrificing some of their personal life outside of piano to a certain extent—in order to work through the assignments.

Twice a month to get the best of both worlds for my hobbies

On the other hand, as my own teacher also says, a variety of methods have emerged in piano pedagogy today, and among instructors there is discussion that the classic textbooks—such as Hanon, Beyer, Czerny, and Burgmüller—are not necessarily the best fit for every student.

Indeed, given the content of the lessons I’m taking, I think it would probably be around ten years before I can reach the piece I want to play.

It may not be a shortcut in terms of improving your overall piano skills, but if you just want to play a specific piece, I definitely think it’s better to study under a teacher who has a teaching method suited to that piece.

In that case, I think having lessons twice a month would be fine.

I think this lesson format allows you to maintain a good work-life balance while also valuing your private time outside of piano.

In many studios (teachers), for lessons twice a month, they schedule each session for twice the length of a weekly lesson and keep the monthly fee the same.

Therefore, I think it’s common for a single lesson to be 60 minutes long.

If you can devote a lot of time to practicing the piano, you could spend two weeks practicing extensively and also receive a thorough 60-minute lesson.

If you can’t spare much time to practice the piano, it’s fine to use the 60-minute lesson to include practice as well.

I think it’s a good idea to discuss this with the teacher during a trial lesson or something similar.

Pros and cons of biweekly (twice-a-month) lessons

Advantages

The flexibility to adapt to your circumstances at the time.

Disadvantages

You need to secure a lesson slot every other week. For example, if the schedule becomes irregular—such as having two lessons in the 1st and 2nd weeks this month, and then in the 3rd and 4th weeks next month—the benefits of having two lessons per month will be negated, so please be careful.

In a good way, I have some breathing room until the next lesson, but in a bad way, that makes me let my guard down and put off practicing.

It’s possible to attend lessons without practicing, but improvement is proportional to how much you practice to some extent, so you may end up in a dilemma like, “Considering I’m taking lessons, I’m not improving much.”

In my experience, a 60-minute lesson can feel longer than expected for beginners (they may end up with more time than they know what to do with).

Supplement

I think this would suit people who want to polish a specific piece or reach a level where they can keep going without being tied down to fixed piano practice times.

Required self-management three times a month

Lastly, although it’s three times a month, in this case the lesson duration is often the same as a once-a-week schedule.

Pros and cons of three lessons per month

Advantages

• The monthly fee is cheaper than for once-a-week (four times a month) lessons.
• Having at least one less busy week per month makes it easier to coordinate (and juggle) personal matters outside of work and piano. For example, if you have a job with weekends off and you take lessons on either Saturday or Sunday, even having one month where both weekend days are free can feel like a real relief.

Disadvantages

• If you can’t schedule lessons regularly—like in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd weeks each month—it becomes the most irregular arrangement, so greater self-management is required.
• The total lesson time per month is shorter than with four times a month or twice a month.

Supplement

I think this is suitable for people who, although they can prioritize the piano in their private life, are busy with work, as well as for those who have plenty of personal time but want to devote a lot of it to hobbies other than the piano.

The factors that determine the number of lessons are...

The above is my current thinking regarding the number of lessons.

often,

It’s important to be able to continue the lessons.

I sometimes hear opinions like that, but my view is a bit different.

While it’s important to decide the number of lessons you can attend within a manageable distance that suits your circumstances,I think it’s best to avoid having attending lessons become the goal itself.(Of course, it depends on the purpose for learning the piano as well...)

If you are attending lessons with the aim of improving,I think the most important factor in deciding the number of lessons is whether you can feel that you’re improving.

As I briefly mentioned in the drawbacks of having two lessons a month, when I was taking three lessons a month, the fact that I “was taking lessons but not improving” became quite stressful for me.

Therefore, I believe it would be appropriate to decide the number of lessons after taking into account not only the environment but also the purpose and goals for taking the lessons.