Are Group Guitar Lessons Cheaper Than Solo Lessons?

When considering music lessons the question arises as to which is the better proposition, group classes with more than one student in the class or solo lessons that are one on one with the guitar teacher. For many beginners guitar lessons seem expensive and the cost of group lessons appears to be a lot cheaper than having a solo lesson, but is this really true?

In a group class setting the teacher's time is divided between the students, and although a certain amount of the class can be spent teaching the group as a whole, the teacher inevitably ends up focussing in on solo students who are having particular problems. In addition to this not all students progress at the same rate or are as dedicated to their practice, and even if students are grouped together with other students of a similar level these factors will still become an issue at some stage. As a result of this group classes are actually more expensive than solo lessons when you examine how much time is spent on each student, and how much the student learns in the long run.

The True Cost Of Solo & Group Lessons

When thinking of value for money in music lessons it is best to think of how much time is spent learning with the teacher and the cost of that time. In a $30 half hour solo lesson the student is paying $1 a minute for the teacher's time, and all 30 minutes of the lesson is spent on that student alone. The pay rate of the solo student teacher is $60 an hour.

When examining a group lesson situation I'll use a business model that many guitar teachers in Auckland are currently using. Under this business model there are 4 students in a 40 minute class and all 4 students pay $14 each for the lesson. This amounts to $56 in total for a 40 minute class, and the pay rate of the group lesson teacher is $84 an hour. If you divide the class time (40 minutes) by the amount of students (4), it shows that each student is only getting 10 minutes teaching time and is paying $1.40 a minute for this time. It's true that some of the class is spent teaching the group as a whole, but from my experience as a student in such classes the majority of the lesson time is spent helping one or two students who are having problems, and the rest of the class loses out - the time spent on each student is not equally divided even though they pay the same price.

The comparison of the two classes is below:

Time student spends learning with teacher.

Consistency of time spent with teacher.

Cost per minute.

Teacher pay rate per hour.

Student progress.

30 Minute Solo Lesson

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30 minutes

30 minutes

$1 a minute

$60 an hour

Fast

40 Minute Group Class

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10 minutes (approx.)

Depends on other student's needs

$1.40 a minute

$84 an hour

Slow

Although the 40 minute group classes appear cheaper, they are not cheap when weighing up the actual learning taking place and the time spent with each student. The group class students need to take more classes to advance the same amount as the solo lesson student (at least 3 lessons but probably more due to the inefficiency), and at $84 an hour that is both more expensive with reduced results. In addition to this most guitar teachers who teach using the group method do so because they are often unqualified, and in doing so they disguise the fact that they are charging top dollar with no relevant qualifications. For more information on qualifications visit my Where Can I Find A Good Guitar Teacher? page.

It's true that solo music lessons can be expensive, but those who are looking at taking lessons need to weigh up whether they want to pay an often unqualified music teacher an hourly pay rate of $84 for a 10 minute weekly lesson, or pay a qualified music teacher an hourly rate of $60 for a 30 minute weekly lesson. The students in the solo lessons always progress at a faster rate than if they were in a group class, and the person who gains the most from group classes is the teacher not the students. Group lessons are designed to maximise profits to the teacher as their first priority with the musical education of the students of secondary importance, and claims of providing affordable lessons for the sake of the students are disingenuous as they receive less education at an inflated cost.

Although some guitar teachers do offer quality group lessons, solo lessons from a qualified teacher will always produce greater results, and will do so for less money in the long run. Using the business model above, a year of solo lessons will be equivalent to at least 3 years of group lessons when considering outcome, which amounts to the group lessons being around 28.5% more expensive in the long run.

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