This Saturday I am running my first group lesson with 8 older students ages 11-16. The theme is "performance etiquette" as we are preparing for our winter recital which is in early December.

These students range from beginner (several lessons) to 2-year intermediate students. The plan was to talk as a group about performance etiquette (bowing, stage presence, etc) using a handout I put together, have each student perform several pieces practicing these concepts, then have them critique performers of a 2006 recital at another studio that I have on DVD.

However, today I put the DVD in and it's not working. I have these students for an hour and a half and now I'm a little short on ideas to fill up that time. Most of their pieces only last a minute or less, so that will not take too much time.

The problem, of course, is that they are of such varying levels of knowledge. So I can't throw in any theory, ear-training, or basic music games. Several have not even been introduced to the staff yet. Others are through several levels of theory.

Any ideas, especially related to performance, for this group?

Thank you so much!

Jessica, is the problem the DVD or the player? Maybe you could borrow one of those lap-top players or have a student bring one to the lesson.

I have the feeling your lesson plan will occupy about 40 - 45 min, and even with the DVD, not much longer.

If this is going to be a regular event, why not expand the 2nd half of the class to include some music history. You could start out by differentiating between art music and social music. Then turn to art music and talk about the different periods. I did that last month, and Saturday, we're focusing in on the Baroque. December is going to be carols and seasonal music; January will encompass Classical; Feb is on the Sonata-Allegro form, to capitalize on our association's Sonatina Festival held late Feb; Mar, we hit Romantic, April, Impressionistic and early 20th Cent literature.

Have some worksheets they can do both in class and to take home. Some on-line research as well.

I would spend some significant time with introductions and ice breaker activities. Most kids don't like playing piano in front of complete strangers. Especially for early teens I think it would be beneficial to do something. If you want them to critique performances, how bout some on youtube? You can find the best and worst there if you spend a little time searching beforehand.