Children's Satisfaction with Private Music Lessons

Feelings of satisfaction are vital to learning because they provide the motivation necessary for children to continue to participate in private music lessons. The aims of this study were to examine factors related to satisfaction with private music lessons from a child's perspective and to develop a reliable, valid, and practical measure of music lesson satisfaction to help improve private music instruction. Factor analysis using a sample of 568 children, ages 9 to 12, yielded the 34-item Music Lesson Satisfaction Scale (MLSS), which loaded onto one unidimensional factor. Enjoyment and practicing seemed to be important to children s music lesson satisfaction, with children indicating that they were generally satisfied with their private music lessons overall. These results support previous music research. The effects of age, gender, and musical instruments on satisfaction are discussed, as are implications for music educators.