Tag: Piano Lessons

Return of the Students

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After nearly 18 months of teaching piano lessons exclusively on Zoom, students this summer have gradually been returning to the studio for their lessons. I had become so accustomed to virtual lessons that I was almost surprised by how nice it was to once more teach in-person! The returning students are older, taller, and more mature. The students I have only known “virtually” are a bit nervous, but excited to meet me for the first time. Side-by-side, each of us at a piano, I can play along with them, watch their pedaling, and hear more closely the nuances of their sound. And how much easier it is to hear the sound up close, rather than strain to discern the sound through the distortion of less than ideal audio!

In addition to the ease of once again speaking to students face to face, we have been able to return to some of the tactile activities we used to do before the pandemic. With young beginners, especially, these activities are tremendously important. We toss a soft ball back and forth to loosen up the arms, and we march around the room to feel the musical pulse. Students are happy to once again decorate the giant grand staff on the floor with the note names. Pop-the-Pig is a new addition to the studio: students can feed the pig a hamburger every time they complete a task correctly! They love seeing the pig “pop” when they feed him enough times.

I am hopeful that we will be able to continue in-person lessons this year, although if we’ve learned anything, it is that things could change at any time. We’ve all become more versatile teachers this past year, and can add virtual lessons to our teaching toolbox. In the meantime, we are definitely going to enjoy having our students back in our studios!

  • Pop-the-Pig motivates repetitions
  • A C Chord on the Giant Staff
  • Cookie the Bear greets students on their first day
  • A new student finds all of the “C’s”

Essential Equipment for Online Lessons

This resource is for students and teachers who want to improve the quality (from a technical standpoint) of their online lesson experience.

Now that most of our piano lessons have taken place online since March, we are used to this new way of teaching, and with Covid-19 showing no signs of letting up in most parts of the country, it seems this will be the reality of our music lessons for some time to come.  Even when we eventually return to in-person lessons, I suspect many of us will keep this newfound knowledge in our toolkit, and continue to utilize online lessons in some fashion.  When this began, we all made the switch so quickly from in-person to online lessons that I encouraged students to use whatever equipment they already had at hand.   Unfortunately, the poor quality of sound and video can be a real deterrent to the effectiveness of these lessons.  Everyone has different equipment, and some devices have better audio/video capabilities than others.

I’ve identified a few key areas that can drastically improve the quality of the lesson, if both teacher and student utilize them.

Ethernet

If it is possible to switch from a wifi to a wired connection, you should do so!  It was such an easy fix to make that I am kicking myself for waiting so long to do so.  At under $25 for 75 feet of cable, this is an affordable upgrade. I was amazed at the improved quality of video, and the improved synchronization between audio/video during the lessons.  

External Microphone

Some laptops and iPads have excellent microphones.  Some do not.  A USB microphone can dramatically improve the quality of the audio, and is easy to use (plug and play).  Even if your laptop/tablet has a good microphone, having the option of an external microphone can give you flexibility to place the microphone in different locations to pick up the sound of your voice or instrument more clearly.  I have found this becomes especially important  for advanced-level lessons, where the dynamics and nuances of the music become more complex. 

Headphones

The improvement (even without an external microphone) if both parties are wearing headphones is immediately noticeable.  When students do not have headphones, I often hear my voice echoing back to me, which is very distracting, and impedes the ability to speak back and forth. I do not  recommend ear buds for the lessons.  I recommend closed-back headphones with a very long cable.  The audio is an improvement from the internal speakers of most devices.   

Those three (Ethernet, Microphone, Headphones) will yield excellent results.  

Here are a few additional ideas:

Webcam

Some webcams have good microphones and are themselves improvements over the internal microphones of laptops. I have not yet mentioned the difficulty of securing a good camera angle with a laptop or iPad, unless you have a dedicated adjustable stand.  In most of my lessons, I am viewing a keyboard from an angle too low to actually see which keys are being played.  Those students who have webcams are able to place the camera high enough so that I have a view of both student and keyboard – an ideal situation! On a platform such as Zoom, a teacher or student could easily use multiple webcams for different angles (above the keyboard, for example).

Monitor

Finally, a suggestion mostly for teachers.  My online teaching experience improved significantly when I purchased a larger monitor, which I connected to my laptop.  I kept my teaching assignments open on the laptop screen, and viewed the Zoom window on the monitor.  Looking at a 21 inch screen resulted in far less strain on my eyes than my 12 inch laptop screen.

I hope that some of these suggestions will be helpful to teachers and students as we move into a new year of online learning.

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Five Things You Can Do to Support your Child’s Music Lessons

 Parental involvement in music lessons is one of the key factors that can lead to a successful year of study.  Not sure how to get involved? Here are five things you can do right away.

  1. Encourage and support musical progress by asking to hear the songs your children are working on.  
  2. Help your child maintain a practice chart or log of some kind.  Consistent practicing is fundamental to success at a musical instrument.   Work with your child to schedule a time each day that can be dedicated to practicing.  Practicing happens more regularly if it is not left to chance!
  3. Find out what they are working on.  Take a look at their assignment book, or ask them (or their teacher) what their weekly assignment is.  Check in on their practicing periodically.  
  4. Communicate with their teacher!  If you do not regularly attend lessons, try to sit in once in a while.  There is no substitute for one on one communication, and actually seeing and hearing what takes place at a lesson.
  5. Listen to music together!  In the car, at home, on YouTube – whatever it is, listening to music can inspire your child. Consider attending live performances, if possible.  Ask your child’s teacher for recommendations in your area.