Taking My Studio Online: A Work in Progress
The current Covid-19 crisis has changed life for all of us. For me, like so many music teachers around the world, this means taking my studio online. While it’s been rather daunting, I feel privileged to be able to continue seeing my students in this way. I am happy that I can offer some normalcy and daily structure in a time when it must feel to students that their worlds are slipping under their feet.
While not everything went perfectly in every lesson, overall, I am pleased with how our first week of online lessons went. The sound and video were not -- and probably will never be -- optimal. Sometimes the internet cut out for no apparent reason … but not everything can be blamed on technology! I am still adjusting to a shift in how I must now teach, and students are adjusting to a new way of learning.
As an art, music is an embodied experience. It is difficult to communicate musical concepts without touch -- whether it’s a gentle lift of the wrist to remind students of hand position, clapping along with students to help them keep a beat, or pointing on the sheet music to where I’d like students to begin playing. Explaining things can also be more time-consuming online. As the analogy goes, with my studio, we are building a plane that is already in flight, not having had much time to prepare.
However, after a week of teaching, I have learned a few things which should result in a more-positive learning experience for students. Here are some things parents can keep in mind:
Be aware of distractions and background noise and do what you can to minimize it. Lesson time may not be the best time for little sister to play turn the siren on that toy firetruck! Dogs barking and phone conversations happening in an adjacent room can also make it difficult for students and me to hear each other.
A laptop is usually the best device for the student to use (unless it is old … in which case it may be the worst for sound quality. A smart phone, while not ideal due to screen size, may be more desirable than an older laptop.) One great advantage of a laptop is that it can provide a view from above the piano when the screen is angled down.
The position of the camera on the home end seems to have been our most common problem. If the camera is the same height as the piano, it is not possible to see which fingers the student is using or which keys they are playing. Being able to see the hands and keys from above is essential to diagnose and remedy any difficulties.
Remember, having the camera set up before the start of a lesson will increase learning time.
Even with out background noise, it can be difficult for me and my students to hear each other talk, especially if one of us is also playing. Parents can remind young students of the need to listen and take turns speaking.
As with any work, most can be accomplished when you have all your tools at hand. For music students, this mean having sheet music, a notebook, pencil, eraser, and highlighter within reach. Ideally, they should have a metronome as well. Because of the sound delay inherent in video conferencing platforms, it does not work well for students to use my metronome. You can download a metronome add for very little cost.
As with in-person lessons, it is a parent’s job to see that students practice regularly, until students have demonstrated the level of responsibility and self-regulation needed to be goal-oriented and work independently. If the student hasn’t practised or prepared for the lesson sufficiently, then a video lesson of me saying “Play it again; Try, again; Again” isn’t going to be fun for either of us! I write and email detailed notes that parents can check and double-check to be sure students have worked on every detail of the assignments so I can take the student to the next level in the subsequent lesson.
A back-up plan in case of technological difficulties that can not be resolved after a few minutes is a great idea. As every family is different, a back-up plan should be communicated between teacher and parents.
Despite some difficulties, in every case, my students came away from their first lesson having made progress. In this time of the Covid-19 crisis, when so much of what was our normal life has been taken away, we all need stability. This is particularly true of developing children, so I am happy to provide some sense of normalcy and control over our lives. I am also very grateful for the gift of music. You have only to peruse social media to find people using music in all sorts of ways to cope with our global crisis. You are giving your child a life-long gift by keeping them enrolled in music lessons. (See my Blog Post The Value of Music Education)
What have your learned about online lessons or what are you still struggling with? Leave a comment below.