Online Piano and Keyboard Tuition.
In March 2020 I commenced teaching 100% online due to covid. As of December 2022, most pupils were face-to-face with only one pupil having all lessons online. Occasionally some pupils request a week of online for family reasons (someone is ill or their car is in the local garage for a service[MOT etc]). Before covid I was particularly comfortable with Skype, but can also work with zoom, FaceTime and What's App. In fact what works best tends to change as time goes by: with one pupil, zoom is good, but with another pupil their connection with eg Skype is patchy but with eg FaceTime the connection is fine.
ONLINE - THE ADVANTAGES: online tuition is not ideal, but is much better than no lessons at all and pupils admit that online teaching works better than they had anticipated. It also provides an incentive to practice: even some of the more committed pupils admit that their knowing that a lesson is only a few days away is a motivating factor that keeps them practising; otherwise, they tend to drift. However...
THE DISADVANTAGES: there are problems with online lessons: 1) the audio quality of the pupil's device [phone, laptop. tablet] restricts the teacher's ability to assess how well the pupil is playing: ie if the pupil's tablet/mobile phone etc has a poor quality microphone, what I hear is not a true reflection of their performance. Even with 'Zoom' there can be 4 or 5 seconds of the pupil's performance and I actually hear nothing or very little. 2) Duets are almost impossible online; however in lessons on my premises a pupil may play the right hand part and I play an accompaniment. This is not really practical when online due to the time lag. 3) Assessing the pupil's pedalling is very difficult [due to the inferior quality of the pupil's microphone]. 4) Marking theory (written work) is so much easier if the pupil is receiving the lesson at my premises.
Please go to www.online-pianoteacher.com/ for more information.
Despite my reservations above, with the vast majority of online lessons I can check that the notes played, rhythms and legato/staccato/dynamics are fine. It also provides an incentive for the pupil to practice: even some of the more committed pupils admit that their knowing that a lesson is only a few days away is a motivating factor that keeps them practising; otherwise, they tend to drift. Up until recently (2023) my best ever pupil result for an ABRSM exam was actually with a Skype pupil. I mention that to show how lessons being online doesn't stand in the road of progress; perhaps he did well despite having online lessons!
I use a Logitech C920 webcam for vertical shots of my piano as we teach in order to demonstrate more effectively.
ONLINE - THE ADVANTAGES: online tuition is not ideal, but is much better than no lessons at all and pupils admit that online teaching works better than they had anticipated. It also provides an incentive to practice: even some of the more committed pupils admit that their knowing that a lesson is only a few days away is a motivating factor that keeps them practising; otherwise, they tend to drift. However...
THE DISADVANTAGES: there are problems with online lessons: 1) the audio quality of the pupil's device [phone, laptop. tablet] restricts the teacher's ability to assess how well the pupil is playing: ie if the pupil's tablet/mobile phone etc has a poor quality microphone, what I hear is not a true reflection of their performance. Even with 'Zoom' there can be 4 or 5 seconds of the pupil's performance and I actually hear nothing or very little. 2) Duets are almost impossible online; however in lessons on my premises a pupil may play the right hand part and I play an accompaniment. This is not really practical when online due to the time lag. 3) Assessing the pupil's pedalling is very difficult [due to the inferior quality of the pupil's microphone]. 4) Marking theory (written work) is so much easier if the pupil is receiving the lesson at my premises.
Please go to www.online-pianoteacher.com/ for more information.
Despite my reservations above, with the vast majority of online lessons I can check that the notes played, rhythms and legato/staccato/dynamics are fine. It also provides an incentive for the pupil to practice: even some of the more committed pupils admit that their knowing that a lesson is only a few days away is a motivating factor that keeps them practising; otherwise, they tend to drift. Up until recently (2023) my best ever pupil result for an ABRSM exam was actually with a Skype pupil. I mention that to show how lessons being online doesn't stand in the road of progress; perhaps he did well despite having online lessons!
I use a Logitech C920 webcam for vertical shots of my piano as we teach in order to demonstrate more effectively.