What are online piano lessons like? (and do they really work?)
Sometime back in 2019, I was chatting with a business mentor who was insisting I should move my business online.
“The internet is the future of education. You should get in now,” he told me.
“No way! You don’t understand how piano lessons work. There’s no way I could teach effectively online,” I responded, shaking my head.
Enter 2020, and COVID-19…. and, well, we all know how that went.
Suddenly, in March 2020, I found myself transitioning my entire studio of 40 students over to online lessons, with exactly one day to plan it all out and learn how to use zoom.
The first couple of weeks were stressful, and it felt like I was learning how to teach all over again. But, I figured my students could probably benefit from having at least one consistent, positive thing every week in the midst of so much upheaval and uncertainty, so I was determined to stick it out and show up for them. Since we were all adapting to something new, I decided that if each student learned one new thing each week and left the lesson with a smile, I’d count it a success.
Over time, I found myself getting more and more comfortable with a new lesson format and learned how to add all the fun extras like theory games and improvisation back in to lessons. And now, over a year and half later, it’s safe to say I’m a convert to the magic of online piano lessons.
I have students that started as brand new beginners during the pandemic lockdown that are thriving, playing beautifully, and loving their lessons. Some eventually switched back to in person, but others have stayed entirely online. My studio now includes a mix of local in person students, local online students, and long distance online students spread over five different states and three time zones.
So what do we do in an online piano lesson? And how do I keep online piano lessons fun, engaging, and musically productive?
It starts with good equipment
In order to teach effectively, I need the best possible equipment on my end. My current setup allows for a full body side view, close up views of arm and hand position, overhead view of the keys, and picture-in-picture combining both overhead and side cameras. I also have a good quality microphone and a business internet account to protect from slowdowns at busier times of day.
Add in use of Zoom’s screenshare to learn new music
In an online setting, it can be difficult to make sure young students are looking at the right place in their sheet music. Zoom’s screenshare feature makes it easy to learn new music symbols and write in reminders together- simply snap a picture of the page we’re working on, screenshare the image, and draw away. I can even point along as the student plays to help them track the written notes.
Blend with lots of games
Thanks to the ingenuity of a few teachers in the Vibrant Music Teaching community, I have an enormous (and growing) library of music theory games stored on my google drive. When students of any level are working on a new concept, I can pull up the appropriate game in google slides, screenshare, and away we go with a fun game to reinforce everything from white key names to reading on the staff to analyzing chords with roman numerals. (Teachers: if you’re not a member of VMT yet, go join right now! It’s more than worth the cost of membership)
Throw in a big pinch of rote songs
Rote teaching is a staple of all my beginning piano lessons- students are capable of playing musically complex, engaging music long before they’ve learned to read all the notation symbols. Rote songs in the first few years of lessons allow students to explore the full range of the keyboard and develop musicality and hands together coordination from the very beginning, and feel like a “real musician.” Rote songs in an online lesson help students develop a strong ear, musical memory, and independence.
Mix it all up, and bam! Fun, engaging, online piano lessons!
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I’d guess a video is worth even more than that. So rather than write a million more paragraphs talking about how effective online piano lessons can be, I’ll leave you with this: Miss G. started online piano lessons at Music con Brio in June, 2020. Here she is performing on her first recital in November, after lots of dedicated practice.