Building a Virtual Music Studio

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the face of music instruction, not to mention education in general. As US coronavirus cases began to rise in early to mid-March, it became clear that in-studio piano lessons were not only wise, but against most local business mandates. I am fortunate to be a member of the Boulder Area Music Teachers Association (BAMTA), and my BAMTA colleagues sprang into action, organizing meetings and a special webinar around online teaching tools. For many of us, this was new information, and it was both exciting and a bit daunting. Most of us had already started to teach lessons over Zoom, FaceTime, or Skype, often with just a tablet or laptop by the piano, hoping for a good enough connection to be able to hear our students clearly. One of our members, Sherilyn Coldwell, shared her most excellent setup with us, walking us through basic teacher necessities: a good mic or mics, an external webcam to allow for different keyboard views, speakers or good headphones, and a USB hub to connect all of these to a laptop. I stumbled through those first months of online teaching, adding what I could when I could (a shortage of webcams, for example led to price gouging and long delays in shipment). I upgraded my Zoom membership from free to professional (worth it!), purchased a Blue Yeti microphone, put in my order for a Logitec C920 webcam, and experimented with laptop and mic positioning. For a more in-depth summary of ideal setups for both teacher and student, check out Sherilyn’s excellent online teaching page. Now that we’ve been teaching this way for months, it’s starting to feel normal, productive, and sometimes quite fun! There are upsides and downsides to online teaching and learning, but I am grateful for the ability to teach this way for now, and as an option for the future. It has allowed my students to have the consistency that is so important for learning, and has continued to provide income during this time when so many are losing jobs.