Online Lessons: Why They Work
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of my piano teacher colleagues and I began teaching our private lessons online. As public schools and universities switched to online platforms and students and their parents adapted to new schedules and reliance on sometimes-spotty technology, online teaching felt at times like a blessing and a curse. The learning curves were steep for teachers and students alike. As I’ve been teaching online for almost 6 months now, I have honed my online teaching skills a bit, and also reflected on this new tool in my toolkit. It’s been 6 months since I’ve seen and hugged my students, and 8 months since our last recital gathering. I miss my students deeply…seeing them once a week over a screen is not the same as being together in person. While a few students opted not to continue online, most of my students have taken the plunge with me, along with a few new students who I have yet to meet face-to-face. While our recitals have been temporarily suspended (I have yet to schedule a Zoom recital but I’m considering it!), my students have made remarkable progress during this time…some even more than before. Here are a few positive things I’ve noticed about online lessons that will keep me offering them even after this pandemic has passed.
Teaching online has sharpened my ability to focus on what I’m hearing, and my ability to articulate suggestions for improvement, since communication over a screen demands efficiency.
Online lessons have provided my students the continuity needed for steady progress and musical growth. One adult student shared that our online lessons have helped to keep her sane and focused on something positive during a stressful time.
Having the technological capability to teach anyone, anywhere, has created so many new areas of opportunity. I have expanded my offerings as a teacher to include music theory and ear training, jazz and improvisation, and arranging/transcribing as my student base becomes more diverse.
Like many of my colleagues, I welcome the day when we are able to safely gather in small and large numbers again to learn and share music. But I will remain grateful for this time, which has expanded my technological, communicative, and entrepreneurial abilities and opened up new horizons for connecting with people over music.