HOW TO TEACH ONLINE PIANO SUCCESSFULLY (Part 1)
Teaching piano online successfully can be achieved, but it will take flexibility, ingenuity, thinking outside the box, preparation and organization. We are in the business of teaching, so online learning has it’s own unique set of circumstances that we are trying to teach to ourselves, our students, and our students’ families.
The Setup
The technology for setting up online piano lessons can be as simple or as complex as you want. Personally, I use an I-phone on a stand next to my digital piano. I have it set up as if it was taking a picture of me, so that I can talk “face-to-face” with my student. I also have another stand that I move it to if I want the student to see my fingers when I am demonstrating something.
I also have an I-Pad that I use at the same time as the phone. The phone is for communicating with the student. I use the tablet to look things up, take notes from the lesson, and follow along with the music that the student is playing. (Split screen really helps for this!)
I have my own copy of every book my students are studying from. In Canada, a lot of us teach the Royal Conservatory of Music, so I have the set of books needed to cover all the levels. Here again, you can go as simple or as complex as you want. There are some teachers that will ask the student to send a screenshot of their music so that they can follow along together. For this to work easily, it’s helpful to have a separate laptop or tablet like I stated above.
Some Challenges…and Some Solutions!
Here are a few challenges that online teachers continually run into:
Is it possible to teach younger students online?
Here is where the relationship with you and your student’s parent comes into play! The lesson turns more into a co-operative effort where the parent has to commit to sitting on the bench with the child during the lesson. Since kids (depending on their age) may have trouble processing verbal commands and converting them into a physical action, it is necessary to have the parent there to help and guide.
How much do I charge for online lessons?
Personally, I do not offer a discount for online lessons. But you can make the decision for yourself, while taking into consideration these things: 1) you do not have to travel 2) they do not have to travel 3) you may have to do a little more planning to make the online lesson happen 4) your time is still worth the same 5) you may need to make an investment in better internet, or equipment if you don’t already have it 6) you need to invest in having copies of books that you may not have. When I considered these things, I chose to charge the same amount that I do for in-person lessons.
I don’t think my students will want to convert to online lessons.
Start small. If they are coming to you now for in-person lessons, offer them online lessons as an option if they are sick. You can offer a mini trial lesson ahead of time to get all the technology and setup working before you start to officially have online lessons. You can put together a small pamphlet that outlines your expectations for the parents, the students, and how a lesson would work. The key here is to open a discussion about the possibility.
How do I make sure that students attend their lessons?
When we first set up lessons, I have the students and parents enter the lessons as a reminder in their phones. I ask them to set a weekly alarm for about 10 minutes before their lesson so that they can be in their seats and ready with their books and materials. In my online teaching, I have it in my policy that I call them. Since I have back-to-back lessons, I don’t want students interrupting other lessons, so I am the one to initiate the calls.
How can I play or count along with my students?
Here is where you need to get a little creative. In online lessons, you cannot play or count out loud with your students because of time lagging issues. While this may seem to be a challenge to some, it actually turns into a really great teaching point! In my online lessons, we do a lot of copying and listening. The students really have to learn to count on their own, and they have to take ownership of their playing and hearing abilities! I’ve seen students blossom in this area because they can’t use me as a crutch! Ha!
My internet is really slow–I live in a rural area. What are some of my options?
A cool alternative to online lessons is using video. Some teachers have successfully taught online in more of a masterclass style. Students upload and send a video of their playing. The teacher then points out things to work on and sends back a critique, either by video, or by written instructions. You can have them follow your weekly instructions and play the pieces in order, so that you can do this in an organized way. Here again, it will be helpful to have the parents help out on their end so that everything gets done.
Lesson Plans
Can we do most of the things that we do in a regular lesson? Yes! Can we still do games with our students online? Yes! But you might have to get a little creative!!!
Sight Reading
I have the 4-Star Sight Reading series at home, and I usually make sure my online students also buy a copy. But I make them promise: “No peeking ahead, and no using this book unless we are in class!”. Some parents hide it–haha! For higher levels of sight reading, I will plug in my earphones to the digital piano, set the volume level really low, put one earbud in and play along with the student so I hear wrong notes right away.
Ear Training
Ear training was built for online lessons! We do all the ear training requirements during our virtual lessons without any problem. Just make sure they can’t see your keyboard and away you go. In fact, I find that online lessons in general tend to develop their ears (and yours!). I rely a lot more on sound than on visual since sometimes, they can’t get the camera angle quite right.
Repertoire
The main investment you have to make in this area is to have a copy of their music so that you can follow along. To give notes, I teach students to look at bar numbers, and they have to have a pencil to make markings in their own score. If you don’t have a copy of their book, I get the student or parent to take a screen shot and send it to me as an image. Then I can edit or add my own markings to the screenshot using my tablet and e-mail or send it back to them if they need it.
Playing Duets
Because of time lag issues, this takes a little bit of out-of-the-box thinking. You can count in, play your part while muting the student. You don’t get an idea about how it worked together, but the student gets the joy of playing along with you. If YOU want to hear how it went, you can ask them to record themselves while they are playing along with you.
If that is way too much technology to figure out, you can always record your part of the duet with a count-in, and send it to them ahead of time so that they can play it “live” for you during the lesson
Theory
I also teach theory online, and that is also easily done with a little bit of preparation. I have a physical whiteboard set up in my teaching space, but if you use software like “Zoom” to do your online lessons, there is a built-in whiteboard feature.
I also have a magnet board that has the grand staff pre-printed on it so that I can show little melodies and chords quickly.
I have students send me screenshots of their homework so that we can look at and discuss their learning. I correct the homework right on their photo using the built-in photo editing software and my apple pencil. Then I send them back their homework with the corrections. Sometimes I ask them to do it ahead of time so that we don’t waste too much time during the lesson with waiting to receive attachments, etc.
Software choices
Depending on your equipment and what your student using, the three options that I like best are: Skype, Facetime, and Zoom.
Skype
Skype works pretty well with online lessons. You just need a Skype account and then either you or your student has to add the other person as a contact. Here’s a link to their support page.
Facetime
Facetime is my preferred app of choice, but of course both you and your student need an Apple device. To add your student as a contact, you need their phone number, or their Apple ID e-mail addresss. Here’s a link to their support page.
Zoom
Zoom works well for those that don’t want a whole lot of fuss with coordinating addresses and contact information. You set up a meeting and can e-mail the link to your students. When they do Zoom for the first time, they should click your link to your meeting and install the Zoom platform on their computers. (It takes about 60 seconds, but it’s nice to do ahead of time). Zoom has a shared whiteboard option which is really nice. If you want more information, here’s their home page.