HOW TO TEACH ONLINE PIANO SUCCESSFULLY (Part 2)
If you are approaching teaching online as the exact same way you teach in person, you will need to make some adjustments. Here’s an article about things that you may want to think about changing as you make the transition to online teaching.
Unique challenges with online teaching
In online teaching, one of the hardest things to get used to is the inability to speak at the same time, or play along with your student. Because of audio delay, everything we do on our end is heard later by the student. Have you ever watched a TV news anchor interview someone out in the field and heard that awkward pause after a question has been asked? We have the same deal when it comes to teaching online.
Give them time
Online lessons have a timelapse built in that is unavoidable. There may be a little bit of a learning curve for both teacher and student to switch to instructions that are mainly auditory. For example, when you give instructions online, you need to wait for students to process what they are hearing, think it over, and then give you back a verbal response. I find that when giving online lessons, I need to give maybe a little more time than I normally would at an in-person lesson.
Descriptive instructions
Online lessons are mostly auditory, a little bit visual (limited only by your imagination), and zero physical touch. If you are used to reaching out and manipulating fingers, or tapping a finger that is in the wrong place, you’ll have to get used to finding verbal ways of getting the same thing done. For example, if a student played a wrong note, or forgot a flat, ask them to study that bar and tell you what they missed. Online lessons are great for motivating self-learning and self-discovery on the student’s part.
No conversation fillers
Do you find yourself making encouraging noises while students play during in-person lessons? You can’t do that in online lessons–verbal encouragement makes the audio switch to your side of the conversation, and your audio interjections get heard on their side but a few seconds later. Very distracting! Students also have to get used to playing in silence until they are finished which might be different if you are one of those teachers that motivates while they are playing.
Simple short sentences
Keep it simple! I’ve learned to turn requests into simple short commands to help with the auditory processing. “From the beginning”. “Right hand only”. “Copy me” etc. In really young students, you can’t give more than one command at a time, for example: “Put your right hand thumb on Middle C and your left hand pinkie on low C” is too much to think about at once. Break it down into parts. (Younger students really need to have an older sibling or parent to sit there with them to help you here!)
Get them on the same page
Teach them to count line numbers or bar numbers. You need to work out the language that you are going to use to talk about the score. For example, for advanced students, when you want them to start in a certain place, I will go from largest to smallest, e.g. page, line, bar, beat. Page 52, line 3, bar 4, beat 2. Again, while giving them time to hear and execute your commands. For younger students, it’s easier to say “Start at the beginning” or maybe count lines. Depends on the student.
Visual storytelling
Since some students are using their phones to do online lessons, visuals may not work as easily. (If you’ve ever done theory online, you’ll know what I mean). This is where you get to be creative. You can use e-mail or your camera to take a snapshot and send a message. Apps like Zoom let you share a whiteboard–pretty handy for theory. This works better if your student is using a laptop or tablet to do their lesson on.
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