7 Tips For Your Online Music Lesson

New to online lessons? Never fear, Mr Shaun is here! By the end of this post you'll have some tricks and tips to help you be successful in your lesson.

1) Focus on Habits that Build Value

Daily practice is crucial. In my 20+ years of private teaching, including thousands of virtual sessions, I have never seen an independent learner lose value just because a lesson was online. (I'm not talking about toddler students).

Instead, the students who miss out on value are usually those who don't practice consistently, skip year-round lessons, use low-quality instruments, or don't have the right setup for lessons. Whether lessons occur online or in person, folks who set themselves up for success do best! We can make great use of our online time together if we build the right environment.

2) Setup The Lesson Area

Do things like:

• Minimize distractions: Turn the TV off and put toys away. Use the "Do Not Disturb" feature on your device if possible.

• Keep-it-one-on-one: As few people as possible should be in the lesson space unless a younger student needs help with technology.

• Don't Split Their Focus: Avoid communication with a child having a lesson. Children cannot focus their attention on a teacher and their parent at the same time.

• Use The Best Device: Some students find success using smartphones, but I feel iPads and laptops work best

• Gather Materials: Have pencils, metronomes, books, pedal extenders etc at the ready.

3) Camera Angle For Pianists

Here is one piano student's setup. It's more important for your teacher to see your feet, body, and hands, than it is to see your face in my opinion. Though I'm sure your face is lovely.

This student can easily lean into the frame to view the screen and speak with me.

4) Camera Angle for Wind Instruments

Your teacher needs to see your embouchure, body, and fingers if you play a wind instrument.

Careful to place your music stand in a place that will not block the camera's line of sight.

5) Consider Mounting Your Camera

Grifiti makes a great telescoping tripod that will work for your iPad or other tablet. It's called "nootle." I use this for lessons and gigs all the time.

The photo to the left shows the universal mount which accommodates tablets of varying sizes, including the large iPad pro.

You can order tripods and other mounts like this for phones and tablets on many websites.

Wire Music Stand Hack

If you don't want to buy a tripod, most music students have a wire music stand laying around. Use it like this to angle a smartphone or tablet.

Take note, pun intended, of the camera lens view. Carefully place the device so the lens is not covered and the view is not obstructed by the stand's metal bars.

6) Check The Time Zone

If you and your teacher are in different Time Zone, be mindful.

7) Enable Original Sound on Zoom

Zoom is built to suppress background noise, but we need background noise in a lesson. So, be sure to enable original sound. The process to enable original sound varies depending on which device you are using.

On a Laptop/Desktop:

1. Before or during a meeting, go to your Audio Settings (click the arrow next to the microphone icon).

2. Under Audio Profile, select Original Sound for Musicians.

3. Once inside the meeting room, look at the top-left corner of your screen and toggle Original Sound: On.

On an iOS/Android Device:

1. Before joining the meeting, go to the Zoom home screen and tap Settings (the gear icon) > Meetings.

2. Scroll down and turn on Use Original Audio.

3. Once you join the lesson, tap More (the three dots) and select Enable Original Sound.

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Bonus Tips

• Lighting- Be sure light shines on you, not into the camera.

• Charge your devices

• Update your devices

• Check your internet connection before the lesson.

• If internet connection speeds are slow, try turning the video off. Video takes a lot of bandwidth and we don't always need video in an online lesson.

Did you realize...

Students can take lessons when they are on vacation or out of the country. Of course you will need an instrument, but I've had plenty of students tune in for lessons from another town, state, or country. If you don't have access to a piano, for example, when you're out of town, we can devote a lesson to music theory- that only requires your theory book and a pencil.

I've worked with students who have taken online lessons from the home of a friend or family member. Changing the location of a lesson by leveraging technology can be fun and exciting. Kids, who have practiced, love letting their friends or family know they are logging in for their lesson online- I've seen it make my kiddos feel important. It's cute!

Looking forward to seeing you at our next online lesson!