With the uncertainty of the upcoming school semester, many of our families are opting to continue lessons on line. After 5 successful months of providing virtual lessons, we have a few tips to share.
There are Some Advantages!
While definitely not the same as being right there with your teacher, there are some great things to consider when having your lessons on line. Aside from the obvious – not having to deal with traffic, not having to cancel classes for sick days or snow days – we have found that virtual lessons lead to greater self-sufficiency. The student now needs to do everything on their own. From writing down their own weekly practice goals, to carefully tracking the page on their own, this new focus has resulted in a much quicker development of their musicianship skills. On-line lessons can lead to a greater reliability and consistency, which are extremely important for success.
How to Make it Great
The 2 biggest challenges with on-line lessons are distractions and internet connections.
Until recently, home for most of us was a place to relax and enjoy some much-needed down time, not a place for structured learning. When you go in to the school for lessons, there’s the room, the teacher, the instrument – very few distractions. At home, you can be surrounded by things you enjoy doing, distracted by the pet or a family member walking by, interrupted by the phone, overwhelmed by the sounds of family life around you. Setting up your space to be as quiet and free from distractions as possible can be the key to having a successful lesson.
The past few months have shown us just how important adequate access to the internet can be. Even if you don’t have a top-of-the-line high speed internet connection, there are a number of things you can do to ensure that your lessons run smoothly. The minimum requirements are that the audio and video are in sync, and that the video is relatively fluid.
A low-quality internet connection could be your band width, but it could also be a hardware issue. Newer computing devices tend to have better wifi chips and will perform better when farther away from your router. A tablet will work better than your phone, and a computer will work better than your tablet. The farther away from the router you are, the more inconsistent your connection will be. The more walls there are between you and the router, the more your connection speed will fluctuate, causing your video to freeze or your audio and video to be out of sync. If you can’t move closer to the router, you could get a wifi booster. Sometimes even just updating the router will solve the problem.
Also make sure that you close all the apps on your device, that your device does not need to update during your lesson, and that no one else is using the internet at the same time. Surprisingly, there are also things in the house that use the same frequency and can interfere with your wifi signal – electrical panels and microwaves are common examples.
Final Touches
So, we’re ready for lessons. We have a relatively quiet spot, with as few distractions as possible. We have the internet to ourselves and have made the connection as stable as possible. What else can we do to make our on-line lesson successful?
First, we want to be ready when it’s time for the lesson to begin. Make sure your device is charged and you have turned it on a few minutes early in case it wants to update. Have a pencil and paper ready to take notes and to write down weekly practise goals.
Next, we want to make sure that the teacher can see you. The camera exposes to the brightest light, so don’t face it towards a sunny window! Think about where the teacher is in relation to you during your in-person lessons, and position your camera to give your teacher the same view. While teachers can tell a great deal by how you sound, they can help you better if they can also see what you are doing.
Give It a Try!
Virtual lessons are a safe and interactive way to continue your musical studies, or even a great place to begin. We have experienced teachers ready to bring the joy of making music into your home. Check out our website for more information.