Hello my friend. I very much hope you, your family, your friends, your teachers, and your students are healthy and well. Today’s post is not what I had originally planned, but given the unprecedented time we’re in, I felt it would not be prudent to share what I had originally planned. It’s day will come, but for now I’d like to discuss online lessons with you. My entire studio (5 teachers and myself) will be transitioning to online lessons next week. We’ve done online lessons before for students who are sick or who’s parents aren’t able to bring them in, but never to this scale. And I’m finding that a lot of teachers who don’t specialize in online lessons are struggling to wrap their minds around how this can be beneficial to their students, so I polled some online music teachers about the benefits of teaching online. Here are their top 10 responses. 1. Continuous Learning
It’s well established that music is best learned uninterrupted, continuing online when not able to meet in person keeps students from losing progress that they worked so hard to achieve. 2. Keeps normalcy With so many other things changing in their world, children appreciate their normal lesson with their music teacher. And this is one of the few activities right now that some children CAN continue. 3. At-Home Set Up You get to see their at home set up and offer suggestions and guidance for improvement. 4. Convenience Parents & kids, and adult students, love how easy it is to jump online. A 30 minute lesson takes 30 minutes, no drive time no waiting because you had to get there early. Parents can make dinner or do household tasks. Student’s get to play in the comfort of their own home, where they practice…which leads me to my next point. 5. Playing Their Own Instruments Unlike other instrumentalists, pianists almost NEVER get to play their own instruments. With online lessons, however, their playing on their piano in their practice space. How much better does it get than that? 6. Playing an instrument eases anxiety. I’m just gonna leave that one here. 7. Online Lessons Can Feel Different Stay with me here, it’s not a bad thing. A change like this can put a spark back into their lessons. If you have a student who has been blasé, this could be the change they need to reignite their love for their instrument! 8. Attention and Focus Are Developed Students engage differently with teacher, music & instrument. They have to listen carefully & watch more more attentive & aware. We as their teachers have to choose our words more carefully. It actually motivates the students to stay more focused and pay better attention to the details. 9. Independence Skills You are not there to physically point to a note on the page, so they have to learn to find the note you're talking about. Students have to turn their own pages, they have to learn to count measures, write their own assignments and notes. It seriously ups the responsibility game. 10. It’s Super Fun No really, it’s so much fun! As one teacher said, "Kids are amazing and funny and creative. Run with that!" Play games using their instruments as the game board. Have flashcards dance across the screen. Be silly. Be enchanting. Be compelling. Be YOU! BONUS! One Word: Pajamas! You get to wear pajamas and you get to wear pajamas and you get to wear pajamas and you get to wear pajamas! Which benefit do you like the most? Which one do you see fitting your students/studio the most? Download a PDF of this list to share with your studio parents and teachers.
1 Comment
Shana
4/19/2020 03:47:00 pm
I love this! Music lessons are such an important part of our lives. It does relieve stress and it can be really fun especially if you had a day full of online school. If you have a child at home that loves music and needs something extra to keep them occupied I strongly suggest giving Miss Christie a call at Bravo Music Academy. Even if you dont live any where near Dennville, NJ, she can make it work for you!
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