Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash
At Architekt Music Academy, we’ve transitioned to online music lessons, so students can continue learning and growing despite the constraints of a quarantine. In fact, online private lessons have been popular on other platforms for years, and we knew we could implement them effectively.
We love keeping in touch with our students and ensuring they have a great music education throughout the year, but we’ve also found some surprising benefits to online lessons to help your children become even better musicians during this time.
Teacher Sees the Practice Environment
When a student arrives at their lesson week after week with little or no improvement, sometimes the home practice environment is to blame. Teachers rarely have an opportunity to comment on this aspect of the routine, but that changes with online video lessons.
Maybe the students have too many distractions nearby -- the piano is in a noisy section of the house or near the computer in their bedroom -- or the setup doesn’t allow for correct posture. What may take a teacher months to pull out of a student (“oh, my music stand broke a long time ago!”), can be fixed in a few minutes over video.
Opportunity to Record Lesson for Review
Some students have difficulty remembering the exact assignment or the required warm-ups during the week. With digital video lessons, a teacher can record a portion of the lesson or the whole lesson for the student to reference while they’re practicing. Some education platforms allow students to record their own responses during practice times, so teachers can make sure the technique is staying strong between lessons.
Less Likely to Miss Lessons
While we can’t wait to get back into the studio and see your students face-to-face, online music lessons have benefits even without this current barrier.
For Location or Convenience
When a student moves away, many times they need to find a new private teacher in their new location. While getting a new perspective and learning from someone new may be the best route at the time, some families don’t make the transition and the student quits all together. With online music lessons, your student can continue taking lessons from their favorite teacher no matter the location.
If scheduling becomes a problem, with parents balancing the activities of multiple children, online lessons fit in conveniently no matter the distance. You can pick a time when the student is home and ready to play their instrument without the hassle of packing up and driving to lessons.
For Health Reasons
Whether a parent or another child is sick with a cold or flu, online music lessons can continue! You don’t have to risk your teacher’s health by bringing a just-recovered child to lessons -- just hop on a video call again and the education continues. This is especially helpful when the student is healthy, but the parents may be too sick to drive.
For Inclement Weather
Unless the teacher or student has a power outage, music lessons can continue despite snowstorms or icy roads. Consistency is key when learning the complicated skills required to play a musical instrument well. Missing as few lessons as possible helps students see their growth quickly!
Music Helps Process Emotions
Young students have many of the same emotions we’re experiencing as adults -- missing their friends, bored indoors, and seeing their parents stressed out. Music gives them a better way to process those emotions while building a skill they’ll enjoy for the rest of their lives.
By keeping consistent music lessons in their lives, children see another adult modeling how to adapt in times of crisis. While the rest of the “school” day feels completely different from their usual routine, their weekly lesson brings some stability. Without the burden of driving to school/lessons/activities, students will have a few more moments to practice in their day and grow more than usual as musicians.
Music lessons and practice time help us make the best use of an unusual season, and may give your student the extra space they need to find their lifelong joy of music.
