I started online lessons at the beginning of Lockdown and was intrigued as to what the best approach would be.
Unfortunately, due to the unavoidable latency between the student and myself it meant I could no longer play along with my students, which I was very disappointed about as I am a strong believer in music being a collaboration and that it’s more fun when you’re playing with somebody.
I had to adapt my teaching style to make the lessons as effective as they could be, I started by making backing tracks and typing out the music so I could screen share the document with the students. I use Zoom for my lessons and that has a built in virtual whiteboard, so I could draw out examples to explain further the lesson topic. The other big advantage is that it enabled me to work on some crucial music theory knowledge with the students, which they’ve all agreed has been very useful, even if it isn’t the funnest thing in the world…
The only downside I have had with online lessons is that it’s harder to be impulsive. Sometimes a student turns up to a lesson with a particular song or idea to work on, but due to the fact I have to plan and prepare everything in advance it’s hard to have that spontaneous but relevant tangent that has been led there by the students line of questioning or input.
Overall I would say online lessons have been a very positive experience, now that I’ve had a few months to perfect the approach and teaching style, the