In anticipation of further restrictions on our movements I am transitioning all lessons to on-line. It has been going quite well and almost all students seem to have felt comfortable and those who did not I hope will be more used to our situation in the second week.
Piano students: All I need to be sure of is that I have duplicates of all your books and music. I think I have and will be making sure tomorrow. Sometimes I might need to send a pdf and ask for you to print it out for the student. In a couple of cases I might need your to make a pdf and send it to me. I will give you plenty of time.
Ukulele and guitar students: I think we did pretty well last week. I will be mostly working from the red and purple ukulele books and the new jazz material. I don’t have spare copies of the jazz book but I can order more from Canada. Songs are a bit harder but I can set songs for students to work on and then hear them online but there is too much delay for me to effectively sing or play effectively with a student.
Singers: I am sad that I cannot have you in my studio because being live is so much better, but I have spent this afternoon with Carol working on one of my high quality recorders. What I will do is record your accompaniments and put them in drop box for you. They will be mp3s. Then in the lesson you can play the accompaniment on one of your devices and sing with it so I can hear you. If time I will also record some voice exercises. This means singers need to have drop box working on whatever device you are going to use. Also be prepared for some a cappella singing which is hard but will help me hear whether you have the notes right and whether your expression and diction are appropriate
The authorities keep mentioning “game changer”. I think that after we survive this current predicament, the world of work and education might never be the same again. We might all be dragged into an online world whether we like the idea or not. It was kind of happening anyway and my partner has spent the last few years building on-line learning platforms so I am aware of the trend. I so like everyone coming to my nice studio…
In the mean time let’s do our best to make online music a happy experience by being positive and well-prepared. Parents, I do not know how you are doing this with no school but I hope some music lessons will help students to feel a bit more like normal is happening.
On another note, I am considering teaching right through April. The dentists will all be closed and we can’t go anywhere so we all might as well play and sing music. The only day i will not be working will be Good Friday 4/10.
My best wishes to all and prayers for good health.
