Pros & Cons of Skype Piano Lessons & Music Lessons Online

Convenience

 
PROS

• No travelling is needed.
• Lessons are taken at home.
• No need to collect your sheet music to take to your lesson.
• Lessons are instant the moment you are connected.
• Both student and teacher can instantly perform on their own instrument (without needing to switch places).
• No one needs to be house proud.
• Students are in a stress free pre-lesson frame of mind (free from anxiety caused by travel, traffic and possible lateness.
• No waiting in a teacher’s waiting room if the student arrives early.
• Transient students/families can take their teacher with them wherever they go.

CONS

• No time to yourself in the car travelling.

Choosing the best teacher

 
PROS 

• Tracy’s experience in choosing teachers is extensive (having worked in music education for many years).
• Our teachers are the best and hand picked from many candidates from all over the world.
• Teachers actively search us out wanting to work with us.
• Students are not dependent on local teacher availability.
• Students can easily capture their lesson as a screen recording.

   

Technology

 
PROS

• Technology is constantly improving.
• Free video apps and software are readily available.
• All you need is a computer/tablet/laptop/smart phone.
• WIFI is now generally universally adequate.
• Sound quality is sufficient for teaching at all levels and improving all the time.
• Teacher/student screen sharing, it’s easy to see the same piece of music you’re working on.
• Interactive on screen white boards can be shared between teacher and student.
• Annotations can be made on electronic, on screen scores or sheet music, while screen sharing with students.
• Theory is easily taught online through screen shots, annotations, shared interactive on screen white boards, etc.
• Music is widely available to purchase online and instantly downloaded.

CONS

• Sound quality is better live in the room.
• Technical issues can arise which interrupt a lesson. Fortunately they are rare and if they do occur, lesson time is made up elsewhere.

Skype music lessons online

 
PROS

• Fewer environmental distractions as lessons online are naturally much more focused.
• Student’s families can watch the lesson in progress at home or from anywhere in the world.
• Students can take combined lessons with friends or family at home or from anywhere in the world.
• Pre-lesson preparation such as warm ups can be practised immediately before a lesson (not possible when travelling to a traditional lesson).
• Practising is much more beneficial if taken directly after the lesson (not possible when travelling from a traditional lesson).

Miscellaneous

 
PROS

• You can’t catch a cold from you teacher.

Padagogy

 
PROS

• Students hand/finger/body positions cannot be physically enforced (potentially bad practise in traditional lessons).
• For online teachers, it’s natural to demonstrate hand/finger/seating/body positions without physical contact .

Performances

   

• Students can enjoy performing to anyone in the world, through small practise sessions together or large scale annual online concerts.
• Friends and family can watch live performances, live streamed from anywhere in the world.
• Students form anywhere in the world can arrange to play together.

CONS

• Duets or ensemble performances cannot be performed in real time online.

Cost

 
PROS 

• With WIFI, mobile and computer technology now mainstream, no specialist equipment needs to be purchased.
• In many cities, lesson prices can be much more expensive than online lessons.
• Travel costs can be excluded.
• You don’t have the added expense some teachers charge for travelling to you.

 

CONS

• Depending on where your Skype teacher lives, their lesson prices could be higher than local teachers.

Human aspects

 
PROS 

• When our teachers have met their students face to face they feel they know each other, as if they were taking traditional lessons.
• Students can meet, work together and share experiences with each other, from all over the world.
• Students can enjoy sharing discovering each others’ cultures though meeting fellow students from all over the world.

Exams

 
PROS 

• Exams are optional because we are a student centred school where we teach each student depending on their specific needs.
• We are an accredited MTB Exam Centre, an Exam Board that enables students to sit exams online. So we can guide you through your exam, recorded online, in your own home, wherever you are in the world.
• If you prefer to take ABRSM Exams, there are exam ABRSM centres in 93 countries worldwide. We can make all the arrangements for you to sit ABRSM Exams.
• Our teachers have experience in teaching music for many different exam boards.

 

 

Contact me for a chat here