Advantages of Virtual Lessons

In March of 2020, Covid forced me to transition my thriving, in-person studio to being fully online. I continued this online format for two years. Recently, I've reopened my physical studio to allow for the option of in-person lessons, and while it's been wonderful to have people back in the studio, I'm realizing that there were definitely benefits to virtual lessons. The downsides are easy to point out, so let's take some time to look at some of the less obvious advantages:

Time saver

I'm a firm believer that time is one of the most precious and hard to come by resources we're allotted. One of my favorite things I realized about online lessons is that they save time for the student (and parent) as well as for me. For the student, they don't have to worry about driving to their lesson, navigating traffic, and adding to their busy schedules. For me as the teacher, I don't have to worry about using valuable lesson time for the student to set up and break down their instrument (trust me, it eats up lesson time). I've found that when I start the video session, most students are set up and ready to go. The final time saver for online lessons is that I never have to worry about a student showing up extremely early to their lesson. I have much more control over when the lesson starts. Instead of having to be prepared and ready for my first lesson 20 minutes early in case the student arrives ahead of schedule, I can be ready mere minutes before the lesson is scheduled to begin.

See where students practice

Before I switched to teaching online lessons, I had almost no idea what my students' practice spaces looked like. Seeing their at-home setup gave me insight into various things, including what distractions were working against them in their home, if their keyboard/piano or drum set needed an update, or even what was going well with their setup. This information has only helped me be a better teacher to my students. After all, knowledge is power.

Students start the lesson warmed up

This is easily one of my favorite things about online lessons. My virtual students almost always start their lesson having already warmed up on their instrument and run through their piece a few times. It makes all the difference in knowing what is a mistake caused by not warming up and what is a mistake caused by incorrect practice. We can get more accomplished in the lesson by not having to spend time getting the student ready to play at the best of their ability.

Instrument availability

While this is never an issue for my in-person guitar lessons, it is a pain whenever I'm teaching drums or piano and need to demonstrate something for the student. I either have to switch with the student or stand awkwardly over them to demonstrate on the same instrument. With virtual lessons, both the student and myself have our own instrument readily available. I can demonstrate something with zero lesson time wasted.

No germs!

Teaching music often puts me around kids, and as any parent will tell you, kids are the most wonderful, precious, walking petri dishes you'll ever meet. Since teaching virtually for the past two years, I've had considerably fewer coughs, colds, and sniffles.

Teachers learn to think differently

In a face-to-face lesson, I have the ability to reach over and adjust the student's hand. No matter how many times I try in virtual lessons, though, I can never quite seem to reach through the screen and fix their technique. At first, this was the most frustrating thing in the world. Over time, though, it became one of the greatest gifts I've had in my teaching career. I've discovered more ways of explaining concepts and techniques to students than ever before. As a teacher, this is a huge boon. Not every student will understand the same explanation or metaphor, so the more tools you have in your teaching belt, the better.

Study with anyone

Online lessons have also opened up the possibility to study with any teacher no matter the distance. There is something truly incredible about technology's ability to connect us on a global level, and it's even more amazing when it connects two people who want to create music together.