Online and In Person Music Lessons

Note: a laptop or desktop computer is best if possible, since it offers the “original sound” option, but phones and tablets will work too!

Your teacher will be able to share their screens, so you can easily follow along with any music or apps they may be using.

If you don’t have your own instrument yet, your teacher can give you suggestions on which brands to buy or avoid, and any supplies you might need. First, read the pages on each instrument here on this site, and if you still have gear questions, email us and we’ll help!

For string instruments, you’ll also need a tuner (there are smartphone apps that do this if you don’t have a physical one).

Drum students can use a practice pad if they don’t have a full kit.

A phone can be used for lessons, but a tablet is better – and a laptop or desktop is best. We don’t know how long this isolation will last, so we recommend getting a good setup to make sure that your human-to-human connections (with everybody, not just music lessons!) are as good as they can be.

A separate webcam isn’t required, but if you have one, it’s nice to have a wider view, especially in drum or piano lessons. Did you know that some phones can be used as webcams? Droidcam, an app from the Google Play store, works well on android phones, and costs only $4.99 for the paid version.

A separate USB microphone, like the Blue Snowball, can also significantly improve sound, but isn’t required.

No matter how fast your connection is, there’s a short time delay between you and the teacher, making it tricky to play along together at the same time. This means online lessons will have more of a back-and-forth feel. Your teacher will play/sing first while you listen, then you’ll play/sing. The teacher will watch and listen, then give feedback and work on improvements — and repeat. It’s important for students to allow the teacher to finish speaking before jumping in and playing on their side!

Too much backlight will throw off a camera’s light sensor and make you look very dark, so try to position the camera where your face and instrument can be seen, with light on your front side, rather than behind you. If it’s possible to face a window, that can be a great source of natural light!

For piano, a side view is best so the teacher can see your hands, posture, and keyboard. 

Your internet connection will be the most important factor in having a smooth lesson. If it’s convenient, try to connect your laptop or computer directly to your modem with an ethernet cable – or if you’re on wifi, get as close to your router as you can. If your connection isn’t great, make sure no one else in your household is downloading huge files at the same time.

If your connection seems slow, check the walls between you and your router. Some walls are thicker than others, and kitchen walls – (especially those with microwaves or other appliances) tend to be more insulated and block wifi. The closer, more direct path between you and your router, the better the lesson will be! Also note that certain things in your house, like bluetooth devices, baby monitors, microwaves, and others can interfere with 2.4GHz band signals, so if your router offers it, you might also get better speed by switching to a 5GHz connection.

Here’s a quick tutorial showing exactly where to find these settings!

You can find our teacher’s Zoom URL in the email reminders sent to you 48 hours before each lesson, or you can log into the Student Portal at the top of this page and find today’s lesson. There should be a link to the Zoom room there as well. Once you’ve been in the Zoom room once, your device should save it, so you’ll be able to just choose the room from a drop-down menu in your Zoom client from there on out.