Distance Lessons

UPDATE 2021-2022:
I'm currently offering a combination of online and in-person lessons. In-person lessons are held outdoors in Monrovia, weather permitting, with hand sanitizing, masks, and all eligible persons vaccinated before beginning in-person lessons. In-person lessons may be mixed with or changed to online lessons at any time.

UPDATE Fall 2020: Until there is an effective and widely available vaccine against COVID-19, I will be offering online lessons only. When I do return to offering in-person lessons, students may choose to attend lessons in-person, online, or in a combination of online and in-person.

UPDATE March 15, 2020: Due to the need to slow down the spread of COVID-19, all music instruction for all students is being conducted online, with no in-person meetings, starting March 16th, 2020.

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What you need:

For live video calls, you'll need an internet-connected device with:

1) Enough processing power to handle a video calling platform such as Zoom, Facetime, etc. This is most often something like a desktop computer, laptop computer, or tablet. Phones are workable in a pinch, but not ideal for long-term lessons.

2) A large enough screen to see your teacher. Again, desktops, laptops with larger screens, or large tablets are best. Some people find lessons work well by mirroring their device to a large screen tv.

3) A stable, fast internet connection. Best option is usually a wired ethernet connections, but putting your device right next to the wi-fi router and kicking other people off of your wi-fi connection during a lesson can also work well if you're having trouble with a lesson connection over wi-fi.

4) A device with a camera, microphone, and speakers.

Most laptops, desktops, and tablets have cameras and microphones embedded. Plugging your device into an external speaker with a wired (not bluetooth) connection will let you hear your teacher and their tone quality better. Often, the newer external webcams will have better cameras and mics so that your teacher can see and hear you better, in order to give the most relevant feedback. If your camera is fine, you may want to just invest in a higher quality external mic, which will give your teacher the chance to help you with better tone quality.

5) A second device connected to a second set of speakers (mp3 player & portable speaker, or a cd player/boombox, etc.) will be helpful when your teacher needs to hear you play along with a backing track.

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Online Lessons
and
Video Consultations

​Online lessons are the core teaching element of distance lessons. They take place "live", through video conferencing platforms such as Zoom, Skype, Facetime, Slack, Google Meet, etc. Online lessons occur weekly, on a day and time set aside by both teacher and student for the lesson. 

Video consultations supplement the online lessons and allow for more careful work on tone quality.

Student Videos: Students pre-record video or audio before the online lesson at a higher quality than video conferencing usually allows. The teacher gives feedback about these videos in the online lesson, or in an email or in an audio or video response. 

Teaching Videos are sometimes responses to student videos, and sometimes introductions to material the teacher thinks a student is about ready to tackle. You can see an archive of my public teaching videos at Vimeo.com. My students also receive a private, password-protected Vimeo showcase link for teaching or lesson videos specific to their needs.

Guided Research
and
Practice Time

The teacher guides the student through independent study of music theory and musicianship. Guidance is given in choosing musical recordings to listen to, in finding broadcasts, books, local concerts or music festivals, and local or online classes for the student to attend, listen to, read, and work through on their own. The teacher helps the student apply these experiences to their music lessons.

Just like with in-person lessons, the student is also responsible for practicing on their own between the online lessons. Students should take notes during online lessons as needed and can access custom recordings from the teacher through online file or video sharing services such as Dropbox, Vimeo, Google Drive, YouTube, etc. in order to guide their practice sessions.​ Apps or other practice aids may also be recommended.

In-Person Work
and
Performances

UPDATE: Note that the in-person component may be suspended until COVID concerns can be safely addressed.

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The student and teacher should periodically arrange to meet in person. The student also needs to play music with other musicians. 

Distance students should actively seek out a local teacher's group class, jam sessions, or a local orchestra or chamber music group to play music with others. Or they may need to form their own band, attend weekend workshops & summer music festivals, etc. 

The student may need to make a special effort to travel to a music festival or to the teacher's annual studio recital to meet in person.

This in-person interaction gives students a chance to play music with others, and is vital to the growth of all musicians at all levels.

If attending studio recitals in person is impossible, remote attendance can be arranged, with the student attending a live stream online, and presenting a pre-recorded video.

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