Teaching the Piano Remotely

by Alice Fiedlerová

Before the coronavirus crisis struck, I had no idea what Zoom was. After we were asked to use it, we were flooded with so much information, and so many  links and videos that I did not know where to start. Fortunately, I came across an excellent webinar that showed everything important in 30 minutes and from that moment, I started to like this application and all the possibilities which it offers.

I teach private piano and keyboard skills. Since piano teaching involves only two people, the process of learning is pretty much the same.  We did encounter some problems because of the poor quality of sound; it was improved by Enable original sound,  an audio function, and the use of a high-quality headset. One of my students came up with  the brilliant idea of  recording  the piano repertoire before the lesson and sending  it to me. Not only was the sound  very good, but this also solved the time lag problem which occasionally appears during the sessions.

One problem that remote teaching has solved is mixed ability classes.  I usually have several students who are advanced pianists and who get bored when I cover the basics with less skilled  students.  The system of asynchronous teaching allows me to assign them individual tasks which are more appropriate to their level.

I want to thank my students for not dropping the class (although they could have) and for their interest, positive attitude and hard work. One of my favorite songs which  I use for harmonization is called Lulu’s Back in Town.  I hope that we will all be “back in town” soon.