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Tips for Successful Online Lessons

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Set-Up

Ideally you will set yourself up facing the student with a tripod that can easily show view of your hands and face. Be sure that you and the student are both in quiet areas, just as you would be during a normal lesson. Zoom widely regarded as the best device for online lessons.

Prepare 200%

Online lessons don’t lend themselves to the adlibing you may use in an in-person lesson. Each minute in the lesson should be prepared for in advance, and have a few tricks up your sleeve if you need more contact. Parents are asked to be present for all lessons ages 10 yrs an under.

Sample Lesson Preparation (fill in the material for each timeframe)
:00-:05 – Warm-up (finger and body warm-ups, scales, etc.)
:05 -:10 – Review last week’s assignment (you can discuss dynamics, rhythm, fingerings, form).
:10-:15- Game (see below)
:15-:25 – New Repertoire (make sure it’s emailed or selected ahead of time)
:25-:30 – Go over extra recourse (see below)

  • make sure you are keeping careful records of each student’s assignments so that you can plan the next lesson

  • Make sure all materials are emailed ahead of time and that you have a copy of everything your student will be looking at.

Games (i.e re-focusing activities) for Online Lessons

  1. Piano Safari – Pick two notes on opposite ends of the piano for two animals to start on. Then tell a story about the animals trying to get eachother – the more animated the story the better. Keep bringing the animals closer together to the middle of the piano until they reach the same note and one gets the other one.

    i.e
    “It’s lunchtime and the tiger is sooo hungry, he sees the rabbit and jumps up one octave to A”
    “The rabbit is very sneaky and sees a cave to hide in on Eb, he jumps down as quick as he can”

  2. Piano in the Dark – The student closes their eyes and you tell them a note. The student tries to find the note with their eyes closed. The trick is to locate the groups of black keys, once you find the black keys in groups of 2’s and 3’s you can find any note within! This helps students with sight-reading and performing because they don’t rely on looking at the keyboard to find the notes.

  3. Finger Play Poems – this is a great time to work on hand technique. I love this finger play poems. All finger action demonstrations can be found on video here

  4. Quiz your student on concepts they are struggling with and let them “secretly” type the answer into the chat feature. You can even use a certain emoji to tell them if they are right or wrong. While we don’t want to become distracted by the technology, when controlled it can get kids engaged.

  5. Listening Games: this is a great time to play listening games.

    1. Eartraining Superhero – Major and minor chords (tip: this can be played with even very beginners, just be obvious…for example play very legato minor arpeggios and jumpy major chords)

    2. Teen Piano Game – Relative Major and Minor

    3. Interval Escape – 4ths, 5ths, 6ths

    4. Play the first line of a popular song and ask your student to figure out the missing notes on their piano

Extra Resources That Can be Emailed

  1. Sightreading Pattern Cards – I absolutely love these cards for beginning readers. Send them in advance for an extra activity during the lesson

  2. Worksheets – Great time for worksheets to reinforce concepts you’re working on. Check out tons of fun worksheets here.

  3. Practice Aids like Over The Rainbow and Tar Pits to help students visualize repetitions during lessons.

Final Thoughts

Remember these lessons will not be an online replication of what you do in person, you will need to be creative and adjust your methods for this medium. Consider this a chance to develop your teaching ideas. Online lessons can be very successful and fun when everyone is positive, flexible, and prepared!

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