Dealing with piano lessons during lockdown

Here’s a very topical issue affecting us all. In my post I will talk about the impact of Coronavirus on my piano learning. Don’t be afraid, I won’t talk about statistics or forecasts!

Lockdown has been and is the most drastic measure taken in all the affected countries. Schools are currently closed and both students and teachers cannot leave their homes to go to school. It is the best way to show solidarity and help each other.

There is no other way to do it; we have to learn from home where we are safe. Each school has its own system and study platform.

MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE DURING LOCKDOWN

Like many of you, the greatest influence of COVID-19 on the study of a musical instrument, in my case the piano, has been the loss of face-to-face classes.

We are all used to receiving classes in person with our teacher to solve, among others, any doubts and correct any posture, fingering or incorrect execution that does not favour the sound of the instrument or relaxation. It is very common that the teacher takes the instrument and makes some demonstrations of how some section of a piece should be executed.

However, we now have to live without any contact, without this kind of essential help. Now we have to adapt and look for solutions so that learning goes on.

In my case, I was already used to video call applications to study piano, guitar and singing. I had also used them to study musical theory and the Russian language, activities I will comment in another post.

Here I am with my piano teacher Tamara during the face-to-face lessons.

Would you like to know which internet tools I had used before the lockdown?

Well, I have used video call applications which are very well known by all and free. Above all, Skype, Hangouts and WhatsApp. I used them at times when I travelled to Geneva and Italy and I did not want to lose the continuity of learning. Also, I used them from home at times when my teacher was out of town.

I have to say that at the beginning it was a bit difficult because you could not always hear well. We had to get used to the sound, which is the most important thing in music. It depended a lot on the quality of the internet connection and the device used, an old computer or a state-of-the-art mobile phone. And despite having a very good connection and a good device, I have always found a gap between video and audio.

So, taking over the piano study by video call hasn’t been a big problem for me. All this has been possible because my teacher Tamara also worked with me in this way in the past, we understand each other very well.

I don’t want to deceive anyone, there is always the problem of the audio due to the quality of the Internet connection and the lag. However, I prefer to do it this way before I miss the guidance from my teachers. As a funny note of these days of distance piano lessons, I’d like to tell you that even my teacher’s dog wants to learn to play the piano and to come out on the video call. Judge for yourselves. 🤣🤣🤣

Here the doggie during the face-to-face classes.

HOW DO I SET UP MY CAMERA SYSTEM?

With the experience we have, we are now able to dealing with a much better video conference, with cameras located in both angles of the piano. We haven’t changed the application for video calls, we’re still using Skype.

My dad has been resourceful and we’re using two Skype accounts to make a three-way video call – my piano teacher Tamara, a Skype account on my iPod Touch and a Skype account on my Samsung Note mobile.

Here I am with my piano teacher Tamara during the distance lessons with video call.

We put both devices, the iPod Touch and the Samsung Note mobile phone, on mobile phone tripods with a long pole so that the cameras have a viewing angle from above. We place each device in each corner of the piano. In this way, the teacher can see all the keys and see me too. My teacher can see the movement of my hands and fingers both from the right and from the left.

I’ll tell you a joke. In the past, during the face-to-face lessons, I sometimes got distracted and didn’t put my fingers correctly. Now I can’t do it! My teacher has a larger field of vision and can see me from the right and left at the same time. I have to be much more attentive to my position, fingering and posture. Now the teacher has more weapons to control me better. 😉

Here you can see how my teacher sees the piano from both angles.

I hope you liked it and found our camera system useful.

Thanks for reading, stay at home and don’t stop studying music!!!

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