Online delivery - Pros and Cons

So, with COVID restrictions very slowly being lifted and life seemingly on track to being something that resembles ‘normality’, its perhaps a good time to look at how we’ve tackled some of the challenges Lockdown gave us. Hopefully, this can help us take a positive spin on what has been a devastating, global phenomenon.   Being musicians, a large percentage of the work we do relies on being in a social environment, like playing live music, practicing with others and teaching an instrument. COVID firmly placed a full stop on performances, so a lot of musicians turned their attention to having their teaching timetables online. 

I’ve personally had experience online with one-to-one students and groups over the last year and a bit, so now I’ve decided to compile a sort of Pro’s & Con’s list, to see if I’ve learnt anything useful I can implement going forward, maybe making this ‘new normal’ we’re heading into something far more enjoyable than it was before. 

*TRAVEL – Having amassed a large number of students over the years, one of the pitfalls I found was the fact of actually travelling to each student. I’ve tried the ‘’hire a practice room’’ approach, which wasn’t financially viable in the end, neither did I like the idea of opening up my home to an ever-revolving door of clients, day in and day out. I was losing money not only on fuel (which over the period of a financial year, would mount up!!) but also, it was frustrating to think all that time in traffic could have been spent teaching an extra student (or at the very least, finishing my working day a little earlier). Online lessons meant that I could have back-to-back students, (with perhaps a five-minute break to make a hot coffee), saving money on fuel and an extra bonus from being in the comfort of my armchair. 

*STATIONARY – As a youngster, I never really understood why teachers got angry when I’d forget to bring worksheets in for the next lesson, or why the simple excuse of ‘I forgot it, Sir/Miss’ wasn’t ever enough. Well, since being self employed and having to print sheet music for all my students, I am a little more sensitive to the idea of saving the tress, saving the printer paper/ink and more importantly, saving my old aching bones carrying a bag full of teaching material. Online sessions mean I can digitally scan documents, save them to my computer and simply send them across to everyone. I’ve since forgotten the stress of having to consider how many sheets to print on a particular subject, how many for each pupil, how many ‘spares’ for those likely to feed it to their dog etc. Long live the email!! 

*EFFICIANCY – Having set times for your sessions is an obvious thing, but sometimes the ‘pack down’ can take a moment longer here or there and often result in five minutes being added at the end, culminating in more lost time throughout your day. When you are self-employed, time is money, and little things like this tend to get overlooked for the uninitiated. When teaching in a classroom, employing a ‘5 Minute Spill Over’ can sometimes be extended if the student is particularly enthused about something, but with online sessions, you can effectively (and efficiently) time out of one session to the next. Not only that, but some classrooms do not allow access (or even Have access) to the internet, meaning a quick digression down into some musical rabbit hole is often something that can’t be achieved. Online gives both teacher and student instant access to the best resource we know, the internet. 

*SIGNAL – Have you ever tried to talk with someone on the phone, whilst stretching out an available limb, just to try and gain one extra bar? If you are anything like me, it is likely your frustration levels rise faster than the current service provider’s signal. Add to that, the fact that with music lessons, its often a video call and therefore both parties are provided with a non-flattering still of mid conversation facial expressions when the signal does drop. As hilarious as this may be initially, it is not brilliant for a productive session and unfortunately, there has been multiple occasions that ‘lack of signal strength’ has cost not only a lesson, but a whole day worth of students. There are, of course, steps you can take to bolster such elements, but as we were all thrown into a world of online lessons overnight, it was more a case of learning on the job. 

*MUTE – After a short while, it was clear students had got used to their school lessons online, so much so that they had even learnt some of the more intricate functions of online communication platforms. Namely the ‘mute’ button. Initially a good idea for groups as it meant that whoever is talking doesn’t get distracted by dog’s barking or babies wailing for attention etc. However, it did drag a little when students realised, they could couple the ‘mute’ function with actually Turning The Camera OFF!! For the teacher, learning to talk to a screen rather than a human face was a drastic learning curve, but to have to teach to a group of students who you CAN NOT see, hear, or most of the time interact with was frankly, odd. There have been many times I’ve shouted at the computer ‘are you still there!?’ only for students to simply reply in the chat log ‘… yes’. I am certain most students use the ‘duel blocking’ function when they want to go and stretch their legs, or to avoid being spotted while they get lost in whatever they’re watching on Netflix. I’d rather forget the time I had a student mute the audio and turn off the camera for a group session, only for me to discover they’d soon after lost signal and ended up learning nothing from the lesson, well, here’s hoping they learnt one thing!!  

*BEGINNGERS – I’ve been quite fortunate when it comes to the ability level of my students through lockdown lessons, most of them have been playing for a while and have some facility with their instrument, which also means they were keen to tackle some more theoretical ideas (a bonus for online sessions). For beginner students, I try to get them playing rather quickly as this promotes excitement and interest in what they are doing and then we can add all the technical stuff onto what they have learnt a little later. However, in an environment where there no contact with students, it is evident that some need a more tactile approach to learning, especially in the early days. Face to face means you can not only show them on your own instrument, but also assist when they need more clarification on their own instrument, something that is lost in an online session. 

*INTERACTION – Music is a language. One we have used for hundreds upon thousands of years to not only bring people together but to also express how we feel. The biggest thing that was missed from starting online sessions was the social element of having everyone in the same room, playing and interacting together musically. Most online communication platforms suffer from LAG, which if you’re not aware, is the delay that appears as the messages are sent from one device to the other, meaning that not only is conversation sometimes disrupted, but playing an instrument in a duet style is impossible as nothing will be in sync. 

*THIS GOES THERE – Having taught students for a long time, it’s become part and parcel of a lesson that when a student is having some difficulty reaching a chord, or playing a scale etc, a simple hand gesture or a polite ‘that goes there’ is often all it takes to help fix the majority of problems. When online, this is an element that is removed from the equation. No longer are you as a teacher able to simply point at the correct note, you now must give slightly more elaborate coordinates so each student can zero in on the right place. It is good for students to know names of strings, where they are on the fret board, what notes are under the fingers etc, but it’s also clear that while you’re trying to learn something new, the less information you have to contend with often means its easier to get your head around the initial idea. Even the most professional musician can mix up major and minor when they have to contend with an array of things all at the same time, that’s part of the learning curve, it’s important for students (which all musicians are) to refine their practice to the bits they are studying, then to layer the different elements together later on, something that can get lost in translation via online communication platforms. 

My time teaching online has been an enjoyable adventure if truth be told, I can see myself maintaining the one-to-one sessions moving forward, for the obvious benefits they bring. However, you simply can not beat having your instructor in front of you, assisting where required. Music is music more than a mathematical equation that is meant to be ‘worked out’, its an art form, one that benefits from its social interactions. Music certainly helped my education, showing me not only how I learn best, but helping me find my passion for learning all things. Music’s secret weapon is its necessity for networking, finding likeminded musicians for projects, seeking out tutors suited to your play style and even sparking up a conversation at a jam night, music somehow becomes colder when it’s not amongst friends. 

I guess lockdown hasn’t been all that bad, its not only shown us new ways to support our working lives as musicians, it has also opened our eyes and highlighted how much we want to interact and connect with our fellow man, ultimately bringing us all closer together. Another win for the music industry I would say.