Hello, I’m Christine! I’m a college student in percussion performance and an aspiring music educator. Just like every other aspect of our lives, during the pandemic my percussion studies moved from in-person to online. Originally, I was frustrated and confused with my lessons. I was asking myself questions like “What am I supposed to work on?,” “How will my teacher know if my technique is right?,” or my favorite, “Did I just play that whole piece while on mute?”
However, after a couple lessons, I realized that there were many benefits to doing online lessons that I didn’t notice until after I had tried it. I wanted to share my experience so that new students are aware of the advantages of online lessons and experience for themselves how much fun they can be! There’s no better time than now to pick up an instrument or come back to what you might have played years ago.
1. Expanding Your Musical Options
One thing that is very special about online lessons is the ability to work with teachers from anywhere in the world! For example, I may find a highly-qualified teacher who lives in France that, pre-pandemic, I never would have considered taking lessons with. Now, however, I have the power of Zoom on my side, which opens the door to a much wider selection of experts to guide me on my musical journey. In addition to this, the power of livestream technology also allows me the opportunity to collaborate with other musicians and take advantage of performance opportunities regardless of the distance! It’s such an awesome motivator for me to see my musical community growing so rapidly in this way.
2. Finding Self-Motivation
Through my online lessons, I had the realization that the biggest cheerleader in my musical career was… me! Students have by far the greatest impact when it comes to their own progress. Through taking online lessons, I was able to stay more organized and strengthen my practice habits. I was able to record my lessons on zoom, take diligent lesson notes, and share recordings of my practice with my teacher. I’ve even found ways to create “mini-challenges” to encourage myself to practice more and make the most out of the time I have in my lessons!
3. Build Your Own Schedule
Sitting in online school and online meetings for hours at a time puts me in the land of “Zoom fatigue” pretty often. However, now that I don’t have to travel for classes and meetings, I can place my lessons at almost any time to brighten my day. Just being active with my instrument and teacher on my own time has reinvigorated my drive to play music. I can also build my own practice schedule to take a break from staring at my computer screen for hours at a time.
For any student, a good way to practice is to make little goals to accomplish throughout the week in order to stay on track for your assignments. Many people, myself included, don’t like to practice for hours at a time, so something I like to do is plan my practice a day in advance and put 100% of my effort into 20 minutes of practice in between different classes. I can accomplish something specific in short periods of time and take my mind off of Zoom for a little while. Younger students often practice in 20-30 minute chunks in order to stay focused, but this strategy works at any age!
4. Teachers Can Check Your Technique Closely
If I’m being honest, I thought all my years of practicing technique would go to waste when I went to online lessons. Despite what I thought was going to happen, my teacher actually gave me even more detailed comments on my technique than usual. This is because teachers can see your technique even more clearly because the camera can be zoomed in on just your hands. Your teacher was never going to place their face 3 inches from your hands pre-pandemic but now they can see all the minute details with just the movement of a camera.
As a percussionist, I’ve been spending even more time on my drum set technique than I would have pre-pandemic because I don’t have to worry about upcoming gigs or performances. For new students, technique is the greatest foundation to have in order to progress faster. Spending time with a highly-qualified teacher who can see the intricacies of everything you’re doing can set you up for life-long musical success.
5. Less Distraction During Lessons
I remember taking lessons when I was younger and having people constantly staring through the window or knocking on the teacher’s door to ask a question or let them know that they were waiting for their lesson. Now, with Zoom, the student after me can be placed in the waiting room in order to not interrupt my lesson. Plus, I can set myself up in a quiet area and remove distractions from the room to keep myself on track.
To wrap things up, my experience with online lessons has taught me a lot about self-discipline, self-motivation, and how to interact with my music and practice in new ways. I feel like I’ve had a lot of self-discovery in the music I’ve played and created since the pandemic.
I really wish I had learned some of these lessons sooner because it could have jump-started my progress when I first began learning music. I know firsthand that the idea of online lessons can be daunting and may even seem like it’s not worth it. I’m here to say online lessons have been truly valuable for me. I believe that the self-discipline and skills I’ve learned through my transition to online learning will continue to aid me in all aspects of my life going forward, both musical and beyond!
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