NOTES FROM A MUSIC TEACHER

Teaching Music During a Pandemic

How Learning Virtually Has Made Face-To-Face Learning Unpopular

The First Panic

Teaching and learning music has always been a communal art form. So, during the pandemic, where music teachers worldwide had to scramble and adjust to teaching online, it was absolute mayhem.

If you thought teaching piano was tough, try being swamped with hundreds of questions from students and parents about how to access files, how to use unfamiliar platforms, how to record playing sessions and even how to get the internet working.

One of the biggest challenges has been bringing music to life on a computer screen. Let’s not forget the challenge of keeping a young learner to stay engaged for as long as possible. So, with all that in mind, music teachers around the world, myself included, embarked on making sense of what I call a symphony of chaos.

Teething Pains and Learning Along The Way

I wish I could forget my very first remote lesson. I turned on my webcam and invited two young learners and proceeded to start the class by asking them to try a warm up piece on their pianos. Confused stares greeted me and I kept repeating the instructions thinking that they are just new to this. After 15 minutes of endless encouragement my phone rang and one of the parents of my students called to say, “My dear, you have been on mute all along’’.

My ears were so hot I thought they were going to fall off! What a rookie mistake. I have never heard the end of it till this day. Over the months as my students adapted to virtual learning, I’ve also come to learn to make sense and discover new things as a music teacher.

1) Students are more comfortable to perform

Most music students get nervous about performances. But thanks to the new virtual performance, the usual excuses of tummy aches, forgetting to bring scores or forgetting class times seem to have melted into an eager bunch of kids who were dying to perform for their class virtually.

I was pleased to see that the shyer ones overcame the anxiety of performing in front of an audience because they could now do it from the comfort of their homes. One of them even created an “audience” by lining up all her stuffed animals on chairs in front of the piano to perform. No more stage frights for that eager performer!

2) Technology rocks!

My older students who were more tech-savvy began experimenting with recording their practice session (surprise surprise!). We’d replay the sessions and discuss their playing during class. These recordings were extremely useful because we can now pinpoint exactly where they should improve on their playing. Let’s not forget some minor hiccups along the way where this music teacher had to frantically wave at her really enthusiastic student who muted her mike and performed in silentium*.

3) Engage with creativity

To make teaching theory classes online more interesting I began experimenting with activities and games that could be shared virtually. The older students were asked to put on their thinking caps and prepare for a 5-minute online presentation where they could talk about interesting facts on the composer they were assigned. These experiments proved to be so effective that some parents were able to recite their child’s presentation script thanks to endless practice in front of the mirror. I count it as a win when a mom can say Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart without missing a beat!

Where Do We Stand Now With Remote Learning?

With the multitude of online learning experiences many of my students are now refusing to have face-to-face classes. The virtual realm seems to offer many opportunities of expressing themselves as budding musicians in a way they’ve never experienced before. I’ve yet to ascertain how long this newfound enthusiasm for virtual learning will last but I must admit I’m enjoying it as much as my students are and will ride this as long as they remember to unmute their videos.

*silence in Latin