The Studio Setup
My Grand Piano Space
The acoustic piano I teach on is a seven-foot Young Chang Grand Piano. It sits in a very sunny front room of my house. There is plenty of seating space for a parent to attend the lesson, providing the student is comfortable with that.
My Waiting Room & Library
There is another acoustic upright piano in the waiting room for warming up on before lessons begin on the grand piano. Younger students in my studio begin their lessons on this piano and get to play on the grand piano as an incentive for polished performances and for practice before recitals. In addition to a comfy couch for parents and siblings, this waiting room also holds the majority of my music library. Since I often procure music for my students – saving them trips to the music store & searching online – at any given time I own quite a large supply of classical and popular teaching materials. The waiting room has patio doors which serve as a private entrance for all students. These patio doors open onto a large deck. Many parents enjoy sitting at the patio table on the deck in warmer months while younger siblings play outside in my fenced in back yard. I have a very child friendly Golden Retriever, named Deedee, who often greets students at the side gate.
My Online Studio
My digital studio is the room where I teach online lessons. It is equipped with a Yamaha Portable Grand, dual monitors, Yeti microphone, noise cancelling headphones, a webcam over the digital piano for demonstrating during lessons, and an iPad that can join on Zoom calls for live written instruction in theory.
Online Teaching & COVID-19
There has been no interruption to lessons throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic. Below are a few scenarios on how lessons could run based on what equipment students have in their individual homes.
Student has a
- cell phone or tablet
- an acoustic piano
The student places the tablet or cell phone on a table or music stand close to the piano with the camera facing the keyboard. This gives me the view of the hands for checking hand position and fingering. A zoom link is sent two hours prior to lesson times. I can demonstrate from my keyboard using the webcam overhead or I can share screen on my 2nd computer monitor and use the Internet Midi piano keyboard display which shows the keys lit up blue as I demonstrate.
Student using internet midi software.
Student has a
- digital keyboard with laptop
- Internet Midi software
The student places the laptop with webcam facing the digital keyboard so that I have a view of the hands for checking hand position and fingering. A zoom link is sent two hours prior to lesson times. I can demonstrate with the webcam overhead. However, with this setup, both the teacher and the student are both running Internet Midi software & a midi to USB cable. Internet Midi is the premiere solution for long distance teaching. When a student plays notes on their MIDI piano, those same notes are simultaneously played on my MIDI keyboard! This software works with MIDI instruments from all manufacturers and provides an on-screen keyboard with animated keys and pedals. The software also offers recording and playback features which is invaluable in the lesson and practice time. Zoom is only used for talking to each other. Every other part of the lesson is done through the software.