Online learning is a great way for people out of the area to access lessons. At the moment, online learning is only done through the Zoom platform. At some future date, on demand prerecorded resource videos will be available to purchase unlimited access to them.
All lesson types, except for group lessons, can be achieved in an online format. I use the “practice space app” program as a communication and content supplement to lessons. Upon signing up, you will receive a studio code from this site so you can register with the studio.
Online learning is a convenient format, but is not without its challenges. A medium quality mic is very important. I find products from Blue are good choices. The Yeti is a good option, but I have heard people like the Snowball as well. You can check places like Amazon or Best Buy for the best and current prices. A typical web cam is all you need for the video. Most medium quality web cams have a clear enough picture for what we are doing.
Along with a good microphone, you will need headphones as well. Corded headphones work the best (to avoid lag time issues), and wireless should be avoided (including air pods). Make sure the cord on the headphones is long – you will need to stand at least 6-8 feet away from the camera. The mic can be placed away from the PC/mac and as close to you as possible. This also will help with how long a cord you actually need for the headphones.
With online learning there is always a small lag in the audio/video feed – meaning when I hear you making sound, I am actually hearing it about a half second or more after you actually created it. In the violin, music theory/gen. music, and art classes, this isn’t a big deal. But in singing lessons, we need to be a bit more creative. If I am playing piano on my end for you to sing along with on your end, it will create a weird constant out of sync feeling. We overcome this issue by having the student use the Appcompanist app (and sometimes other sources if needed). This is an app for iPhone and Samsung that has an impressive library of accompaniments. The student plays the accompaniment from their end, thus fixing the sync problem.