Does learning to play a musical instrument online work? Lessons using Zoom and audio software, and YouTube tutorials, have taken off amid the Covid-19 pandemic
- Forced apart by restrictions and lockdowns, music students and their teachers have gone online for lessons, as have professionals to play together
- Apps and webcams are helping teachers and students overcome the challenges of not being in the same room for lessons
Pandemic lockdowns forced millions around the world to spend more time at home, and for musicians – amateur and professional – it created both challenges and opportunities.
Music students couldn’t go out to meet their teachers, but they could use online platforms to practise their art.
“I’ve had a student living in Switzerland for over 10 years who I’ve never met in real life,” says Konstantin Gutmann, who lives in Germany and is the founder of an online music school. The pandemic made students more aware of online learning.
“We started our online lessons back in 2011. At the time, many were sceptical about it and asked how it would work. But it works, and the internet and the technologies for it are getting better and better,” he says.
All you need for remote music lessons is a computer with a webcam and a stable internet connection. The lessons take place over videoconferencing software such as Zoom. Theoretically, online lessons can work for all musical instruments.