Music Teacher's Helper - Your music studio manager

Give Lessons Online

Thu March 13th, 2008 by ronniecurrey

How do you give lessons online without any expenses? Yes. No expenses.

In the past I had students having to quit lessons because they were moving away from the area. I also have family on the other side of the country that asked me for lessons. Recently I have been putting together lesson plans for online lessons, using family members as test subjects. The online lessons have been working well.

Online lessons may not work well with certain instruments that need a hands on teacher. I do know it works well with guitar, but not so well with piano.

All you need is a computer, internet connection, a web cam and a free software program called SKYPE. You can download the free software at www.skype.com. There are other services they offer for a fee, but the only service you need is the free service. After signing up, you can add your students who also register with SKYPE to your address book. Then you can see if they are online, and click their name to “ring them up”. Your video pops up, so you can see what they see. When they answer, you also see them and a voice connection is established. There is no limit on the time you are online, and this service is free also. The quality of the video and sound is pretty good most of the time. The software also lets you record sessions to your computer, and take snapshots.

Occasionally, if one of the parties has a slower connection, the sound is not as good. The solution is to call them up on a cell phone or regular phone, and put them on a speaker phone. Web cams are not expensive, and range from $10 up. I recommend spending at least $50 or more for a better quality cam. I spent about $80, and my cam will track my face as I move around. Focusing is also automatic.

What is great about MTH is the student can get online and download the lesson plan, music, and a sound file. This way they are totally equiped for the online lesson.

There is only one down side. The program does not work on Apple computers. Skype says they will eventually correct the problem. On the up side, you can also use SKYPE to talk and see family and friends on the other side of the country or world. You could also opt to cut the cam on during on site lessons so the parents at home can view the instruction. The possibilities are endless.

Posted in Music & Technology, Promoting Your Studio |

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12 Comments (Add Comment)

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  1. I have installed Skype on my Mac. I'm confused. Have they come out with a new version.

    by Amy Gould — Thu Mar 13, 2008 @ 8:58 pm

  2. I'm very interested in trying some lessons online. Specifically I'd like to try Skype, which is installed on my Mac but I have not tried the video part yet AND also try it using ichat.
    If anyone is interested in experimenting with different setups so we (music teachers) can test out the sound on each end feel free to email me. I'd like to try it out first with a fellow teacher before trying it with a student.
    Also, I found a video on youtube of a online Panflute lesson. I'd like to hear your comments on this video. Here's the link... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubxIuCfPhE4

    by Maria D'Aura — Fri Mar 14, 2008 @ 1:59 am

  3. opps. I thought my email would appear as a link. Here it is again...

    9066683@gmail.com

    by Maria D'Aura — Fri Mar 14, 2008 @ 2:00 am

  4. I was the first jazz pianist in the world to offer online webcam lessons. You CAN use mac as well as PC.

    by Shan Verma — Mon Mar 17, 2008 @ 11:55 am

  5. I've used iChat on Mac for years and it's fantastic. Skype is good if you have a mixed Mac/PC environment (or all PC), but if you both have Mac's, iChat is tough to beat as far as quality goes. With the "Leopard" version, you can also easily share PDF (scanned music, such as public domain or your own exercises) while you are video chatting.

    I'll also toss in LessonPortal.com 's unique service to "online" teachers. If a box is checked during a search for a teacher (check out the home page), any teacher who teaches online will match your search- regardless of ZIP code.

    Teaching online is a great way to build your studio if it's practical for you :)

    Best,
    Chris Hoovler
    CEO Lesson Portal, LLC
    serving 1200+ teachers

    by Chris — Mon Mar 17, 2008 @ 3:43 pm

  6. I understand from someone who does a lot of online lessons that the best software for smooth video connections for music is called , which is also free.

    by Ed Pearlman — Mon Mar 17, 2008 @ 7:42 pm

  7. Sorry! The link in my comment above works correctly but the name of the software got left out--it's called Sightspeed.

    by Ed Pearlman — Mon Mar 17, 2008 @ 7:44 pm

  8. Wow! This is like a whole new world being opened to me! So how does one begin to market to the online world? I have always thought it a fun idea to get out into the international market, but how does one get started? I would love to see a thread on this or at least a response here.

    Thanks!

    by Michelle Payne — Thu Mar 20, 2008 @ 12:20 pm

  9. Wow...I have several friends in other states through a homeschool yahoo group that have bemoaned the fact that I am not closer to them in order for me to teach their kids! This would open SO many doors for me!

    by Lenora — Mon Apr 7, 2008 @ 9:33 am

  10. How do you charge for online lessons? Skype has a way of making money to take calls, but they don't pay you for 4 months! Their other system takes up to 60% of the proceeds (for marketing your services) which only gives you 40%. The only way I've come up with is to schedule the lesson by email or phone and then charge the student using MTH and have them pay on PayPal in advance. They then log on at their lesson time and you click on them to talk to them. Has anyone come up with a better system?

    by Amy Gould — Mon Apr 14, 2008 @ 5:47 pm

  11. I too am interested in input on marketing for online lessons. I've thought of Craigs List. I've suddenly gotten several calls from Ads on Craigs List in my area.

    by Amy Gould — Mon Apr 14, 2008 @ 5:49 pm

  12. A video conference call with Skype is free. You get audio and video free. I charge the same rate, as this is usually in lieu of a makeup lesson.

    Advertising your studio on Craig's List is a great idea! I never thought about it.

    by Ronnie Currey — Tue Apr 15, 2008 @ 7:24 am

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