Comments on: Teaching Lessons through Online Video Chat: An Interview with Kathy Parsons

By: Beverly

Beverly — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 19:24:01 +0000

Please let me know about your on-line classes and how much you charge. I have a thirteen boy who has been playing on and off for a few years. He is homeschooled so this might be something he might like since he doesn’t like going to a private teacher. Thanks.

By: Alan

Alan — Mon, 24 May 2010 10:21:22 +0000

In addition to talking with your loved ones, video chat could also be used to learn classes.
Thanks for the advancement in internet.

By: elonsmith.smith

elonsmith.smith — Fri, 21 May 2010 07:41:27 +0000

I am very glad to see such information which I was searching for a long time.camara con chat

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sun, 02 May 2010 14:29:23 +0000

I am one of Kathy’s adult students. I had eight years of lessons as a child and never advance to being totally competent. I was able, with this limited background, learn rather quickly through the online lessons. I agree that it is not the same as having Kathy teach in person. However, having Kathy as a teacher is far better than some of the teachers that are available for in-person teaching. Finding the right teacher is so very important. For me, Kathy is the right teacher, and I didn’t want our family to stop learning to play the piano just because she moved.

Kathy gets an A+ from this internet student.

By: Kefalonia

Kefalonia — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:10:30 +0000

What an excellent idea. I wish we had better and faster internet connections here in Kefalonia so I could participate as well. So far, video streaming can’t work at all here without interruptions.

By: Kathy Parsons

Kathy Parsons — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 06:20:29 +0000

Hi John,
While we all need to use some caution and common sense when using the internet, I’m not sure why meeting someone online would be any more dangerous than inviting a stranger into a home or being in a small practice room in a store. A young child would not be the one approaching you for lessons in the first place. The parent would contact you first, and that would give the parent a chance to interact with you before allowing the child to meet you on the net. I also offer a free 15-minute session to be sure the internet connections are going to work and the reception is okay. This goes a long way to putting minds at ease because they get a chance to chat with me online before they have to pay anything and they can see who I am and talk to me about lessons before we start. It seems to help a lot.

By: John Gibson

John Gibson — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:31:17 +0000

I have been toying with this idea for a while and it sounds like a good thing to try. I teach clarinet and saxophone and the smaller viewing area needed for the video might make it more possible.

The main thing I am concerned with is the idea that I, a man teacher, would be essentially asking mostly underage students to “meet me” on the web. This does not sound good! I am wondering if others, including women teachers, have addressed this issue. One thought I have had is to insist that a responsible adult remain in the room with the young student while the lesson is going on. That would have some drawbacks, although I always invite parents to lessons when I am teaching at a music store.

Any thoughts?

By: George F. Litterst

George F. Litterst — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:39:03 +0000

If you are looking for a good video conferencing camera, consider:

(1) any of the most expensive cameras from Logitech (www.logitech.com) or

(2) any digital video camera that you already own (which can probably be connected to your computer by Firewire or USB)

The quality of video that the other person sees is limited by the quality of the video signal that goes into your computer. The quality is further limited by the speed of your computer’s processor and then your outgoing Internet bandwidth.

By: Unionfogy

Unionfogy — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:28:57 +0000

Can you guide on a high definition review website. I got this from my friend looks ok High definition camera Bob

By: George F. Litterst

George F. Litterst — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:25:02 +0000

I have been working on long distance teaching issues for many years and gave Kathy some initial direction regarding video conferencing programs. I congratulate her on her pioneering efforts in this area!

It is hard to evaluate the quality of the Internet lessons without actually experiencing them. This was the reason that 7 piano teachers offered “Studio Without Walls”, an all-day event comprised of lectures and hands-on workshops on this topic at the 2009 MNTA conference. The interest in this area is growing rapidly. Interestingly, a lot of older teachers are getting involved because they want to work with their grandchildren.

In my experience, the biggest factor that limits the quality of the lesson is the sound quality. It is very hard to mic a piano and get good sound. Add to that two issues: (1) most people use a built-in computer microphone which is not high quality and (2) video conferencing software compresses audio down to speech levels–and the result is inferior sound quality.

The sound quality issue, however, can be easily and dramatically improved by connecting 2 MIDI instruments over the Internet, such as Disklavier acoustic pianos or high quality digital pianos. When you do this, each player plays his/her own piano and the other person’s piano simultaneously. If this sounds interesting, check out Internet MIDI from TimeWarp Technologies (www.timewarptech.com).