Two things. 1. A pandemic happened. 2. I have become Schrodinger’s Teacher. I came full circle right back to where I started teaching more than 40 years ago- in my students’ homes. Except this full circle situation of mine has a technological twist. I am both in my studio and in my students’ homes. 

When I was growing up, my piano teacher came to our house every week in her VW Beetle to give lessons to my brother and I. Our time together at the piano was something I enjoyed. I didn’t really enjoy the fact that there was no hiding exactly what and how I was supposed to practice from my Mom. 

I went off to study piano at the University when I was 18 and partially supported myself giving lessons. And, I traveled to my student’s houses because I had no place to teach. Later in Grad school, I was glad to finally have my own place so that my students could come to me and I could stop all that driving about. The majority of my career has been spent teaching in my home studio, at nonprofit music program locations, and for a local college.  

I was an early adopter of online teaching platforms and resources. I have used them in my teaching for a number of years, but not for everybody or every lesson. In my in studio curriculum, I have always tried to compensate for what I felt I didn’t get in my childhood lessons; interaction with fellow students, games and activities, and regular experience on a better piano than we had at home. 

Teaching fully online comes with its own set of pros and cons. On the pro side: working together on the piano the student actually uses to practice, close listening and an ear for detail are developed by necessity, students gain skill in self-evaluation as they create and send videos of their progress. On the con side; old computers/devices with poorer audio/video and operating systems, poor internet service, internet video/audio glitching, clear audio of a piano performance with reasonable details, and the so-so ability to play together in real time. 

So, once we return to some semblance of normal activity, I am going to include the best of both worlds with my local students and transition to a hybrid lesson format. I can’t ignore the many pros to online teaching or the growth I see weekly in my students. Students and parents also appreciate the convenience of eliminating the weekly drive to and from lessons.

During online segments we can work on the big picture in our concepts, skills, and pieces. We can also play games and do activities in small online group lessons via a platform like Zoom or in Tonara Studio. We can continue to send video recordings back and forth for better sound quality and close up video details.

A once or twice monthly one-on-one lesson once or twice will allow us to work on nitty gritty details without any technical interference and to play together in real time. When it’s totally safe, we can even resume regular in-person group classes to play games and perform for each other in real time. This in-person lesson component is important psychologically as well as pedagogically. Isolation has been hard on us all.

Last Spring, we all jumped into this online thing by necessity. We did what needed to be done and invented/adapted as we went along. But, in order for continued fully online or hybrid lesson formats to work for me, I must revamp my studio policy and information packet. I need to communicate up front what incoming students need at home and how to best set up their technology. And, I need to include a time for us to test their technology so we don’t waste precious minutes later. If a family has poor internet will I ask them to find a location with better internet? Will I ask them to wait until they can upgrade their services? It’s kind of the same as if they wanted to take lessons but didn’t have a piano. I would feel rotten about making such a call even though it might be for the good of everyone concerned. 

I need policies for students who chronically enter the waiting room late or lose their password on a weekly basis. Will I text them 5 minutes after the lesson begins and remind them or will it be totally their responsibility? I need to make my privacy/security policy for emailing or messaging videos and instructions to students clear. I always copy a parent. I always keep copies of conversations. To protect my personal time and others’ lesson times, I need to set clear boundaries on communicating outside the lesson On and on the list goes. Every item in my policy/information has to be re-worded so it applies to both in-person and online situations.  

Evolving as Schrodinger’s Teacher requires the pondering of some hard questions. But, if I become a better piano teacher and mentor through the effective use of online and hybrid formats, it will go a long way toward redeeming these hard and isolated times. All the current craziness and experimentation will really have counted for something. 

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