Toward the end of last year some friends of mine who live in Germany contacted me to see if I would consider teaching their daughter piano via the Internet. Since I had a little bit of experience doing this with one of my students last fall, I decided it would be fun to go the next step and take on a full-time student this way. It has been a ton of fun so far! We’ve only had a couple of lessons, but it is working out marvelously!
As you can see, the video quality is great. Current bandwidth limitations still require pretty substantial compression of the audio, but I’m hopeful that that will improve as the technology continues to advance. The set up allows me to deal with technique issues (I could quickly see that the bench was too close in the shot above and had her move it back), fingering, accurate notes, rhythms, etc. – pretty much everything as if my student was sitting a few feet from me in the room.
In addition to what takes place at the lesson, it’s easy for me to e-mail supplementary resources and materials that she can print and use for various assignments. Thankfully, the practice incentive theme that I put together for this year has a ton of printable resources already organized so that I can quickly navigate to them and send them her way!
As you can see, it doesn’t take much to conduct virtual piano lessons. All I have is a TV tray, topped with a box and my laptop. My student and I both have Skype (a free online communication software) on our computers and a built-in webcam. If you don’t have a built-in webcam, you can pick one up at any computer supply store and it should work fine. And that’s seriously it! Imagine the many incredible possibilities that lie in the future with these capabilities! So, if you have the opportunity, I encourage you to just jump in and give it a try. You’ll be glad you did. 
I’ve been tempted to try something like this. I have a lot of international students that head back to India for weeks at a time. A couple of moms had asked if I had thought of doing Skype for lessons. Apparently some of their kids take Hindi Lessons and classical singing lessons and their teachers often are in India part of the time. The teachers use Skype for this to continue lessons without interruption when they are out of the country.
)
It might also cut back on those that offer makeup lessons for illness. Little Johnny could still get in his weekly lesson if he’s up for it even if he’s contagious!
Thanks for sharing this – I love your focus on simplicity – cardboard box photo is great!
I have a family who recently asked if I’d consider doing this while they are away on a cross-country trip. Do you charge your same rate? Do you write assignments on practice pages and send? Was it awkward at first with whose turn to talk issues? Do tell more!
Whoa! This just blew me away! So incredibly easy without lots of extra stuff! But do tell us more!
I’ve just had a family move out of state and received an email last week about the possibility of online lessons. Would you consider posting a video of your teaching a lesson so we could see it first hand? Very interesting and I’m eager to know more.
Excellent post about teaching music online. It’s great to have students from across the country learning piano, guitar or music composition.
This is great! I have never taught students live via the internet. I think it is a great idea. you will learn about other cultures even when you are not on spot.