Taking Care of Your Health as a Piano Teacher with Virtual Resources

The internet (along with my email inbox!) has exploded with resources related to offering virtual piano lessons. So, for anyone who has dabbled with the idea, but wasn’t sure how to go about it, now is the time to learn! There’s more than enough information to give anyone a good start in setting up a virtual piano studio. However, I thought I would share a few other of my favorite [mostly non-music] virtual resources I’ve come across that contribute to overall health and well-being:

The Balanced Life – I mentioned this last fall, but I am even more hooked now. Thanks to my piano teaching colleague and friend, Lisa, I signed up for an annual subscription to The Balanced Life and it has helped me maintain a consistent workout schedule all year long! A few months ago, they released a new app that is one of the best-designed apps I’ve ever used. Each day, a new Pilates workout video is posted on the home screen of my app and ranges anywhere from 10-35 minutes in length. The workouts help build your core, target and tone various muscles groups, and increase strength and endurance. I never thought I would be a fan of a video workout, but this is one of the best things I’ve ever done for my health! (Membership is  only open during limited times throughout the year, or if you use my personal referral link, which also gives me a little bit of credit toward my membership!)

Musical U Masterclasses – Christopher Sutton and his team at Musical U are constantly developing helpful resources for musicians, and they’ve put together a fabulous lineup of masterclasses that are free to musicians across the globe. Always chock-full of interesting and practical information, these are sure to inspire you personally in your musical life and work.

Backyard Beanery – Even though I’m not personally a coffee drinker, this is my go-to for all the coffee-lovers in my life, which I know is essential to some people’s well-being, right! This family-run operation was founded by a friend of mine to support small coffee farms around the world and, secondarily, to use the profits, in part, to support additional missions work.

 

Duolingo – If you’re looking for more worthwhile activities to occupy the hours at home, I highly recommend using Duolingo to start learning another language. My daughter and I have been using this since early last fall to learn German and, slowly but surely, we are making progress. My husband, who is a native German speaker, is fairly impressed and we’re eagerly anticipating the day when we can speak fluently with him. I’m especially motivated because he says that once I’m fluent, he’ll take us to Germany!

Bible Reading Plan App – Whether you’re looking for a short devotional related to a specific topic, or want a plan to keep you on track reading through a larger portion of the Bible, this is a great tool! My daughter and I selected a Read Through the New Testament in a Year plan that gives us our reading portion for the day and enables us to engage in discussion virtually related to each segment. I know of another group of ladies that uses this app for a virtual Bible study, discussion, and prayer group.

MuseScore – For years I’ve used Finale for notation in my studio, but since my old laptop recently bit the dust and I had to invest in a new one, I thought I would check out one of the free notation software programs on the market. I downloaded MuseScore earlier this week and was able, with the help of the extensive support community, to figure out enough to get my Psalms Project inputted. It could just be lack of familiarity, but I didn’t find it as intuitive or sleek as Finale, but I’m curious to keep using it and see if it is a sufficient alternative.

Hope you enjoy trying out a new resource or two and find that there are many ways, even virtually, to contribute to your overall health and well-being!