Start teaching music online with confidence.

Are you are a music teacher who is desperate to find out how to teach music online?

Well, if there’s something we can learn from 2020, it would be the importance of being able to work online or from home. Whether you are working remotely or run your own business this has become a core part of work-life for many people the world over. Within the music industry, it has affected many music teachers in different ways with many teachers having to adapt to the ever-changing situation in the world right now. Here at MusicTeacher.com, many music teachers have had to make the change from always teaching face to face to solely teaching online, which is, of course, a huge step to take but it is quite simply one that has to be taken.

This being said I believe that there are still a lot of teachers who are yet to try teaching music online or perhaps it seems a bit of a daunting task. Here are the 5 things I recommend you go over in preparation for making the change to teaching music online.

Yes, I’m aware this might seem a little obvious but internet speed is an important aspect to teaching anything online. Remember that teaching any instrument online involves making video calls via Zoom or Skype etc & this is something that requires a stable internet connection.

Skype recommends at least 5mbps for a steady video call but I would recommend at least 10mbps to be on the safe side. With fibre broadband becoming so easily accessible these days and available at a reasonable price most people will already have a good enough connection. If you do want to check your internet speed there are plenty of speed checkers you can use. For example, check out the MLab speed test to see if you have a good enough internet speed to teach music online. Is your download speed above 5mbps?

I would imagine most teachers trying online lessons at this stage are teachers who already had a face to face student base. In this case, you have already put in the hard work and graft to create a student base which of course already puts you in a great position moving forward.

Your main goal is to retain those students and the best way to do that is to avoid months and months with no music lessons. When a business comes across a problem they overcome it and adapt to the new setting they find themselves in, you as a music teacher should be doing the same.

The best way to retain all these students is to offer them online lessons, this is something that many people have become far more open to in recent months and it is something that is growing in popularity. If you can give your students online lessons, then you won’t have to worry about long breaks between lessons or even losing your income. If you have some sceptical students then offer a free trial lesson where you can talk them through it and they can see how it all works and I guarantee the majority of students will enjoy it and continue their lessons.

Your students already know you and feel comfortable with your teaching style and this is something you should use to your advantage. Make sure the way you conduct yourself online is no different from your face to face lessons.

This way, your students will already feel comfortable and within a few lessons, they won’t feel any different to the way they used to receive lessons. Sometimes people can feel a little awkward when teaching online and if this is the case and you think you need some practice then speak to some friends and see if you can do a few practice calls with them or even a trial lesson with some of your more long term students.

Above all else, this is your source of income, so just focus on staying true to your teaching style and try to replicate your face to face lessons in the best way possible.

This is also a very common question which I would like to answer from the teachers perspective. After the internet connection speed which is the most critical aspect when teaching online, there is a wide range of other things you should do in preparation for teaching online.

You should make sure you have a high-quality camera, I would usually recommend an external webcam opposed to a built-in webcam because there is usually a big difference in picture quality and of course you want to come across as professional as possible. I would also recommend you use headphones on your end, this way the student won’t hear any excess noise or echo of themselves which can be very distracting.

Also, many students usually ask which of skype, zoom or facetime are better? I think there isn’t a right and wrong answer to this because everyone seems to have their preference. I would, however, say that as a teacher, we should always be prepared for all of them. If you can offer students multiple options then this will always make the learning process easier for the students.

I will never understand why this has always been a background issue but many people just don’t see music lessons as being something you can do online.

When I first swapped to teaching online a few years ago I had quite a few students who weren’t sure about even trying it because they assumed it wouldn’t work but then after trying it will now say it’s far better because they get to learn from home and don’t have to factor in travel time etc.

I think especially during 2020 it’s our job as teachers to raise awareness that online learning is a great option and very much doable in this day and age. With many people now making the change to online lessons I believe it is something that is on the up and it has been so integral to many people keeping an income.

Get in touch with us to find out more about the opportunities to teach music online here at MusicTeacher.com.