So having unplugged three web cams last night to make room for a flesh and blood student, I can expand upon my own multifaceted instructional encounters.

To Skype or NOT to Skype is no longer the resonating query of the Millennium. A teacher can explore more than one music-learning cosmos without betraying time-honored tradition. In fact, the FACE to FACE student will augment his/her learning experience by taking some lessons by Skype and having segments instantly recorded (CALL RECORDER) either by split screen or local view. These readily archive as MOV. files and are uploaded as private or unlisted videos. They’re sourced by pupils for practicing tips and reminders. (Going public is an option that needs student permission)
(Disclaimer: I don’t teach raw beginners by SKYPE, and my current population is adult students) Some teachers mentor children on the web, and it can be useful, if the student is at least in the Intermediate level range, and will combine two learning modalities. Others might disagree.

Close-up of Overhead webcam placement

The above videotaped resources alleviate the anxiety of students who can’t remember how this or that scale, arpeggio, sonata exposition was explored at the last LIVE lesson. (Within the conventional lesson-dispensing loop, he/she would wait until the next meeting to have approaches revisited)

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SKYPE Call RECORDER and Manycam.com technologies make life easier for an Internet-based teacher. Both avoid the inconvenience of dragging out a tripod-mounted camcorder (affording only one keyboard view) and having to laboriously edit footage following lessons. On Skype, one can have THREE cams or even more placed at various keyboard angles (for closeups and panoramic views) and with just a mouse click, these are activated. A down below pedal view transmits an instant tutorial on pedaling legato. Just by clicking RECORD, the instruction is memorialized.

I’m not knocking FACE-to FACE-lessons, that have a HANDS-on dimension that is not SKYPE compatible. But more disadvantageous is not having the ability to play passages together with a student or to accompany him in duet form.

The Internet time lag does not allow a simulcast, and with some connections or transmissions, the sound could be a lot better, though the audio-scape is improving. (High-speed Internet is a must on both sides of a lesson transaction)

Just the same, why rule out SKYPING lessons in favor of a LIVE interaction when BOTH cosmos can be part of a valuable learning experience.

When students relocate, for example, and want to continue their studies with a cherished teacher, SKYPE sustains their relationship.

I had this very situation with an adult student I’d taught for six years in Fresno, California. When I moved to Berkeley, she was able to continue her studies with me over the web. Brave new technologies made this possible.

A “LIVE” lesson in FRESNO

By SKYPE from my new Berkeley Location to FRESNO (Student’s cat is a constant companion)

Here’s the pupil’s Baldwin Acrosonic piano blown up to large panoramic proportion:

The convenience of having lessons over Skype should also be noted. Where lessons are canceled for illness, as an example, a teacher can more easily reschedule a SKYPE lesson at an hour that suits a student who normally commutes to the piano studio. Travel time is cut down considerably by a web transmission, and given hectic schedules of kids and adults, it seems to be a desirable option. Don’t forget bad weather like snowstorms and hurricanes that would nix a LIVE lesson, though a power failure could knock out a web transmission.

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At this career juncture, I teach adults only, and my SKYPE Students are mostly working professionals with a crowded job itinerary. Two of them take lessons at 9 and 10 p.m. their time, with a 8-hour time lag between California and London. (It’s prime time for me, following lunch)

Most LIVE piano students could not find a teacher to accommodate such a late hour for instruction.

In addition, pupils who live in remote areas of the country (or world) might not find a qualified piano within traveling distance, so the web provides a learning opportunity that would be otherwise unavailable.

Finally, in a perfect world, LIVE and SKYPED lessons can coexist in harmony, without a battleground of wills.

Here are TWO PARALLEL LESSON examples–one by SKYPE, the other in person.

This adult student from nearby El Cerrito, California takes LIVE and SKYPED piano lessons as convenience permits. She prefers not to have a full view of herself. Others don’t mind more exposure. Skype Call RECORD options can be preset for various views.

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This is one of my UK SKYPE students who moved from Berkeley and took his piano with him. I was glad to continue his lessons by web cam. Here we’re working on Legato pedaling.

In the course of this video he compares LIVE to SKYPED piano lessons.

Link
https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2014/01/26/multi-cam-views-during-skype-or-facetime-piano-lessons/

My camera equipment for Mac oscx10.6 (I have a 21 inch screen)
Logitech C910HD1080; Two Logitechs: C615HD1080

To use more than one web cam, download the FREE Many cam version at http://www.manycam.com

If you download the most updated Many cam, 2.038 (not FREE) make sure you have a compatible Mac or PC.

SKYPE CALL RECORD is NOT Free. (Update your SKYPE program before downloading)
You can purchase a BELKIN USB HUB that affords extra webcam connections.

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The LIVE studio I left behind before my move to BERKELEY