What you need for online piano lessons
You’re ready to begin some online piano lessons! Here are some tips for getting set up and some of the supplies you will need.
The most important thing for online voice lessons is a strong internet connection. Make sure you can set yourself up close to your router or, even better, hook up directly to an ethernet port for the fastest connection. If your internet connection isn’t great, try doing your lessons on your smartphone instead of your tablet or computer. Sometimes the phones have much clearer video and audio than our more advanced electronics!
Set your keyboard up in a place where you can sit and play comfortably. If you’re using an acoustic piano your setup is probably permanent!
Good angle and lighting! Ideally I can see your fingers on the piano as well as your face. If only one is possible, your fingers on the piano are more important for the lessons. Sometimes we need to get creative with the camera placement! Some students find that they can rest a laptop on the top of the piano and tilt the screen ever so slightly down and that works perfectly. Others have it propped up at the end of the piano with a side view. Play around with it before your lesson to see what works well for you. There are stands and tripods available to make this easier - let me know if you’re interested in purchasing something like that and I can make a couple of suggestions.
A binder to keep your sheet music and books in, and a pencil to write in notes and corrections. Both of these are very important and required for your lessons. If you do not have a pencil at the beginning of the lesson you will be asked to go find one!
In Zoom, go to your Audio Preferences and check out the Suppress Background Noise section: select the Low setting. This will ensure Zoom doesn’t categorize your beautiful piano playing as background noise and cut it out. This is a very important step!
Check for Zoom updates regularly! If you’re using your mobile device or tablet, check the app store if you don’t have automatic updates enabled. On a computer, open your Zoom app and click the zoom.us tab on the menu at the top of your screen. In the drop down menu you will see Check for Updates.
Patience. sometimes technology throws us curveballs (or updates), and we need to take a bit of time to make sure you’re properly set up - this is normal and expected! This is not wasted lesson time.
And that’s it!
Going through this list and making sure you have a great set up and all of the basic supplies will make your first lessons (and your lessons moving forward) and absolute breeze. As I mentioned under that last step, you will also need patience for those days where the internet isn’t quite as strong or Zoom has rolled out some updates. These days are rare but they do happen, and I do the best that I can to make sure your lessons run as smoothly as possible so that you can enjoy them.
Arianna teaches voice and piano lessons online and from her at-home studio in Maple Ridge, BC. She creates a welcoming learning environment for students of all ages – kids, teens, and adults.
Study with Arianna
New students are welcome! Please start by booking an intro call.
