What Is The Truth About Online Lessons

I have been teaching online lessons since the early days of video-conferencing.  I can genuinely say working online has many advantages over in-person lessons, not the least of which is convenience when you are looking for a voice teacher near you.  In fact, I generally prefer working virtually than in-person and my most successful and professional students have all worked with me online.  It is understandable if you aren’t sure about taking voice lessons remotely and you might be wondering things like:

• Will virtual lessons be like in-person lessons?
• Are online lessons as good as in-person lessons? 
• Can you really hear me well enough?
• How are virtual lessons better than in-person lessons?

These are all great questions!  Here are a few answers and things to consider:
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Will virtual lessons be like in-person lessons?

First, you need to be sure you have a good teacher - here is how - and then that teacher needs to be good at delivering online lessons.  Frankly, there is an art to teaching online that takes time to acquire and not every teacher is going to master it.  Other than that, online lessons will definitely be similar, but the ways in which things happen may look different. You will continue to work on technique and polish pieces just like you would in-person, but we adapt the means for achieving the same thing.  Since I have been teaching online for many years, I have developed many tools that accomplish the work virtually.  
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Katie Hill in her online voice lesson

Are online lessons as good as in-person lessons?

The answer is yes! As a matter of fact, online singing lessons have great advantages and have produced better results for my clients than in-person lessons.

• Online lessons allow me to really see you and hear you when you sing!  So often when in-person, I cannot look at you all the time because I have to play the piano.  As well, I may not hear you well over the piano.  Because of these factors, I may miss important things since I am unable to fully observe everything in-person.  In this case, online lessons are superior to in-person lessons.
• I find students are engaged online even more than in-person.  They develop a real sense of independence and responsibility because they are the ones who have to make the marks in their music, line up their karaoke, etc.  And even better is that a student has to look at me and can also see themselves readily on the webcam.  This type of self-observation is an important part of learning that does not happen all the time in-person.  Students end up more focused on their sound, their physical comportment and feelings, and their preparation which then makes them progress faster.
• The online lesson allows me to see you in your environment and gives me clues as to how you work on your own.  Given that working on your own is the key to you perfecting what we do in lessons, this is extremely important!
• Additionally, your environment may include family members or roommates who may hear you while you are singing.  While I would not suggest that family be in the same room because their presence is most often counterproductive, working while knowing that others may be hearing you is good preparation and practice for performing and dealing with stage fright.  I mean how do you get your practicing in otherwise? And, if your location is still not OK, with an online lesson you can easily move!
• Most importantly, an essential skill for a singer is the ability to audiate - to hear pitches in their head without assistance, remember them, and reproduce them accurately.  When the piano is being played during an in-person lesson, it becomes a crutch and hindrance to the singer who relies on it to get their pitch.  ​Online lessons foster good ear-training and build these pitch-matching and tonal memory abilities.  Often when someone complains about online lessons, it is because they are having trouble in matching pitches that may not have been evident before.

Can I hear you well enough?

Yes!  Because I have been doing this for a long time, I know what to listen for.  Additionally, my mirror neurons have been honed over the years to accurately sense and actually feel what your voice and body are doing.  This ability gives me additional information about what needs correcting.

Luke Randazzo loves online voice lessons and became a Finalist in the Schmidt Vocal Competition!

How online voice lessons are better than in-person lessons

• They keep you safe from communicable illness.
• You can be consistent with your training no matter where in the world you are.
• Online lessons save you time, money, and driving during bad weather.  You might even have more time and energy left to practice!
• Our video conference platform is free to use, needs no special equipment, has great transmission, and has proven to be the solution for many who are off-location or have no good local options. 
• Research* findings about online lessons also support my experience with virtual lessons.  Here are some notable results of research* comparing online lessons with traditional in-person lessons:

1.         28% increase in student playing
2.         36% decrease in off-task comments by the instructor
3.         28% decrease in teacher playing (modeling) 
4.    Overall increase in student eye contact - Young students, especially those with attention challenges, are taught more effectively online than in person.  Children have the ability to focus intently on a computer screen, and, with only the teacher's hands, face, and instrument in sight, the distractions tend to vanish.
5.         Less than 3% of the time was spent on technology issues. 

• *Oman, E.K. and Whitaker, J.A. (2010).  Time usage during face-to-face and synchronous distance music lessons.  American Journal of Distance Education, 24(2), 92-103.

  
So the truth about online lessons is that if I did not feel they were doing a good job for my clients, I would not do them!
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I hope this article helps you understand not only how online lessons can work for you, but also how they can in fact help you achieve your goals!