Like many other music educators during 2020, I have had to pivot to teaching virtual lessons. When I first heard the news that the music institution where I teach would be going virtual, I was more than a little anxious. Sure, I had given and even received an online lesson here or there, but to transfer an entire studio away from in person instruction was completely out of my comfort zone. But with time, patience, and a whole lot of research, I was able to figure out an effective way to instruct my students. I have even discovered a silver lining: With my studio no longer being held to the confides of a physical location, I managed to double the amount of students I have in only a few months times. And with the help of 5 powerful tools I am more organized in my teaching than ever before.

1. Zoom Conferencing Platform

2. Cleanfeed Audio Platform

3. Appcompanist Accompaniment App

4. Google Classroom

5. Sproutbeat Music Program

1. Zoom Conferencing Platform

When I first switched to teaching online, I went through a variety of virtual conferencing platforms: Skype, Google Meet, FaceTime...etc. You name it, I tried it. The issue with all of these platforms is written in the name, they are made for conferencing, not music. The sound quality of the instrument is completely lost in compression. Yes, zoom is also made for conferencing, but it offers an option that most do not. With the click of a button you can change the audio settings to disable the 'suppress background noise' option. This is important for the sound quality of an instrument or voice because what makes a sound beautiful and brilliant are the overtones that are produced around the fundamental pitch. When the background noise is suppressed, so are those necessary fundamentals.

2. Cleanfeed

For more advanced students, teachers have the option to go a step further. In zoom you may 'leave computer audio' and switch over to a separate audio platform. My platform of choice is Cleanfeed; an audio platform that allows anyone in the world to communicate or create music in high definition. To my ears there is far less compression, time delay, and clipping than on any other platform I have tried thus far. Cleanfeed has a free plan with the option to upgrade to a paid subscription for more advanced settings. For the purposes of one on one music lessons, I find the free version to work spectacularly!

3. Appcompanist Accompaniment App

Another powerful tool I use for both virtual and in person lessons is an app called Appcompanist. It is as close to having a live collaborative pianist as one can get. The app allows musicians to practice and perform with musicality; providing students with the ability to change tempi, increase or decrease the volume of melody lines, add fermatas, and much more all in real time without piano distortion. For free musicians can practice along to hundreds of vocal warm-ups with the option to upgrade to a paid subscription that gives students access to thousands of musical works in both the Classical and Musical Theatre realm.

4. Google Classroom

Staying organized and supplying students with material when you can't physically be in contact with them is difficult to say the least. Hundreds of emails back and forth exchanging sheet music, worksheets, and practice logs get's confusing. Google Classroom is a free user friendly platform that allows teachers to keep everything in one place. Students can access and turn in anything they are a-signed through the student portal, making any educators life much easer.

4. Sproutbeat Music Program

For younger students, virtual learning can be especially daunting, but SproutBeat allows it to be almost effortless. SproutBeat is more than a collection of worksheets – it’s a digital workbook with unlimited pages. It puts thousands of resources at students fingertips and makes the task of tediously searching for supplemental material a thing of the past. Whichever plan is chosen, teachers and students can discover worksheets, games, and activities that makes learning basic music theory cohesive and fun.

If you liked this, you may find my post on the 6 essentials that every voice teacher should have helpful and interesting!

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With love,

- Kasey Lorelle