The value of sending supplementary videos to Online students between piano lessons

Since I began teaching piano Online in 2011, well before it gained pandemic driven popularity, I’d always felt the need to fill in what seemed to be distance related gaps in the Internet teaching environment. Compensating for my guilt-ridden, tradition-breaking, cyber teaching excursions on Face Time, I’d made sure to give my students an extra serving of video transmitted suggestions between lessons. It was compensation for my corporeal absence that might leave my students hungering for an over your shoulder mentor with a prying pencil to scribble fingering and dynamic reminders—Or as some kind of replacement for my eliminating the piano bench shuffle. (“May I demonstrate a phrase or two”—as the pupil is temporarily nudged out of his comfort zone and put on standby.)

However, as I roll the clock forward to 2023, I realize that all my guilt trips and compensatory efforts about teaching Online were needless.

Currently seated at my “work station” with a HP mega monitor and a QuickTime Record APP, I have no qualms about teaching remotely and regularly supplementing lessons with recordings of sessions in progress. For some students who have Zoom accounts, the recording option is nicely built into their platform sparing me a recording effort–though sometimes, I just want to isolate an issue, and will zone in on it with a shorter video rendering.

With my Face Time pupils, I have two computers running if I choose to record. The older Big iMac can record two view choices of my keyboard–one generated by the internal cam, (a profile), and the second one, activated by my Logitech webcam-model C-920. In practice, I prefer the over my shoulder webcam view since a student can more easily see both my hands at the keyboard joined to my arms and shoulders–a full upper body snapshot of myself seated squarely centered on the piano bench–allowing for leaning in opposing directions as I travel across the ivories. (well not exactly ivories–but a form of plastic that replaced the originals)

Finally, the content of the videos I send to pupils is bundled with important reminders about fingering, phrasing, tone, touch, nuance that over years seems to have promoted their musical growth. It’s an in between lesson feeding that satisfies the learning appetite.

A sampling of Lesson in Progress videos sent to students-These are recent recordings.

Raw video–no editing-sent to pupil–Back tempo suggestions–Burgmuller “La Petite Reunion”..Mood setting–various articulations, choreographies–light hearted staccato; seamless legato parallel thirds, nicely voiced, with nuanced groupings and direction–swells and retractions. Set a tempo that is consistent but with lyrical, tasteful rubato here and there. Preserve the singing tone in the Romantic, lyrical tradition, with phrases having direction and relaxed resolutions.

***

Andante Cantabile, Mozart Sonata, K. 545–Excerpts–Lesson in Progress–phrase shaping, voicing (balance of Alberti bass and solo soprano melody.) Sequences–dynamics. (Raw, unedited video)

***

Lesson in Progress–Claude Debussy, Girl with the Flaxen Hair–Tone, touch, phrasing

***

Lesson in Progress segment of J.S. Bach Little Prelude in F Major, BWV 928 (Raw, unedited video)

This short segment focused on a bass voice that has a syncopation below the Subject in the Right Hand. The shaping of the two voices is explored. It’s a short segment that turned out to be one of 4 separate videos emailed to my pupil that explored BWV 928.

Video supplements are valuable teaching tools that can be archived by a student and revisited over time. For both a teacher and pupil, they provide an organized, growth promoting journey of exploration and discovery.

from Arioso7's Blog (Shirley Kirsten)
https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2023/04/11/the-value-of-sending-supplementary-videos-to-online-students-between-piano-lessons/