MUSIC LESSONS TRANSFORMED ONLINE
Dream big dreams and never let the tough times get you down. Learning and growing is a continuous process, even during tough seasons of our lives. This is how I advise my students during the Covid-19 pandemic. As the country embarked on more than 2 months of partial lock-down (circuit breaker) to overcome the virus transmission, it was quite an experience for myself, my students and their parents as we put together our resources and efforts in a short time, to move our music lessons online, since face-to-face lessons were not allowed. We had to make do with readily available tools, equipments and devices at home to make it work. It was not an easy task from setting up the tools, trouble-shooting, test trials, getting the students familiar with using the online platform, prepping them on what to expect and how the lessons will be conducted, to the actual online lessons. The lessons were the same, and yet not quite the same. Students found it strange to see me through a small screen, and the familiar ways that they have been learning and getting through the lessons have had to change. One such example for change was the playing on time, synchronised with my demonstration and beat. I am truly blessed with highly adaptable and intelligent students who quickly developed the ability to use the tools, and were able to understand and absorb the musical skills taught, which helped them to progress on with their music learning. We could not have done so without cooperative parents who, because of their tremendous support, helped their child / children to have an uninterrupted pursuit of music education. Hence, many of my students were able to progress to the next grade while doing online lessons. They moved on to new syllabus, materials and books, and were delighted to having fulfilled their musical goals which I asked them to write down at the beginning of the year. They learned to be independent and responsible in preparing the materials for lessons, doing markings on their music scores, writing their own notes for practise etc. They became more aware and sensitive to tempo, sound, touch and their playing overall. They worked closer with their parents in finishing and submitting their music theory homework for my marking, printing and curating their scores etc. To be frank, I thought it brought everyone - my students, their parents and myself, more connected together in a sense, where communication and feedback had increased, with a common goal in improving online music learning. As the saying goes, when there is a will, there is a way. There is never a perfect timing for anything. It is how much we want it. It is how we handle when it comes. I received many new enquiries about music lessons with me when we reopened from the circuit breaker, and I was able to resume face-to-face lessons at my music studio. These parents were considering whether they should let their kids commence face-to-face or online lessons during this Covid-19 crisis or wait till it is over. There is never a perfect timing to start. Even without a pandemic, any kind of situation could arise which would be seemed as not the right time. It is wise to consider all possibilities before making a decision. However, we really have to live life as normal as we can, after all, this is now what we call - the new normal. Why not take the leap of faith, to believe in the effective teaching methods conducted in a safe and conducive learning environment, and see what excitement and benefits music learning has to offer?
