I posted the following on my Facebook page after my adult students played for their peers yesterday over Skype. Their performances were beamed from London, England; Sydney, Australia; near Asheville, North Carolina; Prospect, Kentucky; Chico, California, and Berkeley, home of the esteemed university. "Heartfelt music sharing in the wake of a tragic loss of Parisian… Continue reading Our Global-wide Skype Music Sharing: Triumph over Tragedy
All too often piano students give up on a piece after so many weeks of exposure, thinking the fingering is settled, the beats are well-measured, and the notes have fallen into place. At this juncture, a Big STOP SIGN must impede the restless from plunging into a new musical journey despite their belief that the… Continue reading Stay LONGER with a piece for higher levels of learning and awareness
This is not a planned or staged informercial, but one of my students spontaneously reviewed the value of her piano lessons by Face Time, and I snatched her critique on my iPhone. NOTIFICATION: She was not impeded from sharing the down side of her piano learning experience so naturally I was riveted to what would… Continue reading Technology as a valuable piano teaching tool
Today I was greeted by a rare Piano Ped. Forum Facebook post that celebrated a positive private teaching day. Teacher C. reported that all students had arrived on time for lessons, paid their fees pronto, and actually practiced. Bravo! Reams of peers LIKED the morsel of good tidings, except for one who JOKINGLY remarked, "Thanks… Continue reading A Piano Teacher’s Hodgepodge Life with its ups and downs!
It all started with a FACETIME hitch. Out of the blue, the popular FACE to FACE application tanked when I ACCEPTED an incoming call. Three beeps and a hasty shutdown! Disconnected! Kaput! finished! A CALL back from my END produced the same. Three more reminders of NADA!!! The only solution was switching off to SKYPE… Continue reading Apple Inc.’s latest MAVERICKS UPGRADE is a disaster for Online piano teachers! (Watch the video)
The brave new horizon technology that launched our webcam mentoring journey around the world, adds an instant language translator by Skype. As the need arises, a piano teacher can tap into a downloaded CATFISH application and preselect English to Spanish, or any paired lingo combo that's pertinent to the student's country of origin. Last night… Continue reading Teaching piano by Skype in a foreign language
I rely on Logitech webcams with a long range panoramic capability and various angled keyboard views, including a DIRECT KEYBOARD overhead as below. These views are just a mouse tap away. For trill and ornament demonstrations, I can highlight the second or third HD PRO cam option listed on my SKYPE (or FACE… Continue reading Multi-cam views during Skype or Face Time piano lessons
