My stories from teaching piano online

Teaching piano online across the hemispheres

Today I’m reminiscing about some students from far afield who have learnt piano online with Unmani Music. To respect privacy I won’t mention names. There was the family of six children from Alabama in the states. They are an army family and need to move a lot to work in with dad’s deployment so online piano lessons were a good fit when they moved away from their local Simply Music teacher.. Mum..I’ll call her Sara .. is an extremely capable homeschooler and holds the fort while dad is gone. The two eldest learnt with me and Sara got to Foundation 3 before needing to manage life and a new pregnancy!. We stay in touch and they are all doing well.

Speaking of pregnancies I also taught online piano to a very quick learner in Athens Greece for a year or so ..an Australian married and working there. She found me via the Simply Music method as I am known among the fraternity of Australian teachers as a keen online teacher. She powered through a couple of levels and announced there were twins on the way so we took a break too.

These are northern hemisphere students, so there needs to be a bit of time zone negotiations plus the vagaries of daylight saving changeovers but we manage!

Outback learning

In 2019 from my farm in the Wimmera of Victoria, I taught piano online to a mum, a raw beginner on a big station in the Australian outback. It was fun for me teaching another farm person - we understood one another in a different earthy way with our big skies and dust storms. There was a vernacular we would fall into together. She played for the shearers and was very impressed with herself. We started her son on guitar as well. Sometimes with distant children who don’t know me, I suggest we do it the Suzuki way and the mum learns three months ahead. That means she is totally on board as a teacher's aide during the nitty gritty of the online learning style with the kids.

My colleague in Melbourne teaches a student in England very successfully.

Tears, laughter, passion, honesty, soul-searching moments, it’s all there in a week of teaching and learning.

I find if people really are serious about learning to play piano in general, distance is no barrier at all. (Even a lapsing internet connection can be managed with a speaker phone at the ready!)

Gathering onliners together in one place and playing socially

This weekend felt like a triumph with online students gathering at a private home in Endeavour Hills Melbourne. Nine people ranging from around 10 to nearly 70 played for one another sharing very openly their fears, nervousness and thoughts about public playing and sharing. I was really touched by the atmosphere of courage in the room. Somehow there was a collective courage. Students came from Castlemaine, Newcastle NSW, Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula. It was great to be together live and physical after regular lessons on a computer. We all broke bread (and cakes) together afterwards and they look forward to the next time we gather and play. The singing was off the charts too as people played their accompaniments using chords and a bass with left hand.