The Violin Teacher View of Online Violin Music Lessons

By violin teacher Pauline Lerner: 

Out of the blue came a request from someone I didn’t even know, someone who lived far away from me. “Would you consider giving me a violin lesson by Skype?” she asked me by email. It sounded both fun and challenging, so I said, “Sure.”

I’ve been giving lessons by Skype for almost a year now, and I’ve discovered many interesting things about this kind of teaching. Skype has been great, but I decided to start using Lessonface to see if there was a better online platform for my students, and I’m thrilled to teach on Lessonface.com.

I teach violin/fiddle to beginners, including adult beginners. Beginning fiddlers really do need teachers. The physical techniques necessary for playing the violin are challenging. Beginners must learn, consolidate, and maintain many motor skills with left and right shoulders, arms, wrists, hands, and fingers. It is crucial to develop good habits right from the start because bad habits will be challenging to correct later. Beginning students need a teacher to watch them play and make corrections.

There are different kinds of online violin lessons. A common one, which is not mine, resembles a large scale group lesson. The teachers videotape themselves teaching lessons and put the tapes online for anyone to use for free. I have looked at a lot of them, and some are very good. I teach interactive, live lessons, and I've found that Lessonface is a good platform for doing this. I teach one-on-one and in real-time. I watch and listen to a student and give him or her feedback just as I would to a student in my home. My online lessons are up close and personal.

I often read beginning fiddlers say that the sound they make is like squeaking and squawking and that the people who live with them can scarcely bear listening to them for the first year or so. I always tell my beginning students that after just one lesson, they will make a pretty sound with their violin. I have never been proven wrong. I regard the squeaks and squawks of beginning fiddlers as cries for help.

Having a teacher who can be with students in person is undoubtedly a fantastic way to learn. However, this is not always possible. Most of my online violin students live in musically underserved areas. That includes people in rural areas in the U.S. and those in other countries, notably Australia. Since I live in a major metropolitan area with lots of violin teachers and violin stores, I have a new concept. One of my fun experiences teaching online happened when something streaked outside the window behind one of my Australian students. He later told me that it was a kangaroo. One of my students lives in a small city in Alaska. There was only one violin teacher in her city, and he moved away. I asked one of my students in Australia how far she lived from a violin store, and she said, “An eight-hour drive.” When these people need help learning to play the violin, online lessons can be a godsend.

 My distance learning students fall into one of two groups. First are the ones whom I teach regularly once a week. Teaching them is very similar to teaching my students in my home weekly. The second group consists of self-taught adult beginners. Some of them have been struggling alone in the wilderness for too long. Some have no fiddle teachers nearby. Others can not afford to pay for weekly lessons. They all realize that they need help from someone who can watch and listen to them play and give personalized feedback. They generally take lessons from me on a sporadic basis. Results would probably be better with regular weekly lessons, but I’m glad to help them in any way that I can.

I love playing the violin; I love learning new things, and I love helping others. Teaching violin gives me immense personal satisfaction. Teaching one-on-one online has helped me extend my reach and explore new ways of teaching. I love it.

Related:

• Pauline Lerner's Booking Page
• How Much Should You Practice
• Q&A: How Did You Choose Your Instrument?