At a glance, online education may seem like a foreign concept to some but, in today’s highly advanced technological world online education is quickly becoming the future of quality learning. The benefits of utilizing online education are highlighted in an article “Teaching Real-Time Music Lessons over Video Conference” by Mario Ajero. Ajero attributes the success of online music lessons to the major advancements in videoconferencing technology, which allows students to interact with their instructors regardless of their geographic locations. This opens so many doors for those seeking quality musical lessons that may not be available in their area or in the genre they are most interested in.
One major benefit of online music lessons is that most people already have access to the necessary equipment needed to participate in online lessons. Any computer or laptop with a camera and microphone can be used to facilitate an online lesson. Free applications like skype and ichat can be used to video conference with an instructor. In some cases online instructors, like Piano Edutainment, will provide their students with the best software that will allow high quality un-interrupted lessons.
Fortunately, those seeking piano lessons have access to new technology that allows piano instructors to remotely connect to their student’s piano over the internet. The software program is called Internet MIDI that can connect any two MIDI-capable keyboards over the Internet. The article gives the example of an instructor who has a Roland Digital Piano and the student who has a Korg Digital Piano can still connect through Internet MIDI. The software allows the instructor to see and hear how their student is playing and the sound produced through the keyboards in the Internet MIDI connection is very precise. Overall, online music lessons have major benefits for students by limiting costs, travel time, and providing access to diverse instructors.
Ajero, M. (2010). Teaching real-time music lessons over video-conference. American Music Teacher , 44-47.
Online Piano Lessons 