Do you teach students online? Have you been thinking about starting?
Did you know there are actually four ways that you can teach and learn music online and that Skype isn’t necessarily the best option?
In today’s podcast episode, Hugh Sung talks about the innovative methods he uses to teach in this digital age. By reviewing videos that a student has recorded, Hugh is able to notice the tiny details that he may have missed in real-time. This style of teaching where the student and teacher are not working in real-time with each other is called asynchronous pedagogy.
Hugh’s style of teaching allows him to teach students from across the globe, and I think there are elements of his method that we could take on for students sitting in front of us as well.
Is this the future of music pedagogy? Take a listen to today’s podcast and let us know what you think below.
Are you enjoying these podcasts? I’d love for you to leave a podcast review. Find out how easy it is here.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- What “asynchronous pedagogy” is and why it’s worth considering
- How to use video recording effectively in your teaching
- How to get started teaching online
- Hugh’s favourite iPad apps
- Tips for getting found online
Items mentioned in this podcast:
- Hugh’s website
- Hugh’s teaching studio website
- ForScore iPad app
- Coach’s Eye iPad app
- ‘From Paper to Pixels’ by Hugh Sung
- 4 Ways to Learn Music Online
- 3 Ways in which Video Exchange Lessons are Better than Live Ones
Today’s Sponsor: AirTurn
Looking for the best Bluetooth page turner on the market?
Check out the PED by AirTurn, the company that I recommend teachers, students and performers turn to (excuse the pun) for iPad page turning accessories. The PED is the latest in page-turning technology for iPads featuring a sleek, lightweight design that is easy to set up and 100% reliable. Check out the video.
AirTurn doesn’t just manufacture the best Bluetooth page turners, it also creates mic and iPad stands, remote controls, books and associated software, all designed to make it easy for musicians to do what they’re best at: make music.
To find out more and see latest AirTurn offers for Tim Topham podcast listeners, head to topmusic.co/airturn.
Have you taught online lessons?
How did they go? What did you use? Did you miss not being able to be present with the student? Let us know by leaving your thoughts below.
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17 Comments
Hi there,
This was really interesting to me. I’m just getting a website developed, and moved to a new city in a new state. I am so interested in doing this, but have had trouble in the past when I tried something similar. Perhaps it would be easier now that I have a website through squarespace, but even when I’ve compressed videos in the past I can’t send them through email due to size. Anything longer than a few minutes just doesn’t cut it. Do you have any ideas? Is this something you’ve tried since this interview?
Thank you!
Hannah
Great question, Hannah. Videos over email will never work. You’ll need to upload them to a hosting site (I use Wistia, but there’s also YouTube and Vimeo) and provide people the links or you can embed the videos into your website. Good luck with it!
Thank you! I did some researching and found that out right after I messaged 😉 I recently sent another question about how to get music for and to students when doing music online. I’ve been researching, but any tips would be appreciated!
Thanks again for having responded so quickly.
This was a great video with Hugh Sung. I have been teaching for over 40 years so technology is a little scary for me. I did encourage my students to video practice sessions for me this summer during the break. I only had one student to do this. It was great and I sent back comments & suggestions for the student. I am going to encourage this during the semester & use it for make-up lessons. That will help to introduce video lessons to the students & parents. Thanks for all you do to encourage us as teachers.
Hi Angela – glad you enjoyed the podcast. That sounds like a great way to get started. I have kids record things on their phones all the time. Little demonstrations, rhythms they’re struggling with, me singing something, anything that helps. It’s an invaluable tool that’s permanently in their pockets!
I’m doing a trial of my first video class shortly! Thanks so much for this post!!
Am currently using my cellphone placed on a tiny tripod which sits on a cabinet a little far away, for the trial run, but am looking for a stand to mount my cellphone. I took a look at the airturn website, but all this is very new to me, so need some help.
What stand could you recommend for my cellphone? Also, is there a stand which will help me take a video of my hands from above, so my students can clearly see my hands on the keys.
Appreciate any suggestions for how I can set up, that’s easy for me to do.
Hey Anita. I have just the thing! Check out the resources page and scroll down to the iKlip phone holder. It. Is. Brilliant!! https://topmusic.co/resources/
What a great interview! I purchased his book:Excellent! Have the I-Pad, have the stand…I’m on my way, have ForScore, next is “Airturn.” Step-by-step. He is so engaging and talented. Thanks for this pod.
You’re welcome Broadway! Sounds like you’re super-motivated. Make sure you get my discount for airturn at https://topmusic.co/airturn.
Hey Tim, another great podcast, not sure I agree with all the Hugh had to say. I’ve been doing a bit of Skype teaching myself and really found it hard to be able to see everything that you can when you’ve got a student in the room. I do appreciate what Hugh was saying about using it with older students and also having a whole collection of videos for students to use – that would be awesome.
I totally agree with Hugh on Coach’s Eye – I’ve been using that APP for about 2 years. In my spare time, I’m a qualified run & swim coach, so I was using it for that and thought this might be great for piano. When I started using it with my students they loved it. I teach about 120 kids a week in piano classes in about 12 hours/week. I just had around 20 of them doing AMEB exams. We regularly did, what I like to call, the iPad challenge where they get to play on my grand piano and then look at themselves on the video. You can see I was able to circle the collapsed knuckle this boy was was playing. This little guy received an A+ for his Grade 1, I’m sure this feedback helped him.
I’ve also used the video for kids to learn how to give criticism both positive and negative.
Thanks again for your podcast – looking forward to the next one!
Thanks Paul. Firstly, I can’t believe you have any spare time with teaching 120 kids. I don’t even know how that’s possible! Thanks for the reminder about Coaches Eye – I’ve recently downloaded it too but still working out how to use it to best advantage. Cheers for the image!
Great podcast Tim and Hugh. Thanks for asking about child beginners and pricing. Really great podcast. lots of stunning ideas for us remote teachers.
Cheers Lynda – great to hear from you again!
This was so helpful to me, thank you Tim! Enjoyed listening to Colin Thomson’s interview with Hugh on the Modern Musician podcast recently also. He really knows what he’s talking about, and is extremely articulate in sharing his knowledge.
Also love that you’ve been doing more podcasts. Love listening to them, and it’s not just because of your accent!
Hahaha! Thanks Amy 🙂 Glad you’re enjoying them.
Thank you, Tim, for that interesting interview! I learned a lot of new things and some ideas for my first youtube video on learning chords and inversions. Asynchronous pedagogy makes so much sense as well as making short youtube videos of solutions to problems often run into in commonly taught pieces and then sending your students to that video.
You are doing a great service to the piano teaching world.
Hey Jane – so glad that you’ve got some great new ideas for the “flipped” approach to teaching. It can be really time-saving down the track so I’m really glad that you’re going to jump in and give it a go. What have you got to lose? Make sure you leave a message when you inversion video is up so that others can check it out.