“Music brings us pleasure And releases our suffering.It can calm us down and pump us up. It helps us manage pain, sleep better And be more productive.”
With the onset of the Corona Virus, and the recent order from the Governor for all Californians to self- quarantine, we immediately decided to start teaching music lessons online. We have over 450 students enrolled weekly at our school, so we knew that it would be very important to keep their music lessons going.
How did we do it?
We chose the online application “Zoom” to use, and it has been absolutely fabulous. We set up IPads, practiced with each other, and read everything we could on how to create a successful music class. Then we began our new journey.
We could not anticipate the overwhelmingly positive and huge response we received from both the parents, as well as the students. They were delighted and thrilled at how fun, informative, and seamless it was to transition to this new way of learning.
Initially, we had quite a steep learning curve, but within the first three days, we had all twenty of our teachers signed up with Zoom and teaching their lessons online —without skipping a beat. Yes, pun intended.
Teachers, parents, and students were continually thrilled that they could easily log-on to Zoom, talk to their teacher about what they had been working on that week while continuing to receive the care and attention they are used to with their music studies.
Why did we do it?
Weekly music lessons are instrumental for child development, and making sure that they stayed connected to their teacher and music was first, and foremost our goal. As musicians, we know that music has the power to heal, to cleanse, and to uplift your entire body and mind. People have used music for rejuvenation, expression, and as a healing mechanism throughout time. So during this time of stress, we knew that music lessons would absolutely help to reduce the anxiety, fear, and possible depression that could result from being quarantined. We were committed to continuing to serve our clients with online lessons for however long it will be needed to stop the spread of this virus.
What have we learned?
We have learned that it is vital to continue to connect, share, teach, and keep music education alive — through whatever means possible. We also learned that music helps with stress and makes you feel great. And, that the internet is amazing, and is an invaluable resource that we will continue to use.
We learned that companies like “Zoom” are completely set up and ready to help us. And that they have worked out the kinks to have this amazing and seamless transition to teaching online. Mostly we learned that change is always happening, and embracing it, moving forward, and staying strong to help and serve others, is all that is important during times of stress and change, and that we are grateful.