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    Frederik Magle
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    Krummhorn
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Organ lessons via Skype

wljmrbill

Member
I have done some critique work and evaluations via the web and messanger/cam services. The real difference for me is no on hands conatct as such..which at times help the student understand what you are trying to get across. But by using a keyboard myself it is easier to get points related.( as they can hear and see you demostrate the point ) Maybe not the best route but for some in distance places with no teachers near or money for expensive lessons. ( but I never charge much anyway as I grew up doing chores/yard work etc. to offset my cost with my teachers as we had little money in those days for extras.....it is an option IMHO.
 

Krummhorn

Administrator
Staff member
ADMINISTRATOR
I have reservations about learning via 'long distance' ... nothing, at least for me, beat the actual hands on experience that I had during my entire 12 years of private keyboard lessons (piano and organ). Fingering, poise, wrist position, to name a few, might not be as easily conveyed via web cam.

Then come the usual competitions and/or performance venues - having your teacher right there with you before those performances really boosted my morale.

I took all my lessons in the day and age where the internet wasn't even born yet, at least for home use.
 

qbsohn

New member
Yes, it's good option when there is no other. Sometimes people have a passion, or simply playing in the church, and they want to learn something more but they don't have a teacher in their area.
 

Krummhorn

Administrator
Staff member
ADMINISTRATOR
I wish more young people would take a serious interest into playing in the church. A lot of us are getting on in years and nobody coming up through the ranks (pun intended) to replace us when we decide to retire.

The interest just isn't there ... maybe it has to do with technology (iPhones, iPads, Internet, Email, Texting, Tweeting, etc etc, ad nauseum) taking up to much interest and time. But that's another subject and I won't go there in this thread. :crazy:
 

pcnd5584

New member
I have reservations about learning via 'long distance' ... nothing, at least for me, beat the actual hands on experience that I had during my entire 12 years of private keyboard lessons (piano and organ). Fingering, poise, wrist position, to name a few, might not be as easily conveyed via web cam.

Then come the usual competitions and/or performance venues - having your teacher right there with you before those performances really boosted my morale.

I took all my lessons in the day and age where the internet wasn't even born yet, at least for home use.


Absolutely. Being able to demonstrate a particular fingering, hand position, even posture - and to be able to contrast different types of timbre and dynamics on a piano, in front of the student (without messing around moving cameras, or wishing that your sound reproduction system was as good as the human ear in the same room), is vital - and there really is no substitute.

If one lived in Alaska, and all of the good teachers were terrified of flying, I suppose that lessons via Skype, or similar medium, would be better than nothing - but it would be an imperfect way of learning, fraught with pitfalls, mis-understanding and, I should have thought, some considerable frustration at times.
 
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