Since the start of the pandemic, spending a lot of time at home is the new normal. This presents amateur musicians with other challenges, but at the same time offers them opportunities. Making music remotely is the new trendwith classes on-linelearning videos or even on platforms on-line.
“For more than ten years I have had a student who lives in Switzerland and whom I have never met in real life.”, relates Konstantin Gutmann, founder of a music school on-line. The German musician claims that the pandemic has made significantly more students aware of this way of learning.
“We started our classes on-line back in 2011. At the time, many people were skeptical and wondered how it was going to be possible. But it works, and the internet and existing technologies are getting better and better,” says Gutmann.
All that is needed for remote instrument lessons is a computer with a webcam and a stable internet connection via LAN cable. Weekly classes are taught through a program of video conference.
Gutmann explains that the location of the camera and the students relative to the equipment is essential, as it allows one to see how the instrument is held and whether the pitch is being played correctly. The video call can only be dispensed with if the student has perfect hearing.
In theory, the classes on-line They work with all instruments. However, according to Gutmann, there are instruments where you have to move a little closer to the webcam so that your hands are in the right place and therefore clearly visible. A big disadvantage is the acoustic delaywhich makes it practically impossible to play or sing together.
“I solve this by saving many tracks in an internal memory,” reports Gutmann. “Then I send the files in mp3 format to my students. So they can play together with that recording made by me.”
Musicologist Matthias Krebs, for his part, knows that many amateur musicians, bands and choirs had good experiences with the platforms during the pandemic. Jamulus or sono bus.
In these, people can make music together remotely with little delay because less data has to be exchanged by not using video. “Unlike Zoom or WhatsApp, local servers can be established, which significantly improves data sharing,” says Krebs. “What’s more, Jamulus-style rigs are optimized for sound transmission”.
In addition to professional musicians and music educators, many music fans have embraced digital technologies out of necessity since the start of the pandemic. “Through online tutorials or Zoom meetings focused on a specific topic, even the least tech-savvy people have found ways to learnFor example, how to use these platforms and what additional devices are useful to make this virtual space viable for singing or making music”, explains Krebs.
For many educators, this experience was an impetus to continue using these resources and methods. Before the pandemic, for example, there were relatively few instrument teachers who had experience teaching online.
“Platforms like Jamulus are more than ten years old, but for most people they had gone unnoticed, as they were used to meeting in a certain place at a certain time, in a classroom or rehearsal room,” says Krebs. Now some musicians use the online possibilities “to do an extra rehearsal spontaneously, for example, or if long journeys make regular meetings difficult.”
In addition, there is also the possibility of learning an instrument by watching YouTube videos. The spectrum of approaches is wide. “YouTube tutorials are an interesting way to learn an instrument”, says Krebs, “because you can learn completely different interpretation techniques and thus be inspired, which goes beyond what you do with a single music teacher. guitar”.
With the piano it is relatively easy to visualize in the videos which keys to play. There are also interesting visualizations for the ukulelethe battery or the singing. However, Krebs adds that many students find it difficult to understand the physical aspect of making music, and that a music teacher himself may respond to this differently: “This can give information about the student’s performance and also show options for the different movements during the execution of the instrument”.
Katrin Bock, pedagogue and program director at the German publisher Lugert Musikverlag, explains that although new teaching methods are constantly being developed in the online sector, meeting a person to make music is something completely different: “In the teaching processes It helps a lot that the teacher can see a direct reaction of the student. Also, making music together still has its digital limits.”
According to Bock, some teachers are practically becoming youtubers because of his students: “They sit at home (in front of the camera) and explain in 45 minutes how Black works. Because, of course, seeing your own music teacher in a video is not the same as seeing a stranger on YouTube.”
In general, in Bock’s experience, music teachers are very willing to undergo digital training to reach their students with the new tools. However, When it comes to motivation to practice, it’s probably more helpful to have a real teacher to realize directly during the class if the student has practiced or not. (F)
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
