Like most of you, I am currently working from home. At the time of this writing, our city is under a stay-at- home order, and our public schools, colleges, and universities are closed. Like most of you, I have moved all my teaching online including my teaching of students who are special learners. I am missing my students terribly, and worry t...

Over the course of a few days in mid-March, the University of Colorado (CU),as many schools, quickly and suddenly transitioned to distance learning.All students who were able were asked to move home. All face-to-face engagements, including classes, private lessons, and committee meetings would move online. In short order, piano teachers everyw...

A New Reality It has been remarkable to see our community of piano teachers come together to share resources and provide support to one another during this pandemic. We had to transition to online teaching very quickly—overnight for some—and mobilize what technology we had on hand to create makeshift virtual studios. I think it is safe to say that ...

Group classes are a vital form of interaction in the time of COVID-19.Now more than ever before, students cherish opportunities to see familiar faces, interact with peers, and make music with others. Online group classes can operate in much the same fashion as in-person classes with careful planning and creativity. A detailed lesson plan is importa...

My recent lessons with elementary and intermediate students have been filled with music making and sweet moments of personal connection. I enjoyed a student's smile with a first lost tooth, another's excitement in showing off her scales with both hands, and exclamations of "I love this piece!" and "That's Treble G!" While these experience...

During a recent tour at the Bell Homestead in my home- town of Brantford, Ontario, Canada, I came across an interesting fact. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell set up a demonstration of his new invention, the telephone. He arranged for friends to play a melodeon and sing over a telephone line in order to show that sound could be transmitted ...

All of us have spent the last several weeks adapting to the reality of a world where the COVID-19 pandemic has acutely changed nearly every part of our lives. For many piano teachers, it has been a time of sink-or-swim adaptation. Our teaching spaces...

On a Wednesday afternoon last month, one of my colleagues and I stood in the hallway of my studio between our lessons, and he asked me "What are we going to do about lessons if the schools close because of the virus?" I shrugged it off, thinking surely it would not get to that point. Well that changed quickly, as we realized universities and s...

Introduction by Jerry Wong Years from now I suspect we will all have our own stories to tell of how we were affected by COVID-19. From my own perspective, colleagues in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan were the first to share updates of school closings and a new culture of all online, all the time. The situation took on a different reso...

 Learn the basics of using efficient language in online lessons with examples provided. Presented by Esther Hayter.

 Learn how to make sure your videos have good lighting-- no special equipment needed! Presented by Trevor Thornton.

Learn the basics of downloading Zoom, creating an account, scheduling meetings, and screensharing. Presented by Anna Beth Rucker.

During a recent tour at the Bell Homestead in my hometown of Brantford, Ontario, Canada, I came across an interesting fact. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell set up a demonstration of his new invention, the telephone. He arranged for friends to play a melodeon and sing over a telephone line in order to show that sound could be transmitted over the tel...

In this unprecedented time of uncertainty around COVID-19, class piano instructors are faced with the daunting task of moving instruction online. Here are some tips from leading class piano teachers on how to make this transition.  Organize your students: Assignments may take longer to complete at home. Have reasonable expectations of workload...

In the uncertainty and confusion of the COVID-19 crisis, the music community faces unprecedented issues surrounding private and group instruction. As you consider what is best for your studio, we at the Frances Clark Center hope that you find this document helpful in your decision making and communication: Decision Making Helpful resources include ...

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When I moved back to the United States after living in Saudi Arabia for fifteen years, I went from a full teaching studio of over 50 students along with a mentorship program to teaching a smaller number of students online. I had been teaching online students in the United States for several years while living in the middle east and now I was flippi...

Collaboration between two foreign countries can be fraught with deadly secrets, dangers, and mysterious politics. Fortunately, in the case of piano classes in Brazil and the United States, these were not the circumstances. In fact, our collaboration fostered creativity and relationships among the students in both countries.  Beginnings When co...

How close to your student do you sit during a piano lesson? How close do you sit to your computer screen when using your computer? Imagine that you typically sit about two feet from your computer screen. Further imagine that when you sit at your computer you are talking to someone, face-to-face, on your computer screen, and the other pers...