All About Online Music Education: What and How Can You Teach Music Online?

People might have this misconception that everything online started when the world encountered a pandemic in 2020, but like so many other things, music teaching has been around for years. A simple search on Google and YouTube will show you music learning online has been around for quite some time and teachers, just like any other subjects, have been teaching music online before the lockdown started. Sure online tuition is different from real-life music classes, however, it does the job pretty well.

What happened recently is the pandemic that showed the world how unpredictable it is, which is why more and more people are shifting to online learning, be it traditional education or art forms such as music, painting, or dancing. If you are also a musician who is thinking of giving music lessons online, it is time to start. But not before you gather enough research.

Why should you opt for online lessons?

The [popularity of online education is on the rise and will continue to be on the rise in the future, making it the most preferred method. So should you take this method as your preferred one? There are a lot of advantages that teaching music online brings you. Let’s talk about that.

i) Time-saving

When you start to give online lessons, the first benefit you will notice is how much doing that saves you time. Online music lessons can easily fit into your busy schedule and at the same time allow you to attend the class from anywhere you want. There is no need to be present in a room at a particular time anymore. Being present at live sessions is not even required if you are offering pre-recorded music lessons.

ii) Lesser cost

When you move online and start to conduct classes there, you can cut down your expenses on paying rent, and electricity. At the same time, if you were previously working with a music school, you don't have to share your earnings with them anymore.

iii) Increased revenue

Teaching music online gives you a much bigger exposure and an opportunity to reach a wider potential student pool. It is easier to promote online and there is no limitation on your earnings as an online music teacher.

iv) Less effort

Shifting to online music lessons can also be advantageous as it requires low effort and a bit more planning. If you are giving classes in person, you need to prepare beforehand and deliver on time. This does not happen online as you get the opportunity to create pre-planned classes beforehand. You only need to craft these programs once, but students online can purchase and access them multiple times.

How can you teach online music?

If you want to teach music online, there are three ways you can do that. You can start teaching via

    a) an online music education website 

    b) setting up an online business or music studio

    c) freelancing music websites

Music teachers do not require any qualifications to teach music. However, if you want a better-established career online, it is better to have a formal qualification or a relevant music degree, along with a minimum teaching experience of two years. Being qualified and having experience gives you an upper hand over other music teachers online.

    1. Choose your genre or instrument

Choosing which genre you are going to be teaching or what instrument the students will be learning from you is the first step. Then you need to choose the age group of your students because every age group has different learning methods that you need to apply in your curriculum. Now it is time to determine the format you would deliver your lessons in.

Several music lessons are available online that offer different learning requirements. These are classified as Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced classes.  Other formats include simple pre-recorded video tutorials, live lessons, or one-to-one classes, along with group classes and master classes. Choose which things you want to offer students in your classes and create the format accordingly.

    2. Assembling equipment

Before you start giving online lessons make sure you understand that the lessons would be relying on audio-visual communication. This makes it important to be prepared with the right tools and equipment that will help you conduct the classes easily and swiftly. To teach music online you would most probably need an online learning platform, a smartphone, tablet, computer, or laptop, a working internet connection, webcam or camera, along with a video conference program or application like Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, etc. You would also need your music copy, and music stand, along with music notation software such as ScoreCloud, Sibelius, or Guitar Pro.

If you are planning on giving live classes, apart from having a secure internet connection, make sure you have a strong internet speed or bandwidth. Another thing to keep in mind is the minimum lag time. Lag time is the delay time between what you are saying and what is shown on the screen. Since music is all about timing, you need to make sure that there is no lag time when you are giving classes online.

    3. Recording music lessons

When you start teaching online, you will need a physical space where you can record yourself or give live lessons. It can be in your home, or your music studio. This place is quiet and with minimum distractions. Once you have this place set, start recording yourself. You can record video tutorials or basic playing instructions on your chosen instrument. Pre-recorded music works best for any music tutorial or learning curriculum. It also works best as an alternative to live lessons.

    4. Creating a music curriculum

After you are done with recording videos, it is time to create your music curriculum. This will be based on the video tutorials you have recorded helping students learn how to read and play music. Make sure the music curriculum has an introductory class to music theory along with technique-building exercises and access to sheet music.

You will find several websites online offering music teaching resources where you can easily find lesson plans, quizzes, assignments, worksheets, and downloadable materials, for free. For lesson planning, you can get help from K12 Resources, ArtsEdge, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, etc. For sheet music, you can use MuseScore, SheetMusicNow, Flat, Musicnotes, 8Notes, etc., and use MusicTheory.net or Teoria for music theory.

Make sure your music curriculum has clear objectives and goals so that your students know beforehand what they can expect to learn from you.

If you want to increase your popularity and the number of students, make sure to promote yourself on social media and create your website. Additionally, ask your students to leave positive reviews on your website to attract new students.