I started taking piano lessons from Celine in November 2011, and I truly
enjoyed them very much. I had to move back to Taiwan in July 2013, and
I could no longer take face to face lessons from Celine. It was a real shame,
but I had no intention to change to a local teacher in Taiwan.
Celine and I decided that we should try out the new technology and have
the lessons on Skype. All you need is a laptop, a webcam with a stand, and
a piano. And it really takes 5 minutes to set up before the lessons once
everything is in place.
The skype lessons have been very enjoyable from the start as they do not feel
different from the face to face lessons and have a few additional advantages
on their own. First of all, I get the opportunity to practice and warm up just
before turning on Skype, so everything will sound better right at the start of
the lessons. Don’t we always feel that the pieces sound much better when we
play them at home?
Getting the chance to practice before lessons would probably solve the issue. Also, when having lessons on Skype, we get to play
the piano we use to practice on every day, which would help as well. Secondly, we can have two pianos at the lesson, one for me,
and one for Celine. This makes it much easier for Celine to demonstrate the techniques and try out things on her piano, and for
me to understand the concepts and follow the instructions. Some of the concepts may be difficult to explain in words, but once
you listen to how it sounds, everything becomes very intuitive. One of the other benefits of the Skype lessons worth mentioning
is that it saves a lot of commute time, as all you need to do is stay at home and turn on your computer, which in turns give more
time to practice the piano (well, theoretically speaking)!
Besides having the normal lessons on Skype, I recently have had the opportunity to take up the intense course via Skype. The
intense course is taken over a week for six days, two hours per day. During this time, we practiced intensively on exercises, scales,
theory, sight-reading and pieces, and it really gave a great boost to my piano skills! The course was hugely beneficial for me as it
gave the time and opportunity to rebalance the different aspects of my piano playing skills, and strengthen the weak areas, such
as sight-reading and exercises. The results were amazing, and we can truly tell the differences after the course. I believe this course
really helps me move forwards and I am looking forward to do it again in a few months!
It has been almost a year since I started taking lessons on Skype. I have now gotten so used to it that it feels no more differences to
the normal face to face lessons and I would really recommend it to anyone who is interested in trying it out and experience the
new world!