Guitar lessons in the age of Coronavirus
And you probably also know that this has been a tough time for musicians. In most cities, like Los Angeles, a whole community has lost their ability to make a living, and they've gone on the dole. Tours have been cancelled. Corporate events, private parties, and weddings have been cancelled and postponed for 2021. Restaurants have closed. Schools have closed. Even streets are closed. There is almost no opportunity for musicians to perform or teach. Every single day we get new cancellations for gigs. Some of us have had our calendar booked more than a year in advance. What are musicians supposed to do?
If you happen to know any professional musicians, or people who make their living solely in music, you've probably seen them on your feed. You'll see them doing what I'd call "digital busking". They're playing live performances on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube and putting out a digital tip jar through Venmo or Paypal. What else are they to do? Besides offering remote recording sessions, and remote music lessons, there are almost no sources of income for musicians. Guitarists, singers, drummers, pianists and more have no other way to pay the bills. Hardly any of us have received any sort of help from the government as of this writing (April 2020).
So many musicians are now offering virtual music lessons. People who have never taught before, some of whom have never wanted to teach, now have no choice but to figure out how to teach and go online start offering their services. I think this is awesome. Not only is this now a golden age in opportunity for kids and adults who want to learn music, but it's also a chance for musicians to discover the joy of teaching. It's also a great example of what makes musicians special. Players are simply doing now what they've always done: Being resourceful, providing music for the people, and doing what they love despite what's happening in the world around them.
This is a great time for students. If you have ever wanted to find the perfect music teacher, or music school for you, now is the time. For instance you're into a rare style of music, maybe now you can find someone who can teach you that style, who wasn't available before. You can find the teacher or the school that jives with you. You can find talented instructors (old, young, guys, girls) that are the right fit for you. While it's extremely important to make sure that your skype guitar teacher or skype piano teacher has direct internet hook up (not wifi), and that they use YOUR virtual service (zoom, facetime, skype, google duo, etc), you can make sure your teacher has something even more important: the right FIT for you. Even if your teacher has years of experience and great ratings and everything looks great, if they just don't jive with you, and aren't able to communicate to you what you want to learn, then they are not the right teacher for you. In this brave new world, you can find someone who speaks your language (Italian, spanish) and someone who speaks your musical language as well.
This is also a great time for music teachers. If you have never taught before, either because you weren't interested, or because you weren't able to break in and find clients, now is the time. Schools are hiring teachers. Your friends in your immediate circle may want to take lessons. You can finally learn organize and teach what you have learned in music school. You might find that your own playing improves when you are forced to distill your musical approach and show it to someone else. Maybe you'll find you have had a passion for teaching all along.
I've always loved digging up old records. Usually I try to find every song that Led Zeppelin, Hank Williams or Elliott Smith released. But in the age of COVID-19 I've been more interested in finding new music. More than just records, people want fresh music, we want to communicate musically, we want to learn and grow and teach. I've been lucky enough to share in some international zoom performances and these have been amazing experiences. This is an exciting time in creativity, art, and collaboration.