ONLINE CAMPUS FAQs
FAQs
Interactive Online Music Lessons
Address: Your House | Your Workplace | Anywhere with Internet Connection
Contact: admin@nationalmusicacademy.com.au
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF DOING VIRTUAL ONLINE ONE ON ONE LESSONS?
Online lessons have a few benefits. The biggest at the current time is the ability for students to continue their lessons without having to leave their homes or come into close contact with their teacher and other students. However, there are other benefits to having lessons online:
⁃ Teachers can see the set up that students are practicing on at home and tailor their advice to the specific student so they can make the best progress with the resources they have available to them at home.
⁃ Students who are staying home from school, sports, dancing or other activities have continuity in their regular schedules, a positive activity to keep them occupied, positive, creative and engaged. Music is also a great stress reliever!
⁃ It’s an awesome chance for parents to get more involved in their children’s lessons
⁃ Students who are sick who would otherwise miss a week or even several weeks of lessons still get regular weekly contact with their teacher and don’t get too far behind on their progress.
DO I NEED TO DOWNLOAD AN APP TO DO MY LESSONS?
No, our new interactive platform is entirely web based. You just click through to your teacher’s link (included in lesson reminders and in our initial email regarding online lessons) on your computer, tablet or phone. There is a completely free app available for iOS and Android devices that you can download if you wish to.
WHAT EQUIPMENT DO I NEED?
Your online lesson will work with your device’s inbuilt microphone and camera. If you are using an external microphone or headphones it’s worth jumping on a few minutes before your lesson to check your audio and camera settings beforehand.Additional equipment that can be used (but not required) with your lessons include:
⁃ A tripod or music stand for your device
⁃ Wireless headphones
⁃ An external microphone
⁃ A wired Ethernet connection
⁃ If you need to play backing tracks or other audio files, a second device e.g. a phone or iPod (or even a CD player if you’re feeling old fashioned!) will be needed
MY TEACHER'S ROOM IS ASKING ME TO 'KNOCK'. WHY IS THAT?
This is to prevent teachers with back to back students having their next student accidentally joining their current students lesson. When your teacher is ready for your lesson you’ll be let in.
HOW SHOULD I SET UP FOR MY LESSON ONLINE?
1. If possible, set up somewhere in your house that either has a wired internet connection or is close to your router. We recommend setting up in a common space but asking siblings to hang out in another room for the duration of the lesson (also ask other people in the house to avoid streaming movies/videos or downloading large files at this time if possible).
2. Generally speaking, the larger the screen on your device, the better.
3. Set up your device on a stand or propped up on a shelf/stack of books etc so that at least your torso, head, both hands and your instrument are visible on screen.
4. Use your front facing camera so you can see your teacher and make sure you don’t move out of shot
5. If you can, use wireless headphones; this will mean you can be far enough away from your device while still hearing clearly
6. Test your mic and camera before your lesson is scheduled to start - ensure that you can play at a loud volume without your microphone overloading, particularly if you are on a hard floor.
7. We recommend for children and teenagers that parents help them set up for their lesson for the first few lessons at least until they get the hang of it.
WHAT HAPPENS IF MY CONNECTION DROPS OUT DURING MY LESSON?
Check that no one else is using the internet in your house to stream or download large files.If you can’t reconnect, try joining the room again as an audio only chat.If you’re still dropping out or quality is really bad, your teacher will film a video lesson and send it to you to watch and work on instead. They may also suggest you make a video of your next practice session and send that to them to review and give you some tips.
HOW LONG WILL VIRTUAL ONLINE LESSONS BE IN PLACE OF FACE TO FACE LESSONS?
To be honest with you, we don’t know. Given that the current public health situation is completely unprecedented, we don’t know how long it will be until the government advises it is safe to go back to lessons. What we do know is that we will continue to offer amazing lessons, great content, and our teachers will continue to inspire, coach and mentor students towards their musical goals. Our teachers’ expertise, training and experience doesn’t change based on the format it’s delivered in, and while lessons might be different, this doesn’t make them any less valuable. We’re also a small, family owned business, so we appreciate every single one of our loyal families who we hope will continue to support is and enjoy the gift of music in 2020.
