Why have lessons online?
Turn lockdown to your advantage. Upskill, master the tech and get the most out of your instrument with our online tutors.
Do you want to:
Save Time:
Why commute to your lesson when you can be practising instead?
Tired of being late for your lesson or missing it due to traffic? Switch to online.
Learn Safely:
Covid-19 and flu season safe for teachers and pupils alike with online lessons.
Less Safeguarding risks for children - no proximity or drop off issues online.
No roads to cross, or dangerous motorways to drive along when late! Save hassle by learning online.
No more long walks home in the dark after lessons. Have peace of mind with online lessons.
Get to know your teacher:
Worried you will have to find a new teacher if you move house or leave the area?
Online lessons, no problem, move around the county (or World) as much as you like and keep your favourite teachers.
Escape the supply and demand problems involved with finding an excellent teacher in your area:
In some areas of the country clients struggle to find a suitable teacher. Let us solve your problems with online lessons. So long as you have a good internet connection and a reasonable computer you do not need to be limited by the lack of local talent.
Be free to roam:
Worried that traveling around the world for your job may disrupt lessons?
No problem online, we have taught pupils around the world in Austria, Netherlands, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Bermuda and more.
Switch teachers or instruments with ease:
If you do not gel with one of our teachers or wish to try another instrument then we can switch you to another teacher with relative ease online (subject to a six lesson notice period).
Get the edge:
Many adult students prefer our online lesson format because of the online resources we use.
Screen sharing of notation in music software makes explanation of phrases, chords, fingerings, timing etc much more detailed and visual.
Online lesson notes and repertoire history help you keep track of your progress.
Video uploads of student practice to our portal for live critique during lesson.
Rewind and replay of student videos over screen share to highlight errors.
Downloadable backing tracks.
Downloadable musical exercises transcribed for your lesson.
Tuition on how to use Guitar Pro 7.5
50% off Guitar Pro 7.5 with our online lessons.
Learn the rudiments of recording for audio and video.
Online music exams available - allowing you to perfect your performance with professional feedback before submission.
Connect with ease using embedded Zoom links in our parent/student portal.
Get up to date with making and sharing music in the digital age.
Who struggles with online lessons?
Very young children may need parental supervision when working online as they are often (but not always) less able to maintain focus sufficiently to take full advantage of an online lesson and all the technological resources it can bring. Such clients may be better suited to face to face lessons. Face to face will resume after a Covid vaccine is successfully rolled out. We do have children as young as five who successfully take online lessons and really love them. If you would like to find out if online lessons are right for your child then book a consultation and see how they get on. The consultation does not commit you to ongoing lessons should you decide they are not suitable for your child.
Who do online lessons best suit?
Online lessons best suit, adults and teenagers, who are able to set up their computers to our recommended specifications * (laptop or desktop with an audio interface and condenser mic) although lessons can work well on an iPad or a phone. Students who are self disciplined, motivated, able to focus on the task in hand, comfortable with technology and able to utilise our online resources, really excel with online lessons.
Save 50% off Guitar pro 7.5 (normally £56 excluding discount) when you sign upfor lessons today.
Save 50% on a one hour consultation (usually £41.00) saving £21.50 when you sign up today.
Live tutors help you record lesson tasks and upload for one to one critique.
How To connect to your lesson:
Logon to your parent/student portal from the Gigabull website.
Click the link on the lesson schedule within the calendar or the portal home page.
If this is the first time you have used ‘Zoom’ you will be prompted to download a small piece of software in order for the link to work.
If you have logged on and clicked the link before your teacher has, you will be put in a virtual waiting room.
Once your teacher finishes their previous lesson and clicks the link to log onto your lesson, you will be connected.
You do not need to have your own ‘Zoom’ account to use this method. You should not need a meeting ID from the teacher if you click the link directly on the lesson schedule. Click and connect.
*Zoom periodically change the settings and occasionally do ask for a meeting ID, in the unlikely event this happening, do email us.
Tips on getting the most out of your online music lessons.
The best very best online audio and recording can be achieved with a ‘focusrite’ audio interface and a condenser mic.
If you go for the professional set up described above, you will also need a microphone stand. Make sure the centre of the condenser mic diaphragm is facing the sound source (condenser mic’s often stand upright, not pointing forward like a torch).
The second best audio solution can be achieved with a USB microphone such as the “Blue Yeti” or similar (but you can get by without one).
If you monitor your sound over headphones you can avoid echo and experience a much better sound than the inbuilt computer speaker will deliver.
Use studio monitors or quality external computer speakers for a better sound (but don’t turn it up too loud or you may get echo).
Make sure that you do not have a strong light source behind you. Lights are best placed in front of you and behind or to the side of the camera.
Position yourself so the teacher can see both hands on the instrument.
Make sure no-one else is the house is using up your internet bandwidth i.e. Streaming Netflix during your lesson.
In Zoom settings uncheck the box in audio settings that automatically adjust the microphone volume as this tends to destroy dynamics.
In Zoom settings turn ‘suppress background noise’ to the lowest setting (as it sometimes thinks the instrument is the background noise)!
In Zoom settings turn on Hi-Fidelity Music mode.
Turn your mic up as far as you can without getting distortion (usually about 80-85%)
Eliminate as much environmental background noise as possible.
Have your music ready before the lesson. If your music does not have bar numbers it may be helpful to write some in before the lesson.
Use of a desktop music stand such as the bamboo desk top music stand supplied by World Rhythm (available on amazon) makes reading music and TABS much easier.
RockSchool Exams.
All RockSchool exams will now be online via video performance. This method will require you to perform 5 pieces rather than the usual 3 pieces. Scales, Aural, Sight Reading and Improvisation will not be part of the exam online video exams system. We will not be scheduling any face to face exams for RockSchool until the public health crisis has been averted.
Coming out of Coronavirus LockDown.
We will continue to offer ongoing online lessons over Zoom as an option to our clients even after Coronavirus restrictions are lifted as some have found it more convenient. Others will revert to face to face lessons as they were before restrictions came into place once the public health risk comes to an end.
All ensemble coaching, band rehearsals and ‘RockVox’ ® choirs are postponed until Coronavirus ceases to be a public health risk.
Stay safe and keep learning :-)
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