Many music students across the Island haven’t missed a beat since the province declared a public health emergency last month.
To adhere to social distancing measures during the coronavirus (COVID-19 strain) pandemic, instructors have moved their lessons online.
At Holland College School of Performing Arts (SoPa), students have been recording and submitting performances online, and instructors are recording lectures and have set up a chat room for students to ask questions.
Liam Corcoran, program manager of SoPa, said it has been challenging for instructors to modify programs, because not everyone has the same access to the same technologies. Some students have tablets or laptops, while others have smartphones.
"We actually had to send surveys to all our students to get a sense of what they have to work with at home," said Corcoran.
Corcoran said close to 70 per cent of the students in the program have returned to their homes.
"We have quite a lot of international students who decided to return back home to the Bahamas, several students went back to the U.S.,” he said.
“Some students are not international but live on the other side of Canada, so we have to work with so many time zones and co-ordinate sessions."
Right now, SoPa has 17 music teachers who are teaching students online.
"Each one of our instructors had to find their own way to teach classes online. I don't think there are two teachers who do that in the exact same way," Corcoran said.
Alan Dowling, a drum instructor with SoPa, said that musicians have been delivering private lessons for years now.
"Almost 10 years ago I started to audition music students from around the world through Skype sessions,” said Dowling.
“Individual teaching works well through the distance learning mode.”
Dowling said he has three drumming students, including one in P.E.I., one in Attleboro, Mass., and one in Freeport, Bahamas.
"I really miss interacting with my students face-to-face," he said.
Dowling is glad technology will help students reach their end goal despite all the challenges.
"The best benefit of distance learning is that it will allow students to continue their studies, complete the term and graduate from the music performance program."
It’s not just SoPa students who are now learning online.
Long and McQuade is also offering online music lesson, said lessons co-ordinator Laura MacLeod.
"It's going great so far. We have 10 teachers up and running. We’ve just recently started, but we already get phone calls with feedback,” said MacLeod.
“People actually took their time to say how happy they were that we are providing this service, and it's a great way to stay connected and have something to do at home while they are sitting home bored for now."
In just one week, the company has transitioned 70 P.E.I students to online lessons.
"We are just waiting for a couple of teachers who live in rural areas and who are working on internet connection problems before they can get up and running, too," said MacLeod, who estimates the number of students will climb to more than 100.
MacLeod said teachers are trying to find a platform that will best suit their students.
"I haven't witnessed lessons myself, but I’ve heard great feedback about them so far. I'm planning to take some myself. It's a nice way to not feel isolated at this time."
Karson McKeown, a violin teacher at Long and McQuade who has been teaching online for years, is holding lessons from his living room using the conference software Zoom.
"Teaching online is quite a learning curve for a teacher … as you are not face to face, you can't play with a student because there's a slight delay – ever so slight, but ever so prominent. It's a huge thing, especially with the younger students."
McKeown doesn't think this type of virtual learning is a viable option over a long period of time, but he does think there are some positives to teaching online, including his students are practising more.
“They are practising every day pretty much because they have extra time on their hands, so they are progressing way faster than they normally would be."
Local musician and music teacher Todd MacLean, who is now teaching about 80 per cent of his students online, also said there was an upside to this form of learning.
“It seems some of the students respond better to this format, which was very surprising to me,” he said.
“Maybe they interact with the screens a lot more through the run of the day, and it's easier for them to grasp, or they think this format is cooler and just more fun in a certain way ... I'm not sure, but there are quite a few students who are progressing better.”
MacLean, who lives in Pinette, said country internet can be somewhat problematic.
"It takes a lot of energy out of me. I didn't expect that, but at least 30 per cent more energy I'm putting out then on a typical teaching day just because I have to be raising my voice more to get through the lags in the video quality."
For MacLean, a positive aspect in transitioning to online is to still have an income.
"I have 60 to 70 per cent of what I usually make, as I'm charging less for online format. Partially, I didn't want to charge people more because I know it's a difficult time financially for all of us and it can be a little bit trickier to communicate in this format. That is definitely one of the challenges,” he said.
“I'm also getting really 'screened out' that's how I'm describing just staring at the tiny screen for hours and hours. It's hard on my head and it's only been three weeks. I don't know how much longer I can keep up with this pace.”
MacLean said it’s good to have “semblance of normalcy” these days.
“I think the people I'm teaching are glad to have a weekly thing they can do at home,” he said.
“Parents are happy their kids can be engaged in practicing during the run of the week. A schedule seems to be a very welcomed thing now.”
