Since late March 2020 my drum lessons changed to online sessions during (Covid 19) school's closures.
The transition has been positive and much more beneficial than previously expected.
First of all for the students, being in their home environment is a major boost to their confidence, but most of all because of the regular contact with the parents, it helps them to create the right set up.
I offer guidance much more efficiently on how to keep and use the drum kit, I can advice much more promptly when it comes to what to buy, what to practice, everything related to home set up but also with the aim to enable the pupil to potentially joining a band or attending an exam.
I know for some, not having a drum kit at home, feels like an obstacle to even thinking of joining the virtual lessons, but I can assure you that there are things that can be done initially which are equally important as playing on an actual kit.
I would recommend any first timer to have a free 1st trial lesson, to discuss the technical details.
For a safeguarding issue, would be great if you could fill, sign and send me the form that you find on this link for BYMT lessons, or if you could please email me a confirm of approval for online video lessons with me and your child. You can either email me at the usual school email address that we used before or to:
tvdrumstudio@hotmail.com
Also note that during the lessons a parent/guardian must be always in the house, and present when accepting the call. The students should wear appropriate clothing!
Video Call Platform
I recommend the use of Zoom as a platform for video calling as it offers extra features such as screen sharing.
Explaining
The kind of lessons that we can have, depends on the type of devices, drum kit or not drum kit, books, backing track player, speakers or any possible equipment that the student will have.
If the student is a beginner things can work without any additional device, but if for example he/she has to play along a backing track or a click, this will have to be operated from your end and not mine. The reason is that if I play a track from my system for the student to play along to, because of the latency I will hear the drums played out of sync from the backing track, therefore for me to hear if the student is playing on time, the backing track will have to be played from the student's side.
Requirements
I would advise the student to have the following:
If possible 2 devices, one for the video call and one to play a backing track or click.
Download on your device an app called Tempo Advance Metronome for Apple devices or another click/metronome app for Androids.
A Bluetooth speaker in case the track or click will be too quiet when the drums is much louder. You may want to test this beforehand to decide if you need a speaker.
You'll need to position the device for the video call, in such a way that I'll be able to have a good view of the drum kit. Then remember the position and if you use a phone or tablet, it would be a good idea to buy a tripod.
To avoid wasting precious time from the lessons, always be ready with devices, click, backing tracks and the position of the device, before we start the call.
We'll also discuss these requirements during the free trial lesson.
It's of course very helpful for the fluidity of the lessons that you have a good internet connection. If you have the drum kit far from the router, I would advice you to have a good WiFi extender.
See below what I recommend:
