Teaching music online versus in person: what actually changes
· 3 min read
Remote lessons aren't worse. They're different, and they suit some students and some subjects far better than others.
The debate about online lessons is usually framed as whether they're as good. That's the wrong question. They're good at different things, and knowing which is which lets you teach both well.
What remote genuinely can't do
Playing together in real time. Latency makes this impossible, and no amount of connection quality fixes it — it's physics. Anything built on playing simultaneously has to be rethought.
Physical correction. You can't adjust someone's wrist over a video call. You can describe, demonstrate and check, which works, but it's slower and it fails with students who can't yet feel what you're describing.
Hearing the instrument accurately. Compression and a laptop mic flatten dynamics and lose the top end. You lose exactly the detail you'd be listening for on tone.
The energy of a room. Real, and hardest with young children, who behave differently on a screen than they do sitting next to you.
What remote does better
Access to the right teacher rather than the nearest one. This is the big one. A student wanting something specialised is no longer limited to whoever lives locally — and if you teach something narrow, your students exist, they're just not in your city.
No travel, for either of you. Reclaims real hours. For a working player it's the difference between four lessons in a day and six.
Recording is trivial. A lesson can be recorded and rewatched. Students who do this progress noticeably faster, and it's a genuine advantage over in-person.
Sharing material. Notation, tabs, backing tracks, references — all easier when you're already sharing a screen.
Fewer cancellations. Weather, transport and mild illness stop in-person lessons and don't stop remote ones.
Who suits which
In person works better for: beginners, children, anything where technique is being built from nothing, and any student who needs the accountability of turning up somewhere.
Remote works better for: intermediate and advanced students who mostly need direction, theory and analysis, songwriting and production, exam preparation where the work is between lessons, and anyone whose alternative is no teacher at all.
Most working teachers end up doing both, split roughly along that line.
Making remote lessons actually good
The teachers who do this well have solved the same set of problems:
Sort the audio. The single biggest quality difference. A basic USB microphone instead of a laptop mic transforms it, and it's cheap. Ask your students to do the same if they can.
Two camera angles if you can manage it — one on you, one on hands or keys. Even a phone on a stand as a second view is a large improvement.
Structure the lesson more tightly than you would in person. Drift is worse over video, and a plan helps.
Send something after every lesson. Two lines of notes and what to practise. Takes three minutes and dramatically improves retention.
Have a fallback. Connections fail. Agree in advance what happens — reschedule, switch platform, whatever — so it isn't negotiated while it's happening.
Pricing them
The common instinct is to charge less for remote. Worth resisting.
Your preparation is the same, your expertise is the same, and you're saving them travel as well as yourself. The main argument for a lower rate is competitive rather than principled.
Where a rate difference does make sense: if in-person means they travel to a room you're paying for, that cost is real and should be in the price.
On SESH a teaching listing carries remote and on-site options with their own rates, so you can price them differently without maintaining two listings.
The honest summary
Remote isn't a lesser version of in-person. It's a different format that's better for some students and worse for others, and the skill is knowing which is which and being honest with a student about it.
If someone would clearly learn better in a room and you can't offer that, say so and recommend someone who can. You'll lose one student and gain a reputation.
List your teaching with both options and a rate for each.