Learn Piano Online From Your Home
Due to the Coronavirus lockdown I have been teaching piano solely online from my home studio in Brooklyn, NY. It has been a very positive experience so far and my students are making great progress. I have put much thought into the process of our new norm. I invite you to share in the joy of learning piano, wherever you may live.
I am staying the course with my class syllabus material as noted in the “SYLLABUS” tab found in the top menu on my home page. Please have a look at the videos of my students as well. My virtual lessons have been pretty much the same as the in-home visits. Although an absolute re-creation of the live experience is impossible with our current technology, I feel that I’ve devised a system that is very close.
I use the Zoom app. I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with it through home schooling, virtual office meetings, etc. I will host the session using a “3-camera” setup, myself with two camera angles, and the student’s device sending me a video/audio feed. It is necessary for the student’s camera angle to be pointed at their fingers on the keyboard so that I can coach them. Both myself and the student are able to choose which of the three camera images will fill the screen (speaker view) and if the student’s device screen is large enough they can see all camera images simultaneously (gallery view).
What Equipment the Student Needs (aside from a piano or electric keyboard)
Only a smartphone! That will suffice if you can somehow angle your camera to focus on your fingers on the keyboard. A laptop or folding tablet sitting on a high stool placed next to the piano bench also works great.
Something I have recommended to my students is using an iKlip attached to a boom mic stand. This setup is extremely flexible and versatile, and many of my students have commented on how helpful this setup is with activities other than just 
piano lessons (virtual gym class, dance lessons, any type of instrument lessons, essentially anything that involves handling a tablet or smart phone).
The iKlip is a simple spring-adjustable clamp that holds the phone in place. There is a larger size iKlip available If you plan on using a tablet, iPad or whatever. It has a ball joint that makes finding the right camera angle quick and painless. The boom mic stand is the microphone stand that pivots in the 
middle, you might see a seated pianist/singer use a boom stand for the vocal microphone to angle the mic right in front of their mouth. Another item that I have found to be extremely helpful with the distance “connectivity” is a gaming headset. It enables the student to hear me better, and I can hear the students’ voice and instrument much more clearly when compared to using the built-in microphone of a phone or laptop.
Autism, ADD, ADHD
First of all I must issue a disclaimer stating that I have absolutely no formal training in special needs education. There are trained music therapist/piano teachers out there and they serve a wonderful and very specialized service. I would highly recommend that anyone that may be in need of these services please seek them out. I am not one of those professionals.
I’ve taught hundreds of piano students over the years and I’ve encountered several students with varying degrees of these conditions, some cases hardly noticeable, some a little more so. I have a very patient personality. I teach these kids in exactly the same manner that I teach anyone. I feel the experience has always been beneficial for the student, and parents have been very pleased with the results. I am by no stretch of the imagination a Miracle Worker, but if any person is capable and willing to learn music, I will definitely try my best to teach them and see how it goes. Music is a special communication of its own and it can definitely permeate boundaries in a calm and genuine fashion – I have seen it happen.