Music teachers take the show on the digital road during lockdown

For a family of music teachers in Tasmania, overcoming the challenges of moving lessons online has been daunting at times, however it has encouraged their own creativity to adapt - and for their students it means lessons no longer just include their instrument of choice... device of choice is now an option too.

Lucy Meech founder of Life Centre Music School in Launceston, together with daughter, Life Centre Music School Director Natalie Hillier, and son Michael Stocks a fellow music teacher, composer, conductor and musical director, have been successful in transitioning their students into online classrooms in their own ways. But it hasn't been without it's challenges.

"There have been so many challenges!" Natalie said about her experience. "Things moved so quickly with this pandemic, and so I have had to make really fast decisions as to how to do things effectively in order to keep things as normal as possible for the kids I teach."

"It has been a huge learning curve in such a short amount of time. For example I have had to learn about platforms like Zoom and Team for my piano lessons, and work out how to put the music school lessons online in the best way possible." Natalie said.

"In addition, I have had to work out how to do things quickly with the equipment I have. It has been really difficult to buy what I need, everyone is out of webcams and other equipment, so I have just had to record lessons on equipment I already have for now," Natalie said.

Before the coronavirus a typical day for music teacher Natalie included morning group lessons at the Life Centre Music School, combined with teaching piano at locals schools around the city, as well as providing after-school tuition for students. When she wasn't teaching, she spent the weekends and a few nights per week for the past six months preparing for the Encore Theatre Company's production of 'Mamma Mia', alongside her brother Michael.

On top of teaching his own music students and rehearing for Mamma Mia, Michael was also conducting his own ensemble, the St Cecilia Chamber Orchestra, playing weddings with the St Cecilia String Quartet, coordinating concerts and a music competition, and distributing copies of his music books.

But now that has all been halted as coronavirus drives people indoors for safe keeping and like so many other small business owners, this family of teachers are exploring their options to keep working.

The dramatic changes in daily working life, have been many and varied, but the shift to online lessons has been particularly new territory for Lucy, who credits the current situation for bringing her understanding of technology into the '21st century'. Lucy founded the Life Centre Music School in Launceston in 1987 after frustration for music teaching techniques at the time drove her to seek out more effective ways to teach music to groups of children. Now semi-retired, for Lucy, the face-to-face social interaction with her keyboard and violin students has been the hardest adjustment.

"Prior to Covid-19, with its isolation policies, these children came to my home for their lessons. I really miss the close social interaction with the children. Now we are divided literally by a screen."

However, the hard work and jubilation to move online has paid off, Natalie said feedback from her students shows them embracing and coping well with the new changes.

"I feel incredibly fortunate - all the families of the kids I teach have been really supportive and patient as I try to work out the best way to do things in a challenging environment in order to keep things as normal and stable as possible for the children. My students are coping well, and I am really proud of them," Natalie said.

"With my Life Centre Music classes, my keyboard classes are meeting online in their groups, and I am also creating videos for them. I also have been creating video lessons for our younger children. It is working well. Lessons have all had to be revised and re-written to suit the online environment. I am spending a lot of time writing new songs, recording lessons and so on. It is really time consuming, but so worth it. I feel privileged to provide some normalcy to their lives!"

Natalie has even developed her own hand-washing song to help children practice good hygiene.

"The feedback has been positive. Children are enjoying doing all the things we normally do such as singing, moving, playing instruments and learning about music from their homes, and parents are enjoying engaging in an activity with their children at home. It is a real privilege for me if I can give my students a fun, educational, positive learning experience."

"I have actually been thinking about providing lessons online for quite a while now, and this pandemic has pushed me into taking action," Natalie said.

Unlike her brother Michael, who up until a month ago had no intention of teaching online, now relies upon it on a daily basis and uses up to four different online platforms to cater for all his students.

"After 30 years or so operating with the same format it has been very refreshing to have to think outside the square. Any teachers who are a little reluctant to try online lessons should give it a test run or two with a family member, fellow teacher or older student."

The push into the online area has also opened up ideas for opportunities into the future for Michael.

"Students who relocate, but wish to continue having lessons with me can now. Students who go to university but wish to continue their music in some capacity without a weekly lesson can have an occasional online lesson. I also have a few students who spend a month or more overseas every year or so, and now rather than coming back very rusty musically they have decided they can take their violin and connect with me from wherever their travels take them."

While there have been compromises with the new lesson format, Michael said the positives still out way the negatives.

"The sound you hear back is not as pure as being in the same room as a student, however there is the advantage that at the completion of a lesson you can ask the student to have a run through some of the things covered in the lesson, without them having to pack away their instrument and commute back home, at which stage they are much less likely to open their case, set-up and practice to consolidate what was covered," Michael said.

"It has been quite nice to 'be invited into the students home' and catch a snapshot of their life outside of my teaching studio. Parents will often greet me at the start or end of the lesson, or appear magically when I ask the student if they have a pencil to write something down. Siblings have crossed the room in the background, or I have watched mum or dad preparing dinner in the kitchen as we work our way through a lesson," Michael said.

With both their mother and father coming from a rich musical backgrounds, music has always been a passion for Natalie and Michael, who continue to find ways to share it with a world in lockdown.

Lucy says the pandemic isolation policies have encouraged them all to get the creative juices flowing.

"It is a time to rethink teaching practices to try to discover more effective ways of [teaching music]," Lucy said.

For all the parents now finding their way through the home-schooling journey, Lucy says there is always music to fall back on.

"The fact that the children are also confined to their homes, with many of their usual activities cancelled, can mean that more time is freed up for practice. That must be a winner!

"The positives are there, but I very much look forward to the time when my students appear at my back door again on their way into my music teaching room," Lucy said.