First remote guitar lesson

[nightflight]

Well, with a stay-at-home order in my state, my guitar teacher and I decided to try a remote lesson.

Started with Facetime.

Nice that you can choose landscape mode and view full screen mode.

I set up an old laptop for this purpose. We fiddled with mics and speakers – on both ends. I ended up using an old YETI mic. The laptop speakers weren't loud enough. I tried a cheap set of speakers - they were worse. Ended up plugging in BOSE wired headphones - directly into the YETI mic. So much better! Only thing that is limiting is the length of the headphone cord (about 6 feet, I think).

A bluetooth headset isn't really an option. I'm already stressing out my internet which is a really slow DSL. But I do have a pair of BEATS wireless headphones I suppose I could try.

FaceTime stuttered a bit and had substantial lag. Quality of guitar coming across wasn't great.

Since we both are learning Zoom, we set up a quick meeting. Zoom was much better. Clearer video and still some lag, but tolerable. We just won't be playing duets any time soon. Sound quality overall is better than FaceTime - tolerable.

My teacher can't see everything... he can't just lean and see what my hand is doing on the back of the neck. And I occasionally have to ask him to show me what he's doing a little closer.

I just need to find a place to put the YETI mic. On the floor it picks up noises if I move my feet (and I occasionally tap my foot to count out timing).

It was nice to touch base and see his face. It was funny though... I always bring dog treats for his dogs. The dogs heard my voice on the computer, and were looking for their treats.

Adventures.

[capefisherman]

Thanks for the report. I will be starting remote lessons with about a dozen of my students (all adults except for one tech savvy teenager....he'll probably do better than any of us!) in the next week, using Zoom for the reasons you mention. I'll be very interested in hearing from others on the forum with experiences and tips, both teachers like myself and students. This is our new reality, sad to say, but it's time to learn a new tech skill. The only problem I've encountered already is that some of my older students are either not tech savvy - tech fearful, actually - or have old computers that just can't handle a platform like Zoom.

Gene

capecodacoustics.com

[_Mike_]

I also took a remote lesson last week via FaceTime. We both have broadband connections. It took some time to work out the kinks: He was on an iPad, I used a MacBook as I wanted a larger screen. On the MacBook you need to remember to rotate the image to landscape to give a better view to the recipient. By rotating the iPad, the image shifts automatically. He used headphones, I just used the internal speakers and it worked well enough to play together. I had my iPad nearby so I could still use OnSong.

On a different note:
I have an employer supplied laptop, which I am glad I brought home before the stay-at-home order. We started using zoom for staff meetings since everyone is working remotely. Give a read to the permissions page when signing up, or look up some recent zoom experiences. I’m happy that I have a “work” machine that I can allow zoom to infiltrate. Zoom has worked well enough - supported 73 people at once without issue, but those horror stories, yikes!

[capefisherman]

Originally Posted by _Mike_

I also took a remote lesson last week via FaceTime. We both have broadband connections. It took some time to work out the kinks: He was on an iPad, I used a MacBook as I wanted a larger screen. On the MacBook you need to remember to rotate the image to landscape to give a better view to the recipient. By rotating the iPad, the image shifts automatically. He used headphones, I just used the internal speakers and it worked well enough to play together. I had my iPad nearby so I could still use OnSong.

On a different note:
I have an employer supplied laptop, which I am glad I brought home before the stay-at-home order. We started using zoom for staff meetings since everyone is working remotely. Give a read to the permissions page when signing up, or look up some recent zoom experiences. I’m happy that I have a “work” machine that I can allow zoom to infiltrate. Zoom has worked well enough - supported 73 people at once without issue, but those horror stories, yikes!

Thanks Mike. One of the main reasons I'm having my students use Zoom is the automatic landscape mode vs. FaceTime, WhatsApp and others.

Gene

[KCharlesD]

I'm starting teaching lessons using Zoom today. I've done try outs with about 10 students so far and working well if they use lap tops with usually have a mic and a webcam built in. Sound is okay. I anticipate sending more info/tabs in advance and as follow ups to students via e-mail.

I have a young student doing a lesson later on and she will be using her phone - see how that goes...

I'll report back after a couple of days and share how it's going for me.

[ljguitar]

Hi folks

Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, FaceBook's Messanger (phone or computer), & WhatsApp (only phone) and Google Hangouts all work. I have a Logitech external camera/mic and that helps quality of image and sound a lot.

ALL OF THEM LAG. No duets…never

Of those I listed Skype, FaceTime and Google Hangouts are my least favorites and are all showing their age.

Zoom is the best through put but there is a lag, and you can display and/or send files to them.

Surprising to us & our friends in Italy…we talk via FaceBook's Messenger on our phones, and the cameras on the phones are better than the built-in ones on most computers. FaceBook's messenger is actually very good. Given that FaceBook owns WhatsApp, it probably uses similar technology. We went with what they had, and that's what they have available.

Have fun exploring and let us know what you discover!!

[KCharlesD]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi folks

Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, FaceBook's Messanger (phone or computer), & WhatsApp (only phone) and Google Hangouts all work. I have a Logitech external camera/mic and that helps quality of image and sound a lot.

ALL OF THEM LAG. No duets…never

Of those I listed Skype, FaceTime and Google Hangouts are my least favorites and are all showing their age.

Zoom is the best through put but there is a lag, and you can display and/or send files to them.

Surprising to us & our friends in Italy…we talk via FaceBook's Messenger on our phones, and the cameras on the phones are better than the built-in ones on most computers. FaceBook's messenger is actually very good. Given that FaceBook owns WhatsApp, it probably uses similar technology. We went with what they had, and that's what they have available.

Have fun exploring and let us know what you discover!!

I have found just the same as Larry. Zoom works well but there are no duets, it's all 'over to you' and using that to the best advantage. I also have an external Logitec Webcam/mic and it's giving out good quality. Had a lesson tonight with a student who used her iphone and although it was a little small for her to see, both the sound and vision came through well from her side, better than some others' laptops.

You can make it work, though, and it is fun to explore.