I never ever thought I would teach a piano lesson via skype, but it appears that the day has come. Just got done with a 40-minute skype lesson, having only learned how to use skype this morning!
I was surprised how easy it was to communicate, although I felt like my voice was raised the whole time and my vocal cords are tired. Also the students' piano was not the best - it appeared to be a spinet, and often the sound became so tingy that it sounded as though she were playing techno music and electric guitars. Then the sound evened out again and it sounded once more like a piano towards the end when she wasn't playing so strongly. The internet/speed connection was fine - I'm wondering if it's resulting more from a sustain pedal and the sound simply becomes too loud to come across naturally.
Something I thought was interesting, though, is that when I demonstrated passages, (we were working on Liszt's Liebestraume the whole time) she said she could hear the harmonics of the notes I was playing. She wondered if I was playing double octaves, or higher on the piano. Is this normal to hear from an average high-speed connection? Or do teachers who use skype for lessons use special microphones and speakers to enhance the sound quality? We both have relatively new laptops with built-in mics, so I'm not sure if it's worth investing in some other gadgets to improve the sound quality, or, if this is simply to be expected with skype lessons.

Hi Crayola,

You might want to take a look at this thread.

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1247499.html

Concert Artist Jeffrey Biegel is teaching via Skype, this thread was started by one of his students.

The one thing that was pointed out to me is to un-checked the settings found here: Automatically adjust microphone volume for your Skype calls. Skype automatically boost low volume and suppress high ones to even things out, good for conversations, not desirable for music lessons. You would have to un-check these settings on both sides of the call. I think it's a good idea to un-check the auto setting for speakers as well.

Great thread, thanks for sharing, Frank.

I'll have to see what the setting are. I'm sure that would help. Thanks for the idea.

Oh, by the way, the built-in mic in the laptops are terrible. I am using this entry level microphone - Blue Snowball. No software required, so it's easy to use.

Another inexpensive possibility is the Samson CU01 USB mic, which I also considered, but it requires some hardware drivers, and I didn't want to bother with dealing with drivers, though it sounded very good on the demos found on the Internet.

Hi Crayola,

Though the picture is somewhat scary, you might want to reach out to Mark Barrington:
http://www.skype.com/share/stories/teaching-piano-over-skype/

Skype put his story on their website so he must be doing something right:)

JPE

For me, having a good quality (not necessarily expensive) microphone, good speakers, and the ability to use two cameras (switching between them for different angles) has improved the lessons, considerably.

In the beginning, I also set up a separate Skype account, on another computer in the house, so I could make 'test calls', to check the lighting, sound levels and quality.

The two camera set-up, is great, as I also teach guitar, so I can focus on either hand, at the flick of a switch. Next on the list is to build a footswitch to make that task easier.

Good luck with the lessons, Crayola :-)
The more you do, the more you will relax, and your voice will become as though you are talking to someone in the same room.

Edited to add:
The strange sound effects your student was hearing, may be the sound of your own piano, coming through your laptop speakers, and being re-transmitted, via the microphone. Using a headset, or lowering the volume on your own laptop, might avoid this.

Hi there... I have several Skype students. Fun isn't it? A good mic and headphones are ESSENTIAL!

I recommend the Blue Microphones Snowball. It's about $100.

Also, make absolutely certain that you have both UNCHECKED the option in 'Audio Setting' that automatically adjusts the microphone volume. If that is checked, Skype will try to level out all the dynamics, and it's really bad.

Also, definitely use headphones, because although Skype has so-called "Echo Cancellation", it doesn't always work perfectly. When you both use headphones, the sound will be much better.

There is this level of efficiency that video conferencing provides that just cannot be achieved by anything else. I have to admit that when I meet my business contacts face to face, it is a different experience and ideally it would be nice to have the in person face to face experience once, followed by video conference, which works very well. But that first meeting involves many hours at the airports, parking, rental car - I've spent 12 hours going to and coming back from a 1 hour meeting more times than I'd like to remember.

The amount of time saved on video conference is incredible. If I were to drive to a local teacher even 10 miles away, go early, park, wait for a few minutes for the previous student to finish then have a half hour lesson, I would have to spend 1.5 hours at least for that lesson, which is just long enough that cannot be done in the middle of my work day. Now, over Skype, the whole situation is changed. Since I'm home office based, I could setup and break down the stuff for the lesson in minutes. The amount of time I would spend for a half hour lesson is probably no more than 35 minutes if I get good at it. Now that can be fit into a work day schedule. A co-worker of mine had to quit his lessons when things got busy at work lately. I bet if he had done Skype lessons, he wouldn't have to quit.

I started teaching using Skype over a year ago in LaGuardia airport in New York--to a pianist in Singapore--using a Netbook! But it advanced since then. Works very well, and my students do not feel a barrier once they are used to it. There's an occasional call lag, or sound lapse, but with headphones from the very beginning, it is quite good.

I have to say, I have found that headphones are not essential, although some users may find them so.

As long as you use a quality microphone, and good speakers, whilst keeping the volume at a level low enough not to incur feedback, headphones can be dispensed with.

This makes for a much more natural inter-action with the other party.

I have spent much time, experimenting with my brother in the UK (I am in Australia) to find the optimum speech, and instrument levels, and find the whole experience to be far less restricting, when not using a headset.