“What’s a Zoom? Can I have a FaceTime Piano Lesson? Why aren’t online lessons using Skype?”
Skype and Facetime are pretty much universally known as the video chat apps. Even Google and Facebook have their very own video conferencing features. So why are we using Zoom and do you have to?
All of these video chat programs use the same underlying internet technologies which allow you and me to be instantly in the same room (virtually, of course). The truth is, when it comes to quality and reliability, all of these apps work almost just as well as one another. What makes Zoom.us my preferred platform are the features and availability.
Zoom is available for ALL devices. iPhones and iPads, Android phones and tablets, and both Mac and Windows computers can use the free app (it even works on Linux). So if you use your iPad for one lesson and your PC for the next, everything stays the same when connecting with me and working through our lesson.
Also, Zoom allows the use of virtual whiteboards. It’s like a dry erase board (or a chalk board) that we both can write on. This has some super cool applications for music lessons!
If you have an iPhone or iPhone, you’re probably intimately familiar with using FaceTime to chat with Mom. And if you’ve been using a computer long enough, Skype has surely been your go to video chat software since the 1990s. Luckily, Zoom is incredibly easy to set up and use.
Here’s a quick start to get you going:
- Download Zoom
- Make a free account in Zoom and “add” me as a contact
- Set your iPad/Computer/Tablet near your piano and wait for a Zoom call at your lesson time!
Everything inside of Zoom is intuitive and easy to use. All the essential features you’ll find in FaceTime and Skype are right where you’d expect them to be. If I open a digital whiteboard, it appears right on your screen. When I switch between various cameras in my studio, it all appears seamlessly on your end allowing you to focus on what really matters and not get buried in the technology”!
Cloud Piano Studio 