I thought it would be really fun and helpful to put together a list of online resources and activities that we can use to supplement our online piano lessons. The list includes a wide variety of options and ideas, and I hope your students enjoy these activities.

If you are new to online piano teaching and it intimidates you, check out Learn How to Teach Online Piano Lessons with this Essential Guide.

Social Media Practicing Challenge

This would be a fun way to get students involved with sharing their practice sessions on social media. Choose a fun hashtag for your studio and enjoy seeing all their piano practice photos and videos!

• Choose a number of days for the challenge to occur. 7 days, 10 days, 14, whatever suits your needs.
• Have your students post a short video of themselves practicing piano each day during the challenge.
  • It can be up to you whether you want them to post a video of themselves sounding just “ok” or sounding “great”!
• These can be posted on social media, or in your piano studio Facebook page if you have one for your studio families.
• Their piano friends will see the videos, then everyone will want to work hard to share a great video for everyone to see!
• You could assign specific themes, scales, or anything you like to make it a really fun and competitive challenge.
• Check out How To Host A Piano Practice Challenge for more ideas

Music Discussion Club

Similar to a book club, you could have all of your students listen to the same recording or watch the same performance (whenever it is convenient for them), and then get together at a specified time to talk about the performance with each other.

• Choose a performance that would be accessible for all ages, or divide your studio into younger and older groups.
•  Have the students watch the performance or listen to the recording.
• Prepare a few questions to ask them during the discussion time.
• Hold the discussion on your Facebook studio page or in a Zoom video chat.

Video Chat Masterclasses

Hold group masterclasses with a few of your students at a time. You can do this on Zoom for up to 40 minutes for free.

• Have each student prepare a brief piece to perform for the group.
• Ask questions to get the conversation started.
• Lead the students to offer compliments and suggestions to the performer.
• Repeat with all students in your group.

Similarly, you can Organize and Host an Online Piano Workshop.

Theme of the Week

This can be used by itself or along with the Social Media Practicing Challenge.

• Choose a theme, style, genre, anything you like.
• Decide how you would like your students to approach the theme.
  • Everyone learns a blues scale and performs along with a blues jam track like this one.
  • Everyone learns the blues progression in a certain key and performs with the blues scale.
  • Everyone learns a lead sheet.
  • Everyone practices their scales up to a specific tempo.
  • There are so many ideas! Choose one that suits your students and studio, and have fun!
• Record a brief video of yourself presenting this theme to your students, along with their assignment for the week.
• Once students have accomplished the assignment for the week, meet together on Zoom as a group and perform for one another, or have your students upload a short video to social media, or have them send a short video to you.

Music & Art Parties

Music & art parties are a fun way for everyone to watch something while creating art to go along with the performance.

• Schedule a time for everyone to watch a full-length performance video on YouTube or another website. This can be a philharmonic, chorus, marching band, anything that suits the needs of your particular students.
• Give them an assignment to create a piece of art based on what they hear in the performance. Any kind of art is great!
• Have them send you a short video describing their artwork to you after it is complete.
• Or schedule a Zoom meeting so each student can describe their artwork to the group.

These 5 activities can make online piano lessons very interactive and rewarding for all involved! I’d love to hear your ideas for more activities for online piano students. Leave a comment below. Happy teaching!

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Read more about online piano lessons

• Teaching Tips: How to Teach Online Piano Lessons
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