Many of us have been teaching effectively online for quite a while and although opinions differ widely on this my own view is that the difference between teaching remotely and face to face is rather small and it seems that most students and parents agree. One day though we will be back to face to face teaching but there is one area where there is some potential to continue with remote learning and that is Grade 5 Theory.

I have always wondered why the ABRSM in their wisdom impose this strict barrier before being able to progress to Grade 6 and onwards. I do agree with the principle that students taking practical exams should have a basic knowledge of musical theory, but surely it must be possible to find a way of incorporating theory into exams below grade 5 to ensure a more progressive pathway to understanding how music is built up. Perhaps the commercial interests of insisting that students pass grade 5 hold sway, it does bring in a lot of revenue, but is it in the best interests of students?

Having said all that we have to accept thats the system so what is the best way of dealing with it. The way online theory courses are currently structured offer some practical problems. Most online theory classes are vdeo based. Now video classes are all well and good but you can’t ask a question and get an immediate response and this type of interaction is important to students; and live classes, either at or after school, are often difficult to fit in due to other activities and a regular commitment is often required.

What if there is another way?

What if students don’t have to travel for live lessons, they can choose which bits of the syllabus they need to study and can arrange lessons at a time which is convenient for them (or more probably their parents!).

Well thats why I am now launching live online one to one theory lessons.

Here are three reasons why you should consider live online theory lessons;

• Students arrange lessons when it suits them and as often as they need.
• The lessons are designed to be modular so they can choose the elements they need to work on and don’t need to study parts they are confident about,
• Live one-to-one online sessions so that students can ask questons and get an immediate answer. Something that is not possible with video lessons.

These lessons are available now and more details, together with Signup imformation is available via our website here.