Quality Online Piano, Keyboard, and Voice Lessons: Studio Technology that's Family Focused.
- Megan Maxwell
- Apr 1
- 8 min read
Updated: Apr 1
Hey there! As two bilingual moms who are passionate about music education, we've been on quite the journey with our Little Chords online music studio. If you're a busy parent looking for quality online piano lessons or virtual voice instruction for your little one, or maybe you're a fellow music teacher wanting to level up your online teaching game, we've got some cozy wisdom to share!
From Skeptical to Sold: Our Own Journey with Online Music Teaching
We still remember the first time we suggested trying to join forces and take our music teaching expertise online together. "How would that even work?" we wondered. As moms of BUSY little boys, we totally get it when parents ask whether online keyboard lessons can really work for their wiggly preschooler or energetic elementary schooler.
After some trial, error, and a few frustrating technical mishaps (like that time Zoom did some fancy updates and we lost the ability to hear our students playing...fyi...we're sharing how to fix that issue!), we've created something special that brings music education right into your living room—with all the warmth and personalized attention of sitting side-by-side at the piano bench.
Our Magical Online Music Classroom (That Doesn't Require a Tech Degree!)
The "Now You See Me" Multi-Angle Camera Setup
When we first started teaching online, we saw how much students struggled with replicating something they could only hear us explain. We constantly found ourselves switching our phone camera view during the lesson, wasting valuable learning time (and leaving the window of distraction wide open for a 5-year-old student). We needed a way to show hands from multiple angles, just like we would in person, with just the click of a button. Enter our secret weapon: Open Broadcasting Software (OBS), which transforms our virtual piano studio from a flat video chat into an interactive teaching wonderland.
During our online music lessons, we can now flip between:
An overhead "bird's-eye view" that shows exactly which keys our fingers are pressing
A side view that helps students see how wrists, elbows, and shoulders should be positioned
A friendly face-to-face view for those important "you've got this!" moments
Our little students love it! Seven-year-old Jameson asks regularly, "Can you show me that one more time?" and then we can see as the lights of understanding start to go off while we quickly switch screens to demonstrate what we're looking at in the music.
The "Blue Light Special" That Makes Music Click
One of our students' favorite features in our online piano lessons is our virtual keyboard display, powered by Chordie. This innovative tool:
Displays a virtual keyboard above the video of the actual piano
Illuminates keys with bright blue highlights when played
Shows corresponding staff notation in real-time
This visual reinforcement helps beginning piano students make crucial connections between the physical keys, the sounds they produce, and how they appear in written music—accelerating music literacy and understanding. When Brady says "It says C4 on the piano" and we can make the connection of the number of C's on the piano and the position of the notes on the staff, we know as teachers that his understanding of Grand Staff note reading is starting to develop.
Crystal Clear Sound (Because "Chopsticks" Sounds Different Than "Chop Suey")
Let's be honest—there's nothing worse than trying to hear if your child is playing a G or a C through staticky computer speakers! And shortly after Zoom went viral during the pandemic, they made an update to optimize sounds for business meetings so the kids screaming in the background wouldn't be heard by the boss across the computer screen.
But that created BIG problems for music teachers. All of a sudden, Zoom assumed the music notes were sounds to be suppressed, and the beautiful melodies our students were making disappeared one measure into the music.
Now we use this setup:
A special Zoom setting called "Original Sound for Musicians" (here's the super helpful setup guide)
Good headphones to cut out those weird echoes
A quick audio check at the start of each lesson
Before the first lesson, we send simple setup instructions to make sure we can hear every beautiful (or sometimes beautifully attempted!) note your child plays. We link the YouTube instructions above in the instructional email so parents know how to set up their device before they even jump into the first lesson.
Mini-Movies That Make Practice Time Less Painful
"Mom, watch how Ms. Megan showed me to do it!" Instead of sending home confusing written notes that end up at the bottom of the backpack, we create quick 2-3 minute "mini-movies" of the most important parts of the lesson. We do this in 2 ways:
We have a growing library of video resources that are age-appropriate and teach tiny bite-sized music principles. When we have a video related to what we taught in our lesson, it gets emailed home so students can watch it as many times as needed.
If we're working on a student-specific "tricky part" of a song, we simply hit "record" in our OBS software for that portion of the lesson, then email these short clips directly to parents after the lesson.
These little video snippets have been practice-time saviors for busy families. One of my Jr Kindergarten students' moms saw me in the pick-up line and hollered, "We've been stomping on our dino dens to find D at home this week!" after I used our "Stomp Dino" song during my music class and emailed the video home to parents.
Bringing Music Notes to Life (No Animation Degree Required!)
Beyond our camera and audio setup, we've developed unique visual teaching tools using Canva that make music literacy engaging and accessible for young learners:
Meet the Pentascale Dance Characters (Our Student Celebrities)
Our signature teaching tool, the Pentascale Dance characters, became a reality when we saw as parents how much our own children struggled to remember what they learned during piano practice. Reading music the way it is traditionally taught is like throwing a student just learning the alphabet a 2nd grade level picture chapter book and expecting them to succeed. It's too much too fast. We needed a system that tied stories and adventures to one concept that could be revisited over and over again.
Animated note heads with personality
Interactive movement of characters on the musical staff
Visual storylines that help students remember note positions
During lessons, we keep these presentations in "working document" mode so we can move the characters in real-time, demonstrating how notes relate to specific positions on the keyboard or staff. When my son Christian was learning to read G, he was getting so frustrated, so I made him this story in Canva and the concept stuck. If we're teaching a student how to find G3 on the Treble Staff, we open our racetrack adventure, which G Giraffe goes to the race track (the Treble Clef). She jumps in the car and the starting line is the G line. She races around the track (The treble clef) and pulls into the finish line (Middle C) where her friend C Cat waits to greet her. After that lesson, when he needs a prompt on that key note, G on the treble clef...I easily can remind him of the race starting line. The story pops in his brain and immediately moves his hand to G.
Customized Visual Magic for Each Student
Because we use Canva, we can customize each student's lesson notes to match the concepts they are learning in the lessons. We'll copy excerpts of their music into a presentation, write on it, draw on it with our Pentascale Dance characters, and then send the notes home to use as a practice reference after lessons. It's so much more personalized than a traditional music book. These resources sent to parents give students beautiful, clear materials to support home practice and reinforce music reading skills.
Getting Ready for Lesson #1 (Without the Tech Headaches)
There's nothing worse than spending half of a first lesson trying to figure out why we can't hear the piano! To make sure our time together is about music—not troubleshooting—we send a friendly pre-lesson email with simple setup tips.
We cover the essentials like configuring Zoom's audio settings (with this link), positioning the device camera just right (so we can actually see those little fingers!), and suggesting they have a favorite song ready to share. This way, both you and your child can focus on the fun part—making music together!
Our families appreciate this helping hand before the first lesson. As one mom put it, "Having clear instructions beforehand made us feel prepared and confident for our first online lesson. My daughter wasn't frustrated waiting for setup—she got to jump right into playing!"
For Our Music Teacher Friends: Tools We Love
Are you a fellow music educator looking to level up your own online teaching studio? We've been there—overwhelmed by tech options because let's face it - we're music teachers, not IT guys!
Here are the resources that saved us countless hours of frustration:
Music Repo YouTube Channel: Their videos explain equipment in normal human language, not tech-speak! Their microphone reviews helped us find affordable options that actually work for music.
OBS Made Easy: The tutorial that changed everything for us is this step-by-step guide. It walks through setting up those game-changing camera angles in a way that even tech-nervous teachers can follow.
Zoom Audio That Doesn't Sound Terrible: This brilliant tutorial shows how to set up "Original Sound" on phones, tablets, and computers—and demonstrates the jaw-dropping difference it makes for music quality.
Being busy teacher-moms ourselves, we've learned how to troubleshoot audio issues on every device imaginable! There's nothing worse than spending half a lesson saying "Can you unmute? No, the other button...no, try restarting..."
Join Our Musical Family!
Want more ideas for making online music learning magical? Or maybe you're a parent looking for tips to support your little musician between virtual piano lessons?
Our monthly newsletter is like a highlight of everything going on in our Little Chords Community each month. You'll get:
Updates on upcoming virtual (and in-person) pop-up classes
Blogs to help you maximize your music (and Spanish) learning at home
Behind-the-scenes peeks at what's working in our virtual studio
Early access to our newest teaching materials
Come Join Us!
Maybe you're a parent whose child has been begging for piano lessons or voice lessons, and you just can't figure out how to fit it into the jigsaw puzzle that is your family calendar. We'd love to welcome you into our Little Chords family!
Our approach is all about making music learning feel warm, personal, and yes—even through a screen—connected. As one parent recently told us, "My daughter doesn't even realize she's learning music theory—she just thinks she's having fun with her piano friends every week!"
Ready to see what online lessons can really be? Book a free trial lesson today and experience the difference for yourself!
Little Chords specializes in online music instruction for children, focusing on piano, keyboard, and voice lessons. Our technology-enhanced virtual studio creates engaging learning experiences that develop strong foundational skills and foster a lifelong love of music.
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