CORONA VIRUS & MUSIC

Now for a few days a beautiful part of the countries of the world is in almost total containment… and that some people, like me, wonder what to do with these lost days… apart from watching Netflix…

I have a solution, friends. It’s worth what it’s worth, but I’ll give it to you… especially for budding musicians who want to take a leap forward :

  • Practice your instrument every day… it’s a golden opportunity !!! Because we never dreamed of a better situation today !  Do you realize ? We are forced to stay at home and have the opportunity to do what we love… delusional right ?!  Yes I admit it, I prefer to be positive…
  • Do not hesitate to take lessons with your music teacher by SKYPE, FACETIME or other video systems… this is an opportunity to understand that if it works in this period of health crisis, it will necessarily work the day you are on the other side of the earth with a situation to settle.

  • Use Social Networks to make your friends listen to your progress… within the limit of the stock of available friends, of course ! Otherwise, your teacher must follow you… and it turns out that Messenger Video (press the Camera logo to trigger the video connection) is a great tool for that !!! WhatsApp is also great on you prefer to register offline.

Of course, I make it bigger when I say that it’s great to be locked up… because of course not, it’s not cool at all! Especially since apparently, the sun is looking good just by chance !!!

So contact your music teacher and ask him if he teaches lessons by SKYPE or other types of applications. It will also get him into trouble if he doesn’t do it yet ! It’s the student who encourages the teacher… not bad  hey ?!

  • How long should a live video lesson last?

Compared to the pure teaching time, I think that 40 minutes is enough for the teacher to be able to take stock of the level of progression, and to be able to give a well explained technique… with if possible, 1 or 2 exercises to the key to be able to work during the week that will pass.

  • How long should a live video lesson last ?

Compared to the pure teaching time, I think that 40 minutes is enough for the teacher to be able to take stock of the level of progression, and to be able to give a well explained technique … with if possible, 1 or 2 exercises to the key to be able to work during the week that will pass.

  • How often are courses ?

I sincerely think that 1 class per week is more than enough, especially if you are not wealthy. In general, things happen all by themselves in our head, we know that. Now we are in a rather special environment since we are confined H24… which gives more time to play, with children or not. The idea is still to avoid excuses as much as possible… but NETFLIX is there to make us feel guilty especially when the children have finished their homework and they block in front of a screen… so now is the right time to to play !!! lol.

  • WHAT instrument to choose for the SKYPE course ?

The minute is precious !  Whether it is a Handpan, a didgeridoo, a hawk, a trumpet or whatever, try to take the instrument that seems simple to you. When you take a distance course, you are not shrewd to show your teacher that you are good… because he knows exactly where you are normally. Take advantage of him to the maximum… extract the worms from his nose and have as much info as possible to have time to explore all of this afterwards… but let him explain the basic techniques… and above all, listen to him sincerely !

CONCLUSION :

A music teacher who offers live video distance courses is still rare in France. Even if the internet is within everyone’s reach, know that there are many music teachers who are still stuck on the subject because perhaps too shy, or else the internet seems to them like a big machine that will eat them… lol !  So do not hesitate to contact the teachers who teach distance courses.

Of course, you will tell me that there are tons of tutorials on Youtube, and that we can do without live lessons. Well there I answer you simply that one finds there especially to drink and to eat on Youtube, but very very little serious !!! Because turn on a camera in your bathroom or your garden, and record 1 piece of advice, and put it online to accumulate views… well it will inevitably have its limits ! So have a little common sense and pay yourself a real teacher who devotes all his energy to it… and believe me that this proof of confidence that you give him, your teacher will one day send it back to you !

CoronaVirus confinement -Place du Tertre, Montmartre District – Paris, March.21.2020

This confinement period is very special !  And what we are experiencing in this month of March 2020 will be written in the story books, I’m sure !

So take the opportunity to get the most out of pleasant memories and personal enrichments … such as this photo I took at the top of the legendary Sacré Cœur in Paris during my jogging… some jamais vu !!!

Good confinement and good lesson !

Raphaël Didjaman.