From a Mom: Why Online Music Lessons Made My Life a Whole Lot Easier

I love music. I want all three of my children to love it too. But our music lessons were beginning to feel like they were more trouble than they were worth. Until recently. We tried out a new music lesson experience that has been great for the children and a relief for me and my husband. Allow me to set the scene:

[BEFORE] TRADITIONAL MUSIC LESSONS
3:30PM 
Pack up two youngest children (1 toddler) for 10 minute drive to pick up my 9 year-old daughter from school to take her to piano lesson. We like our teacher ok, but we haven’t had much choice. I check my bag for:

• Diapers
• Snacks
• Books to read
• Lesson materials
• Hand sanitizer

3:45PM
Pick up Lizzie at school, and drive 20 minutes in semi-stressful early rush hour traffic.

4:05PM
Arrive at teacher’s studio. If we can park nearby, I sometimes send Lizzie in by herself. The other kids and I stay in car, running heat or AC as the season dictates. I haven’t even begun to figure out the cost of gas for these lesson trips - no doubt we’re burning through extra cash.

More often, we go into the waiting room that our teacher and other teachers share.  It’s crowded, chaotic, full of other kids who are sick or misbehaving. The other parents can be great to talk with, but generally this waiting room is not a pleasant experience.  

4:15PM
Time for Lizzie’s lesson.  She forgot to hang up her coat.  She runs back, throws it in my lap and...now she has to pee.  I point her to the restroom and she scurries into her lesson in one of the many small rooms down the hall a few minutes late.  

4:45PM
Lesson over. No time to talk with teacher as the next student is waiting.  Pack up all our stuff.  Put kids coats on and schlep everyone and everything out to car. Our commute home is now a stressful 40 minutes as rush hour has intensified.  

5:30PM
Home.  Corral everyone from the car to the house. Return a phone call from our kitchen contractor, read notes from Lizzie’s teacher, work with kids to pick up the mess they made as we hurried out of house earlier.  

6:15PM
Consider preparing dinner, but I’m too exhausted and the children need my attention.  I call my husband Jeff and we make arrangements to meet at a pizza place that’s on the way home from his office.  

6:30PM
Everyone back into car.  

7:00PM
Pizza dinner. It’s quick, but not the healthiest.  We get the family out of there for $35.  

8:00PM
Home.  Everyone back into house.

8:15PM
We start getting younger children ready for bed. I’m ready for bed myself! Instead, its time for me to get cracking on the work emails that have accumulated over the course of the evening.

Sound familiar??


[AFTER] ONLINE MUSIC LESSONS
3:30PM
My neighbor Claire and I take turns picking up our girls from school.  On Lizzie’s lesson day, it’s Claire’s turn. I'm home enjoying working on art projects with some of the other kids.

4:00PM
Lizzie’s home.  We have a snack, wash up and position the laptop by the piano so that webcam has a good view of her and the keyboard.  

4:15PM 
We login to The ZOEN and I greet Lizzie’s wonderful teacher whom we’ve chosen from a selection of over 50 from across the country.  

For the next 30 minutes while Lizzie is having her lesson, I read a chapter of that book I’ve been trying to catch up on or I catch up with some business calls and emails that I’d otherwise have to push to late night.  The other children are happily playing in the family room and I drop in on them occasionally.    

4:45PM
I check in with Lizzie’s teacher, get some pointers on the week’s practicing assignment and we sign off.

The evening is free, I’m not stressed or tired, and my daughter has just had a fun and productive music lesson experience. Have online music lessons made my life just a little bit easier? Yes, yes they have.

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Kaitlyn W. of San Ramon, CA is a mother of 3 and busy web entrepreneur who loves music and used to play the clarinet in high school.  She tells us that with the convenience of online lessons, she may start playing again herself.  Welcome Kaitlyn!

Find out if online music lessons with The ZOEN are right for your family. Schedule a free trial lesson for your child now.