Nothing will ever replace being able to interact with students in person. Music is meant to be enjoyed together. It is a shared experience, where friendships through music are just as important as music notes.
I know that teaching online lessons have been hard for many of you. After all, we became music teachers because we enjoy working with students, not computers.
But a silver lining has definitely emerged from this experience. And that silver lining is the Zoom Piano Recital!
I had never before considered holding a Zoom Piano Recital. Now, I can’t imagine a music world where they weren’t used regularly by piano teachers!
Over the last year, I have held over 50 Zoom Piano Recitals during the WunderKeys World Tour. Today I want to share with you, a Zoom Piano Recital How-To Guide, so that you can bring this awesome teaching tool to your studio.
Why You Must Throw Zoom Piano Recitals
Let me begin by saying that Zoom Piano Recitals will never replace traditional piano recitals. Traditional piano recitals will always have their places in our studios.
But Zoom Piano Recitals have their place too, and they are just as valuable. These easy-to-organize recitals can be used in many ways, including:
- Small-Group Masterclasses: Piano performances provide a lesson focus that inspires piano practice. But scheduling in-person piano performances takes time and effort. Not only do you have to find a suitable venue but you have to arrange a time when families can physically show up. Small-Group Masterclasses via Zoom allow you to host same-age students in a less intimidating venue that is easy for families to attend.
- Pen Pal Studio Recitals: Piano teachers with bursting studios are popular for a reason. And one reason is that they usually employ unique and innovative teaching techniques. One such technique is connecting with a studio halfway around the world and hosting a shared piano recital over Zoom.
- Recitals For Live-Away Relatives: Music is a communal adventure. Families who believe in music are families who stick with piano lessons. To make sure families are committed to music, it’s always a good idea to allow students to share their music with relatives near and far. With Zoom Piano Recitals, grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles who may live too far away to ever attend a piano recital can finally see their loved ones make music live.
- Rescue Recitals: As we’re discovering, things can happen in this world that can make in-person recitals impossible. Sometimes it’s a virus and other times it’s the weather. In the future, when something beyond your control makes an in-person recital impossible, you can always turn to Zoom to keep the music alive.
So, now that you’re convinced to hop on the bandwagon, I want to share with you, how to host the perfect Zoom Piano Recital. As mentioned, I’ve held quite a few now and have worked out the kinks so that you don’t have to!
12 Tips For A Perfect Zoom Piano Recital
Below I am sharing 12 tips that will make sure your Zoom Piano Recital is enjoyed by students and their families. The final tip (Tip 12) gets its own heading because it is the MOST important. Please don’t forget to read Tip 12!
- Send your individual meeting code/password AND the Zoom link to your students. This enables guests to hop into your recital via a web browser if they don’t have the app downloaded (Grandparents etc.). It’s one less hurdle for you to deal with pre-recital for those who aren’t very familiar with Zoom.
- Ask your students to ask their guests who will be attending to change their names as they log in to “Guest of Lisa,” for example. That way, for security purposes, you know that guests actually do “belong” in your meeting. It’s also nice for you to see “Mark’s Auntie” and then know right away who that guest is when you’re not in a place where you can be personally introduced.
- Use the Zoom Waiting Room. It’s much less chaotic if you are the one in charge of admitting people to the recital. If you pay for a Zoom subscription you can customize the waiting room message to say something like, “Our recital will begin soon, please wait to be admitted,” or something similar, so that guests and performers know they’re in the right place. You don’t need to leave everyone in the waiting room and then have a massive entry. Simply let them in one by one as they arrive (for the reason below).
- As students log in, change their names. To do this, click on “Participants” at the bottom of your screen so you can see your guest list, hover over a student’s name, click “More” and then click, “Rename”. Name your students in the order they will be performing on your program (for example 1. Mary, 2. Joshua, 3. Oakley). Students often accidentally log in using their parent’s name and this can get confusing mid-recital for you. Also, Zoom defaults to organizing participants in alphabetical order. Using the numbered naming method makes it easy to run through your program and find each student immediately. It also bumps guests down to the bottom of the list/gallery so your performers are front and center. Don’t worry if this list sorts differently and changes occasionally before you begin. If some students are unmuted and using their microphone they will be moved to the top. However, when everyone is muted, your list will be in the order of your program. If you have siblings performing, schedule them back-to-back and simply name them accordingly (i.e. 1. Aiden, 2. Graham).
- Ask students to log in 10 minutes before the recital time. This allows you time to admit people, rename them, and add guests from the waiting room, without feeling rushed. It also gives you time to remind students to enable the original sound setting before you begin (Tip 12!). Because it can be awkward to have people sitting and staring at each other for 10 minutes, keep your own video and audio “off” and mute everyone until you’re ready to begin. Your students will catch on and do the same (often, not always LOL).
- If family members in the same home will be watching the recital on more than one device, they will need to be in separate rooms to avoid feedback and echo.
- Teach students to unmute themselves, but do keep an eye on your Participant Dashboard so you can unmute any student who may have forgotten to do so before they begin to play. Mute EVERYONE except for your performer when they are playing. This eliminates background noise. There is one button that mutes everyone at once which makes this easy.
- Spotlight performers as they play so they are large on everyone’s screen (in the Participant Dashboard, hover over their name, and select “Spotlight”).
- Remember to spotlight yourself when you speak (introduction, closing etc.) so everyone can see you enlarged on their screens.
- If you are nervous about remembering to mute and unmute everyone after each performer for applause – consider a visual alternative to applause (guests can wave flags, do jazz hands, give thumbs up, hold signs that say, “Applause” etc.). This is a good thing to think about if it’s your first Zoom recital as the mute and unmute task is just one more thing to think about 🙂
- Take a “group photo” to create a keepsake for your students’ first online recital. Simply select “Gallery view” and then take a screenshot on your computer or device. You can also record your recital by pressing “record” at the beginning.
Tip 12: Enable Original Sound
Given that you are hosting a piano recital, sound quality is the most important consideration. Zoom automatically suppresses what it considers to be “background noise”. This means that music will be compressed and end up sounding electronic, will have an “in and out” effect and no notes will be sustained.
This is a problem… unless you “Enable Original Sound”.
Give your piano students plenty of notice with the instructions below and your sound quality will be much better (feel free to copy/paste this info into an email to them).
Once the setting is enabled your students will STILL need to select “Enable Sound” once they join the recital meeting. It’s something you can remind them to do before you begin, but having this setting ready in advance is key.
Enabling Original Sound On A Computer:
- Make sure you have downloaded the Zoom app to your computer.
- Open the Zoom app.
- Click on “Settings” (the gearbox in the upper right corner).
- Select “Audio”.
- Turn off “Automatically Adjust Microphone Volume” and then select a level that is 3/4 to full.
- Click on “Advanced”.
- Click on “Show in-meeting option to enable original sound” from the microphone.
- When you join the meeting – on the upper left of your screen you’ll see the ability to “Turn off or turn on original sound” – please do this before the recital begins (turn it ON).
Enabling Original Sound On A Device:
- Open the Zoom app.
- Click on “Settings” at the bottom.
- Click on “Meetings”.
- Scroll down until you see “Use Original Sound” – turn this ON.
- When you join the meeting, click on the three dots along your bottom menu bar where it says “More”.
- Click on “Enable Original Sound”.
Do You Have A Zoom Piano Recital Tip?
Have you been hosting your own Zoom Piano Recitals? If so, we’d love to hear about your experiences. In the comments below, share some tips and advice for teachers new to Zoom.
Kara says
Thanks for the tips, Andrea! 🙂
How do you send the recording out to families after? Using Google Drive?
Thanks!
Andrea says
Yes, you can save it to Dropbox and send the link, upload it to YouTube and send the link or send it as a Google Drive.
William Young says
Thank you for your kind sharing.
Andrea says
You’re welcome! Glad you found it helpful 🙂
Kathleen Setash says
This is so helpful. I’m very apprehensive about doing it! Still working on how to play duets. Do you have any suggestions ? Thanks again!
Andrea says
Kathleen – Duets are tricky. They’re one thing that Zoom doesn’t replicate really well. I’ve had siblings who live in the same home play duets which obviously works. The lag time and timing can be difficult if students are in different homes. I’d recommend practicing anything you’re apprehensive about with a friend or two. Then you’ll feel comfortable giving it a go with your studio. I promise – it’s really do-able! Go for it, you’ll be glad you did!
Linda Hyland says
Whew! Thank you! I’ve seen sites about Zoom recitals and they are confusing. So far I haven’t done this, but your information and how simply you’ve stated everything makes it seem I might be able to do this. Still a lot to coordinate, though. I’m old! I think I’d need to do a practice recital first…at least with a few.
I appreciate the clear instructions and trust getting them from you! THANKS!!
Andrea says
You’re so welcome and YES you can do it! 🙂 Practice with two dear friends – with just two participants you can practice anything you’d need to do and then you’ll feel comfortable with your studio families. These tips are exactly what I’d tell my best friend if she were to be hosting her first one – it’s all you need to know! Best of luck to you – just go for it!
Amy says
Thank you so much! I just announced a zoom recital and was stressed about the details, but you’ve laid it all out for me. I appreciate you so much!!!!!
Andrea says
Hi Amy! You’ll be great 🙂 If you have a moment, practice these few things with family members so you feel more relaxed about it (spotlighting etc). Then you can just enjoy the experience. So excited about the opportunities this opens up for studios now that students know how to use it!
Karen says
Thank you Andrea this is GREAT! I was considering using Skype, but Zoom will actually be a lot easier! I wish I had your instructions when I first learned how to navigate Zoom, it was sooo frustrating. Your instructions are perfect and so easy to understand! I’ve also learned something new I didn’t know, and that’s how to “spotlight” performers as they play! Thank you so very much for the tips!!
Andrea says
Hi Karen – I’m so glad it was helpful! Yes, Zoom is really user-friendly and intuitive (I find at least!) The spotlight function is great – it makes it feel like a real recital where the performer is “front and centre”. Enjoy your recital!
Isabella says
Great tips! The only hesitation I have is for the parents who don’t have really good internet wifi speed and the video could be choppy and show poor resolution, and it won’t do justice to their performance. What do you recommend for that? I am considering doing mine pre-recorded for that reason. Thanks, great tips!! 🙂
Andrea says
You can have parents submit video clips instead, but they can still attend the live Zoom recital. When it’s their child’s turn, simply “screen share” your computer and play the video of their performance. There is a setting you need to enable to video share. Just google it. This way your students can still attend your live recital, but their performance won’t be compromised or interrupted in any way.
Robin Steinweg says
Wonderful instructions!!! Thank you. Is it okay if I copy and paste the two “Enabling Original Sound” sets of instructions and send to my families? This was perfect timing, since our practice recital is tomorrow, with the actual recital Friday night. 😀
Andrea says
Yes, do please copy/paste if it’s helpful 🙂
Robin Steinweg says
A question: is there a Chat feature on Zoom, and if so, do you enable it? Thanks!
Andrea says
Yes, there is. Many teachers choose to disable it as it’s quite (I mean VERY) tempting to young students 😉 This can all be done in settings accessed from your Zoom dashboard.
Maryann Messina says
Thank you for these great tips Andrea!
I just did my first Zoom recital with only 11 students last night.
The parents and families loved it!
I was nervous, too but just admit that it’s your first time!
Tips for students:
Have brighter light in the piano area otherwise you cannot be seen
Bow BEHIND the bench (rather than in front) because the camera may be too close.
Reminds students to dress up (they’ve been in pj’s and sweats for months)!
Enjoy the moments-I miss my kiddos so much!
Andrea says
So glad it went so well for you! Thanks for sharing your tips!
Karen Magruder says
Useful tip from another teacher: Place the device with the mike on the treble side of the piano. Otherwise the treble may be overpowered by the bass.
Andrea says
Good one!
Rita Hovanesian says
Thanks for a great article!! How do you customize the waiting room greeting?
Andrea says
Hi Rita! You need the paid version of Zoom to do this. If you have that here are the steps:
Customizing the Waiting Room
-After enabling waiting room, navigate to the Waiting Room option under In Meeting(Advanced).
-Click the pencil icon below the Waiting Room option. …
-Click Close when you are done.
-Participants will see your custom waiting room branding when they join the meeting.
Joan says
Where do you have the students sit while they are waiting to play? I want them to appear on screen, but can’t gave them sitting at their keyboards for the whole recital.
Joan says
Where do you have the students sit while they are waiting to play? I want them to appear on screen, but can’t have them sitting at their keyboards for the whole recital.
bianca thomaz ribeiro says
So so so useful!!! !Thanks a lot! I was afraid of doing this, but now I’m ok!!! It will be on Saturday, 20th. My idea about duets was making some playbacks, so the students will play “with me” at the Great Day!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Andrea says
I’m so glad it was helpful – best of luck to you on the 20th 🙂
Syntia says
This is so helpful! Thank you!
Just a question, did you or will you collect a recital fee?
Andrea says
Hi Syntia! I’m so glad this is helpful 🙂 Personally, I’ve never collected recital fees – in-person or online. I consider the cost of hosting a recital a cost of doing business. I do understand that, for some teachers, recital rental venues are quite expensive and in those cases I can see how a small fee would be needed. However, as there are no fees associated with a Zoom recital I personally wouldn’t charge for one. As a parent, if this were one of my daughter’s activities, I would certainly raise an eyebrow over being charged to log in on my own computer to watch my child perform in my own living room 🙂 It would be hard to justify that fee I think. I know there is admin time, but there is extra time un-paid time required in almost every self-owned business. I like to think of recitals as being a gesture of thanks to studio families for their commitment to lessons during the year.
Matt says
Thanks for this great resource! I’ve wondered about this as well, and your response is instructive.
Sharon Harrington says
Thank you so much for this post! It saved me from so much of the learning curve! First studio Zoom recital today was beautifully smooth, thanks to you.
Andrea says
I’m SO happy to hear it, Sharon! Congratulations 🙂
Sun Kim says
Thank you so much for this, it is crystal clear and has answered all my questions, just one thing though, what if students perform on a smaller device(like a phone) then, watch others on their bigger(computer) screen? Can they do that?
Andrea says
Yes – just make sure the devices are in separate rooms or you’ll get feedback 🙂
Karina says
Ok (*deep breaths*) I feel like I could maybe do this!! Thank you for your information, I am hoping it could work for a mixed instrumental studio as I have piano, woodwind and vocal students. I love your ideas! Thank you
Andrea says
You can do it! Enjoy 🙂
Hope Canter Noar says
Can I get a zoom account and do a recital without paying for zoom?
Andrea says
Hi Hope – you can have a free subscription to Zoom and do recitals, yes 🙂 There are some features that you wouldn’t have access to but they shouldn’t affect your ability to have a recital (depending on how many students you have attending).
Tonya says
How do I practice this? I like to go over everything thoroughly before I do anything with electronics. Should I just get a few friends to pretend they are entering the recital and go through it?
Also – what is Zoom’s time restriction? Is it 40 minutes?
Andrea says
Hi Tonya! Yes, have some friends join and practice getting all of those settings down pat 🙂 The basic un-paid plan has a limit of 40 minutes. If you think you’ll be close to that it might be worth upping your plan for a month to pro – I believe it’s around $15.
Mary in Michigan says
I’ve done two Zoom recitals and had relatives from all over the world attend. It’s a wonderful tool. I agree with the comment asking families to be sure student has light on their face and no bright light source behind them. Also use reaction button to offer silent applause or thumbs up. I did not ask attendees to rename but it’s a great idea. How do they do that—exactly?
Andrea says
You can rename them yourself by clicking on “more” beside their name to rename them on the participants’ screen. Or, you can ask them to hover their mouse over their name in the “Participants” list on the right side of the Zoom window, click on “Rename” and then enter their program number and name.
Mikiko Morimura says
Yes!! Andrea, you are amazing!! Thanks for all the tips. Your writing was so clear and easy to follow. You saved my life!!
Andrea says
Hi Mikiko – I’m so very glad to hear this was helpful for you!
High Five Music Academy says
THANK YOU! A couple of our teachers want to have a winter concert – of course it is needed so the students have something to work towards, but the music director was having a hard time wrapping his head around a virtual concert. This will give him all the information he needs! And the tips will help me run it smoothly!
nancy says
Hello, thank you for the helpful advice.
A quick question : after you mute all, when you spotlight a performer, do you need to unmute him/her first? or the “spotlight” automatically unmutes this person?
Andrea says
I usually ask the performers to unmute themselves. It’s much easier that way 🙂
Debi says
Do you recommend hosting the Zoom recital from a laptop or can it be done from an iPad?
Could you also go into a bit more detail about showing a pre-recorded performance as part of the recital?
This is a really great article and I am so grateful for all the details you shared.
Andrea says
Hi Debi! I’d recommend a laptop – the participants’ area is much easier to navigate that way. If you are including a pre-recorded performance, simply spotlight yourself and then enter “screen share” mode and play the video on your computer. It will share what you have on your screen with everyone. Keep in mind it will share EVERYTHING on your screen so close down any other windows or tabs you may have 🙂
lynn kiesewetter says
Thanks for all this info- this should get me through my first online New Year’s Eve Pain Party.
Is it better for students to play their own recording or should they send them to me ahead of time to play???
Thanks lots
Andrea says
Hi Lynn – If you’re doing pre-recorded performances it’s better that you play them all. I forsee a lot of “technical difficulties” in getting students to properly screen share and play videos 🙂
Sharon M Hale says
Goodness…I read most every article you send. Not sure how I missed this one. Maybe I wasn’t in recital mode in March. I just held one that was ok, but some of these tips would have been helpful. I love the idea of “masterclass” performances for specific groups of students. I believe I’ll add that to my calendar for spring! Thanks for sharing.
Andrea says
So glad you’ll find it helpful 🙂