In our final blog post before Christmas, Andrea and I thought it might be enjoyable for piano teachers to share their funniest Zoom teaching moments from 2020 on the Teach Piano Today Blog.
When we first started Teach Piano Today and WunderKeys more than a decade ago, there was a general sense in the music community that piano lessons were becoming less and less popular as kids left to play guitar, drums, dance, or football.
Well, that era is gone.
The last 10 years have seen a drastic shift in the way teachers deliver piano lessons and the public’s perception has done a complete 180!
And it’s all because of teachers like you 🙂
Nothing illustrated this more beautifully than when piano teachers were forced to move online. Where other industries struggled to make the shift, piano teachers hopped onto Zoom and started teaching like they’d been doing it all their lives.
Every one of you was heroic! You did what you had to do because that is what self-employed piano teachers have to do to survive.
And while the switch to Zoom came with a lot of work, it also initiated some of the funnier moments many of us have had in our careers.
So, today we invite you to please share your funniest Zoom moments in the comments section of the Teach Piano Today Blog.
From a vacuum accident to a student stuck under a bed, we have a few already posted that will bring you some smiles and giggles as you kick back, relax, and enjoy the holidays.
To share your comment, find the “Leave A Comment” section at the bottom of today’s post.
Some Funny Moments To Get You Started
Funny Zoom teaching moments are posted regularly on the WunderKeys Facebook Groups. Here are just a few that teachers have shared over the past months. (Don’t forget to post your funny moment below!)
Stuck Under The Bed
I had a student who was so done with Zoom lessons. So before his brother finished his piano lesson and it was his turn, he hid under his brother’s bed.
When it was his turn, Mom went to find him. He tried to jump out and scare his Mom but got stuck. I, on the Zoom screen, could hear crying and quite the commotion, and Mom saying something like, “Well, why did you go under there?”
More crying… then laughing… then big brother appeared back on the screen. “Mrs. [Teacher], my mom says we are done for today because my brother is stuck under my bed and she has to take the bed apart.”
Oh my goodness! I laughed so hard!
Creative Dynamics
We were learning about dynamics (only soft and loud) and I demonstrated how it should be played. When I told my 8-year-old student it was his turn, he simply turned the piano’s volume button up and down while playing, instead of playing the actual dynamics. He was being dead serious too! I had such a giggle!
Vacuum Accident
My student this morning said, “Oh, sorry about that sound. Our vacuum ran into our other vacuum.”
I lost it. She then told me they had four vacuums and for some reason, at the moment it was the funniest thing I had ever heard!
I’m Done With You
“Ms. [Teacher], I love you… but I am so done with you and the piano today.” *proceeds to hang up on the zoom call*
Music Tastes Good
“Can you please stop licking your piano?” Said this afternoon during an online lesson!
Okay, Let’s Hear It: Your Funniest Zoom Moments
Post your comment below to share your funniest online teaching moments from 2020.
Here we go… make us laugh!
I have a young student with a large vocabulary. I never quite know what she will say. A few weeks ago I commended her for something and she countered, looking directly at the camera, “To quote McGonagall, ‘SHEER. DUMB. LUCK.’ “
I was giving online piano lessons to siblings from a wonderful family. The brother was 6 and the sister was 8. Last spring, the Brother had his lesson first. All I could see was his face. He was acting funny all lesson. I was asking him to play all the C’s… he’d play them, but he’d skip a couple here and there. He kept saying, “My sister is the worst!” Finally, his mom came over to the piano to see what was going on and gasped. Before the lesson, his sister put a dozen slugs all over the keys!
I have a student who uses her dad’s cell phone for her Zoom lesson. Her dad is a pastor and she knows that he can get important calls. One such lesson, sure enough a call comes through and she is yelling at her mom and dad, “Daddy is getting a call from Spam Risk!!” thinking that was the name of the person. Her parents and I couldn’t stop laughing for probably a full minute. My darling student was so serious until she understood what that meant.
One of the first online lessons I taught way back in March/April will stick in my mind for a long time. A dad who’d be laid off was trying his hardest to keep things running smoothly while his wife worked. She is essential services health care. The lesson began smoothly enough; kids popping onto their camera to say hi to the piano teacher. There was a toddler in the background just sort of standing there. The student began to play her piece for me and after a few notes I heard the dad give a blood curdling scream…..he then ran across the camera view with the toddler in his outstretched arms. Toddler not wearing diaper and dad shouting ‘don’t poop! Don’t pooooop!’ Out of camera I hear dad gagging. Lol. Student just kept playing but shrugged her shoulders.
Thought we’d share some of the comments that teachers posted under this post on Facebook 🙂
“The gong show at one house always gets me. I teach the oldest at 8 a.m. Saturday morning. I used to teach his youngest brother, who decided to stop zoom lessons in the fall. Baby is almost two.
So.
Saturdays go like this. Lesson starts. Baby wanders in, brother picks her up and sets her on the bench and starts playing his song while she makes faces at me. She wriggles off the bench and starts adding notes.
Mom enters, still in pyjamas, hair messy, looking frazzled. Removes baby, who does the stiff board tantrum thing and starts wailing.
Lesson resumes, with sobs in the background. I can see multiple collisions with the baby gate in the background.
Gate is breeched. Baby runs for the piano, followed by father in pyjamas, who snatches the baby and hipchecks the dog before leaving.
Middle brother arrives in housecoat and slippers with toast in hand to check out the chaos and leaves…but now the dog is in.
It is THRILLED and starts circling the room, wagging everything off the furniture with its tail.
Lesson halts, my perspective changes as the computer is moved out of the dog’s way. Dog is caught, corralled and cast out. Baby has been distracted with…something.
Lesson resumes as though nothing at all happened…
I love seeing the chaos though. Makes me feel better about my own chaos.”
From Facebook:
“I did a “surprise the teacher” week last spring. Here is one surprise: Caleb was getting set up for his lesson when Austin (big brother) walks by and points to a bag on the piano and says, “What’s that?” Caleb says, “oh that’s for surprise the teacher. Let’s see what is in it.” He pulls out some tissue paper and then voila pulls a rabbit out of the bag….and then yells out “AND TOILET PAPER” as he, with flair, grabs it out of the bag. I loved the bunny rabbit but the toilet paper was so perfect considering the timing of the shortage.”
From Facebook:
“With one family, I’m set up against a small ceramic bowl on the corner of their digital piano. I’m on their iPhone. I always fall down numerous times during the lesson and have to tell the student to pick me up. I’ll start sliding, and I can see that I’m falling, but I can’t stop myself from falling. “
From Facebook:
“One student decided to give me the full tour of his redecorated bathroom, showing me all of the fixtures and the shower curtain and TP roll holder, and all the while describing in great detail how yucky it had been in there before. This was smack dab in the middle of his lesson – he must really not have wanted to play his next song for me!”
From Facebook:
“Had a student who was joined in lessons by her dog who proceeded to howl along loudly as she played, then bit her on the leg. Chaos ensued as she chased the dog around the room screaming for mom…..
Also had a grandma join our zoom recital in her bathrobe. I had the Zoom set to record, but forgot to change to speaker view, so on the recording, there’s grandma….smack dab in the middle in her robe “
From Facebook:
“I have a younger brother that pops in from the bottom of the screen and says peekaboo at random times!”
From Facebook:
“While I was teaching a student, her dog became amorous/frisky with a pillow. This went on for over 5 minutes in the background as she continued her lesson unaware. It was very difficult for me to keep a straight face!”
From Facebook:
“We were preparing for an outdoor recital over virtual lessons and not one, not two, BUT THREE students asked me if were going to have a real piano at the recital or if they are going to pretend to play “
From Facbook:
“I’ve had a bird’s eye view of a cat’s behind on more than one occasion during a lesson. Also whiskers up close and meowing and purring. “
From Facebook:
“One of my students’ piano benches broke right out from under them as they were playing a song. Thankfully they were just fine but we had a good laugh.”
From Facebook:
“Last week I asked to speak to a students mom at the end of the lesson so I could relay some info. She runs me up and down the halls yelling for mom and then boom busts into the bathroom with mom on the toilet ♀️.”
From Facebook:
“I fell off the back of the piano bench while teaching a zoom lesson! So embarrassing!!”
From Facebook:
“One of my students was adding note values together during an online lesson. He turned to the camera and said, “This is MATH!!””
From Facebook:
“Whenever a student shuts off their camera I just start playing the theme to jeopardy until they turn it on again. I had a student that never shut his off “so I don’t have to hear that weird song again” “
I actually can’t think of a “funny” story right now, but this has stuck in my memory since the beginning of lockdown lessons (waaaay back in March/April).
In one of the lessons, the Mum was having technical troubles – I could see the pupil fine but he could only hear, not see me. I tried to make light of it, saying “just pretend I’m behind a curtain – as long as you can HEAR me , you don’t need to see my face.” To which he replied “but I like your face”. Heart melting, isn’t it?
D’awwwww – from the mouth of babes 🙂
I realize I’m late to the party – but this is my favorite funny moment. One family I teach has two younger siblings. When they’re not in a zoom mood, one will turn off the microphone and pretend they can’t hear me before soon ending the call. The other leans backward on the bench until out of sight and then ends the call by somehow sneaking back to the phone sight unseen.