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Most video calls are built for talking, not music — they filter out the very sounds an instrument makes. Here's how online lessons avoid that, and the two-minute setup that makes them work.
Why ordinary video calls sound bad for music
Video-call apps assume everyone is talking. To keep speech clear they suppress "noise", cancel echo, and even out volume — and to that software, a held flute note, a ringing piano chord, or a quiet brush on a snare all look like noise. The result is music that cuts in and out, or sounds flattened.
What these lessons use instead
Online lessons run on Zoom in its musician mode (Zoom calls it Original sound for musicians). It switches that speech processing off and sends full-range, 48 kHz audio, so what you hear on your end is what was actually played.
An honest word about delay
Every internet call has a small delay — the sound physically has to travel. For a lesson that doesn't matter, because teacher and student take turns: play, listen, adjust. What the delay does rule out is playing in perfect unison over the internet, so we don't pretend otherwise. For that, we play along to recordings, or meet in person.
On a computer
- Install the Zoom app (it's free for students).
- Settings → Audio: untick Automatically adjust microphone volume.
- Under Audio Profile, choose Original sound for musicians and switch on High-fidelity music mode.
- Using headphones? You can turn echo cancellation off. On speakers, leave it on.
On a phone or tablet
- Install the Zoom app.
- Settings → Meetings (or Audio on iPhone/iPad): turn on Use Original Sound.
- In each lesson, tap More → Enable Original Sound — it doesn't always stay on between calls.
For everyone
- Sit near your Wi-Fi router, or plug in with a cable if you can.
- Point the camera at your hands and instrument, not just your face.
- A quiet room, and headphones if you have them.
Online lessons cost the same as studio lessons and cover every subject on the site.
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