I Couldn't Wait to Get Back to Face-to-Face Teaching — So Why Am I Now Teaching Violin Online?

When I first started teaching violin online, I honestly wasn't convinced.

Like many teachers, the pandemic changed the way I taught almost overnight. Suddenly, lessons that had always taken place in person were happening through a screen. I adapted because I had to, but if I'm completely honest, I couldn't wait for the day when I could return to teaching face-to-face.

For me, there was something special about being in the same room as a student. I loved being able to hear the violin in person, see the smallest details of technique and work together in the same physical space.

So when face-to-face teaching returned, I was very happy to put online teaching behind me.

Or at least, that's what I thought.

Something Changed My Mind

A few years later, I began teaching a student online for several weeks, and something quite unexpected happened.

I started to see real progress.

Not just the occasional improvement, but genuine development in the student's playing. I could hear changes in technique. I could see growing confidence. We were able to work through musical challenges together, discuss practice and refine details of the playing — all through a screen.

But I also noticed something happening on my side of the lesson.

When I taught in person, part of my day was often spent travelling to lessons. I would arrive having driven through traffic, thinking about the journey, the next lesson or everything else I needed to do that day.

With an online lesson, that distraction simply wasn't there.

I could sit down at my computer and be completely focused on the student in front of me. My mind wasn't occupied by the drive to the lesson or the journey home. I could give the lesson my full attention from the moment we began.

And I realised that this wasn't just convenient.

It could actually make me a more focused teacher.

I found myself thinking:

Perhaps I had been looking at online violin lessons in the wrong way.

Perhaps online teaching wasn't simply a temporary solution or a compromise for when face-to-face lessons weren't possible.

Perhaps it could actually be something much more.

What If Geography Didn't Have to Decide Who You Learn From?

That realisation opened up a completely new way of thinking about teaching.

For years, when someone wanted to learn the violin, the search for a teacher was largely determined by geography. You looked for someone who lived near you, who had availability and who happened to be within travelling distance.

But why should that always be the case?

What if the teacher who is right for you lives in another part of the country?

Or another country entirely?

Online violin lessons have made me realise that students no longer necessarily have to choose a teacher simply because they happen to live nearby.

They can look further.

They can find a teacher whose approach to teaching resonates with them, whose musical experience suits their goals and whose way of working feels right for their own journey.

And I find that incredibly exciting.

The Possibility of Teaching Students Around the World

I have always loved the fact that music connects people.

The violin is an instrument with such a rich history, and every student brings something different to their playing. Their background, experiences, musical influences and culture all become part of the way they understand and respond to music.

The idea that I could teach students from different parts of the UK and from around the world means that I can meet people whose experiences are different from my own.

That isn't simply exciting because it allows me to teach more students.

It is exciting because teaching can become an exchange of ideas, experiences and musical perspectives.

I can share my own approach to violin playing and teaching, while learning from the people I meet along the way.

That is something I hadn't really considered when I first taught online during the pandemic.

Online Doesn't Mean Less Personal

I think one of my biggest misconceptions about online lessons was that they would somehow feel less personal.

In reality, a good online lesson can still be highly focused and individual.

I can listen carefully to a student's playing, observe their technique, identify areas that need attention and give detailed feedback. We can work on tone, bow control, intonation, phrasing, musical interpretation and repertoire.

The student still has to listen, respond, experiment and think.

And perhaps most importantly, we can still build a relationship as teacher and student.

Of course, online lessons are not identical to being in the same room. They are their own form of teaching, with their own advantages and considerations.

But I have come to realise that distance does not necessarily prevent connection.

Sometimes, it simply changes the way that connection happens.

A New Chapter in My Teaching

I never expected to become particularly enthusiastic about online violin lessons.

Yet here I am.

What began as something I had to do during an extraordinary period in our lives has gradually become something I now see as a genuinely exciting part of my teaching.

I still love teaching face-to-face. There is something wonderful about making music together in the same room, and I will always value that.

But I no longer see online teaching as the alternative.

I see it as another possibility.

A possibility that allows me to teach someone who may live hundreds or even thousands of miles away. A possibility that allows students to look beyond their immediate surroundings when choosing a teacher. And a possibility that brings together people with different backgrounds, cultures and experiences through a shared love of the violin.

Perhaps the most important question isn't where your violin teacher lives.

Perhaps it is whether they are the right teacher for you.

And I am now genuinely excited to discover where this new chapter of teaching might take me.

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