Knee-jerk technology brings the keyboard closer to an Online piano student

I never thought I'd see myself in this posture reaching across the ocean to Greece. Connecting to a student within range of the Parthenon was unimaginable.

But consider a small, innocuous Logitech cam, model HD 1080P, placed on my knee, (not in the service of a marriage proposal)--but used to unsnarl a tricky Mozart second theme ornament and you have a happy pupil, and praise-giving teacher.

Now if my late, beloved mentor, Lillian Freundlich, had gotten wind of my knee-propped telescopic lens as I instructed a student in Kos, an Island of beauty and historical riches, she might have dashed off more than a weak-kneed note of disapproval!

Notwithstanding her discomfort with transmitting piano lessons over SKYPE, she would scornfully gaze down at me from her heavenly cloud.

But would the Greek Gods on Olympus be more forgiving?

They might agree that even Chopin's music could seep onto the Greek canvas through a web-cam driven exchange. Weren't piano lessons an Athenian and Spartan undertaking that fed the spirit and primed the muscles?

In an earthly visit, the Gods would hail the Logitech cam as a great assist for students hungering for a bigger-than-life close-up of the keyboard UNIVERSE. In fact, the angles driven by the device were an improvement over LIVE bench presses with awkward body shuffling. ("O.K. Oscar, honey, please move over, so I can demonstrate the trill.") If Professor Woldanksky was the size of an opera diva, the effort might KNEED a hefty expenditure of energy!

That's why I always opted for coaching at the second piano while having the MAC Internal cam double on my efforts. (The LIVE student, a distant participant at the primary GRAND piano, would receive an emailed video at the end of the day that BLEW UP our interplay)

However, I had to admit than one pro forma videotaping caught me asleep at the wheel.. I mean piano.

http://youtu.be/9Zw1O9mxyy4

Forgive my over-scheduling!

All kidding aside, the knee-jerk technology that embraces the Logitech in SKYPE transmitted piano lessons can be a time saver.

And here's a snatch of footage to prove it!

http://youtu.be/u0IdglgpmXs

Finally, as promised, the Greek student received the gift of a supplemental SKYPE video made for him to summarize the points made at our lesson. (Mozart Sonata in C Major, K. 545, Allegro)

http://youtu.be/-qlZC5LZr_0

And my play through:

http://youtu.be/MWk0qSO_Lvg