ALL THINGS MUSIC
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Capacity in the school is limited to 171,
but Lambeth said there are 25 people in the
building at most during the busiest hours.
About 66% of the school’s teachers have
been vaccinated, Lambeth said.
Zooming ahead with virtual lessons
Because of the greater risk of COVID-19
transmission from singing, Treichler moved
her lessons online and stayed online until
the safe studio was constructed.
“I had an opinion that it just wouldn’t be
as good as in-person, and of course, it’s dif-
ferent, but it also made other things a lot
more possible,” she said. “… I chose to really
look at the positives, and it made a huge dif-
ference in my life that I was able to keep my
work going because it’s my life’s passion.”
In some ways, virtual lessons helped forge
a closer understanding between teacher and
student.
“For the first time, I’m teaching students
online, so I can see their practice situation at
home; I get to see what their home life is like
and ... what kind of support they have with
their families,” Saito-Beckman said. She re-
located to her hometown of Bend from New
York City at the start of the pandemic, and
teaches students locally, as well as in New
York City. “I get to be one of the few adults
that they actually see on a weekly basis, so
I make sure that I’m on when I show up for
those lessons because they need a lot of pos-
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2021 • THE BULLETIN
“For the first time, I’m teaching students
online, so I can see their practice
situation at home; I get to see what their
home life is like and ... what kind of
support they have with their families.”
— Miya Saito-Beckman,violin instructor
itive adult interactions right now.”
Instructors at Music Flow, which provides
in-home lessons in Central Oregon, began
preparing for virtual lessons weeks before
the shutdown in mid-March. The school,
founded and directed by guitarist Travis Pal-
ladino, also canceled its group classes at the
Environmental Center.
After a few months, as restrictions loos-
ened, Music Flow offered in-person lessons
outdoors with masks and social distanc-
ing. When the weather grew colder, some
students and teachers opted for indoor les-
sons, again with masks and social distanc-
ing. About half of Music Flow’s students do
in-person lessons, while half have stuck with
virtual lessons, Palladino said.
“Prior to signing up a new student, we
have a discussion based on COVID just
to make sure everyone understands and is
comfortable about how lessons are going to
be conducted,” Palladino said. “We do have
a few instructors who teach all virtually and
have been very successful with that.”
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Music Flow founder and director Travis Palladino teaches an online guitar lesson during the pandemic.
Adapting to COVID-19
Teachers have had to adapt to music-spe-
cific challenges when teaching virtual les-
sons. Latency — the delay caused by digital
sound traveling from the input microphone
to the output speaker — makes it impossible
for students and teachers to play music to-
gether while on a video lesson.
“When teaching new music, I would sing
and play my students a line and then they
echo back, and then while they’re singing I
would play along with them,” Treichler said.
“You can’t do that online because the sound
gets canceled out and it gets really wonky or
we can’t hear each other. So I started right
out of the chute, ‘This is such a great oppor-
tunity to train your ear. And so you’re going
to hear your part and then you’re going to
be able to listen internally and start to learn
to really match pitch.’”
Recordings can help combat latency.
Dickinson sends her songs to her instruc-
tor before lessons, and often the lessons are
spent evaluating these recordings, she said.
Finding motivation to practice is an-
other hurdle for students. Cascade School of
Music offered a virtual spring talent show,
CSM’s Got Talent, and the school’s video
fundraiser filmed at the Tower Theatre in
December. Music Flow helped students or-
ganize online Zoom recitals for family and
friends to replace the regular in-person re-
citals at Cascades Theater in spring and fall.
In-person lessons at Cascade School of
Music have brought new challenges with so-
cial distancing.
“For the beginner, when you’re used to
grabbing their hands and helping them with
the fine motor control of bow holds, I have
to rely a lot more on the parents to get in-
volved,” Saito-Beckman said. “It’s really im-
portant for me to be very specific and clear
with my word choice, because a lot of it is
Music Flow piano and violin teacher Amber
Heath teaches a virtual music lesson during the
pandemic.
trying to explain to a child how to do some-
thing instead of physically helping them.”
McKenzie Harris, an 18-year-old senior
at Summit High School, started taking gui-
tar lessons with Palladino about five years
ago, when she was in middle school. She
has continued her lessons through the pan-
demic, starting with Zoom lessons for the
first few months and then moving outdoors
and finally, indoors.
“Even with all the changes and the strug-
gles, it’s still totally worth it to have music in
your life,” Harris said. “I think it’s also shown
that in so many different circumstances, you
can still have the things you’re passionate
about.”
Dickinson, who won second place in
school’s Got Talent with a performance of
an original song, continues to take virtual
lessons. She performed a couple of times
on the virtual Storytellers Open Mic at The
Commons during the pandemic.
“I think that in a way, the pandemic
helped me find my music,” Dickinson said,
“and in a way, my music helped me get
through the pandemic.”
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Reporter: 541-617-7814, bmcelhiney@bendbulletin.com