Once we were in the thick of the pandemic, I had to rearrange my studio. I had to be able to deliver comfortably as good of a virtual lesson as I possibly could. I discovered many things I could do for that. For example, I put my webcam on my computer screen. Not very original, I know. But that camera can rotate because I put the screen on a lazy-Susan. If I need to demonstrate something on my instrument, I just turn the screen/camera to the left. It has the benefit of showing me exactly what the student sees.
Then, as we started doing the lessons in person again, I had to develop new tricks to keep my social distance. Enter the cat laser. It’s a pointer that gives you a red dot wherever you turn it towards. And it can drive cats to the brink of insanity too. With it, I respect the appropriate distance without losing accuracy. Is there a sticky bar we need to talk about: pointer to the rescue! Which note on the keyboard do you need to press? Pointer! And is this note a G or an F? Pointer! In a second, I can show precisely what I want the student to turn her attention to. Oh, and it’s cheap.
You might think that I could get rid of it now that we’re definitely on our way to an all population vaccination. But I won’t. I’ll keep it. This way I don’t have to arch over the books while I’m giving directions. It saves my back.
