I've just finished teaching for the day. 8 lessons, and the last one was via Skype. Skype for the uninitiated is video-calling software that works over the internet, so it's like making a video phone call without paying for it (apart from your internet service fees of course).
Skype lessons are different from face-to-face lessons, due to limitations in the technology. While I can see and hear my student, and he/she can see and hear me, there's a slight time delay which means that we can't play together. I get around this by creating backing tracks which I save as mp3 audio files. These are small enough to be emailed. So earlier in the day I emailed my student a PDF with chord diagrams, chords, lyrics, and notation and tab for the melodic parts. In separate emails I sent mp3 files in a selection of tempos, starting at a nice slow 40bpm, up to 70bpm which is the correct tempo of the song.
This worked well, and I was able to coach my student into play both the rhythm and lead parts of the song. Success! Skype helps me teach anyone around the world, provided that they can speak English. Sadly my language skills are minimal.
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