Music knows no bounds.
LB Music School, with locations in Lynn, Medford, and Wakefield, has successfully converted 75 percent of its students to taking Zoom lessons throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
LB Music owner Lauren Bateman said the reception from students, parents and teachers has been largely positive.
Parents have enjoyed hearing their children play their instruments and teachers have reported that kids have been more focused on Zoom calls than they were during in-person lessons, Bateman said.
“It is going well,” said Bateman. “We’ve gotten a lot of great feedback from students. It’s not the ideal situation. It’s always great to be in the room with students. We have teachers using multiple devices and finding cool ways to make it fun and interesting for the students at home.”
Bateman said the music lessons have provided a sense of normalcy for families during a time when “everything has been uprooted and changed.”
She said the lessons have given children a creative outlet and a chance to socialize with others during a time when schools are closed and people have been discouraged from leaving their homes.
“Music has always been a great outlet and a source of joy for me,” said Bateman. “It is a good stress (reliever). It’s nice to have that normalcy, to have something to look forward to that’s positive.”
Although the reception has been mostly positive, Bateman said some people are not comfortable with the technology and prefer to have lessons in-person. Parents with a lot of kids have relayed that their homes do not make for the best environments for music lessons, she said.
Bateman opened LB Music School in Medford in November 2012 and expanded to Wakefield in 2016. She opened the school’s Lynn location this past October, which she said was hardest hit by the coronavirus.
Only about 50 percent of the approximately 70 students that attended the Lynn school could take part in online classes. By comparison, LB Music retained the majority of its 100 students who attended the Wakefield location and lost about 25 to 30 percent of about 300 students who took lessons in Medford, the school’s largest location, Bateman said.
Music students, who range from 6 years old to adults, take either singing lessons or classes for a range of instruments, including the piano, drums, guitar, violin and ukulele. The majority of students who take lessons in Lynn and Wakefield are children.
Allison Wolley, a Swampscott resident, said the switch to online classes has been a welcome change for her since she does not have to drive her daughter, Amara, to and from lessons.
“I can just get her set up in my office and she is on her way,” said Wolley.
But Amara said she has mixed feelings about the situation.
“The online lessons aren’t ideal, because sometimes there’s technical difficulties and things like that, but they are definitely very helpful and I’m thankful that I still get to take guitar lessons during quarantine,” she said.
Swampscott resident Kathleen Barry and her 15-year-old son, Jay, who plays the guitar, said the online classes have been a positive experience.
“I wasn’t sure that Jay could learn how to play the guitar with an online platform, and expressed my concerns about it,” Kathleen said. “Lauren and her team came up with some exciting ideas on how Jay could learn that would keep his interest in online classes, while providing worksheets and support with each week’s lesson.
“So far it has been a really positive experience for Jay, and we are happy to support LB Music School during this difficult time.”
Jay said his music teacher makes learning online “really fun.”
“I feel like I’m still progressing and learning even though it is not in person,” he said.