I spend a lot of music lessons on mute or un-hearable. Early on in the pandemic many teachers suggested developing cue cards or signals to communicate visually rather than with sound. I’ve found developing a few basic hand signals INVALUABLE. Hours of wasted time have been diverted by having the ability to pause students or have them re-do something right away.

Here is my list of essentials.

STOP.

Simply make the stop sign. If students aren’t pointing their scrolls at the camera parents usually see and tell their child to stop. If they still don’t catch it I’ll start waving my hand to catch their attention.

AGAIN.

I make a pointer finger and circle it in the air. This is a re-do button.

KEEP GOING.

I make a pointer finger and move it from one side of the screen to the other.

YES.

Simple thumbs up.

FLASHERS.

A versatile tool I use to symbolize a reminder of some kind. I’ll ball my hands up and them alternate opening and closing them like flashing lights. This has a big effect through the screen on zoom. Sometimes I’ll tie this to intonation or upcoming bow pattern to remember or a particular ending to take.

THINK.

Another versatile tool. I’ll make a pointer finger and touch it to my temple. This is supposed to remind the student to take a thinking space or remember something pre-determined as they navigate a passage.

BINOCULARS.

Since we can’t use the proximity of our bodies in physical space for importance, I now hold imaginary binoculars up to my eyes to look for something important. Say, “I’m going to hold up my binoculars to see if your wrist is straight while you play Lightly Row.” Pick up and lower the binoculars at different points to cue the student’s self awareness. I suppose having an actual pair of binoculars or a magnifying glass would be fun, too.