How COVID-19 Is Changing The Online Classical Guitar Landscape | The Millennial Edit

You wouldn’t be wrong for thinking that the classical music world in general is not the hippest or most up to date when it comes to technological innovation.

Perhaps it is because as classical musicians we are most often creatures of habit and tend to err on the side of fanatic when it comes to tradition.

Perhaps it is because the demographic of classical music audiences tend to be just that little bit older than those of other music genres.

But, for whatever reason, despite the fact that the rise of social media has already been transforming the marketing and publicity industries for almost a decade, classical musicians just haven’t been that interested in life online.

That is until the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world, forcing musicians like myself worldwide to be in physical lock down; stuck at home, wondering what our jobs as entertainers really means in a time where we cannot reach our audience.

It has been puzzling and disappointing for many.

With concerts, festivals and all musical events cancelled for the foreseeable future, many are keen to not lose the momentum they have gained.

After all, carving a career path in this industry is not easy let alone having it all grind to a halt because of worldwide emergency.

The focus now for musicians is on innovation, and much of this we can already see popping up online.

Those of us who have been engaging in social media for a longer haul than just the last couple of weeks can see the massive impact that the influx of more guitarists putting their artistic efforts into online ventures is having on the online guitar circuit.

As people begin to navigate through the algorithm game, and further into how much good content can reasonably be produced from one living room setting, there will probably be a shift in the quality and quantity of material we find available to us online.

We can expect to see great changes in the nature of online tutorial. While many will have experienced lesson giving and taking online in the past, many will not have.

This will mean coming to grips with some of the more basic technologies available for video calling; including online applications, but also hardware such as calling devices and sound setups.

This will likely also have an impact on the nature of taking lessons post corona.

As classical musicians in teaching roles learn to incorporate technology into their daily lives, the world will become increasingly smaller and further reaching, meaning that lessons will potentially be available world over with a vast selection of teachers.

It is likely that there will be long lasting impact on the world of non live video format tutorial for classical guitarists, providing better quality and more extensive tutorial available to the general enthusiastic guitarist.

The video channels that already exist, such as the tonebase lesson platform, are already becoming increasingly important in times which are separating students from their teachers, and also their sense of schedule.

The good news is that each personal effort towards making an online musical career, however temporary, helps everybody who is making waves in this area.

The more information there is online about guitar, the more we can come together to innovate the playing of our instrument.

The more people we persuade to fall in love with a piece of classical guitar music, the more audience we collectively gain.

While our priority in this time, is staying safe. I suggest that our close second should be quitting the competition, but not quitting the game. We are all in this together and now more than ever, a gain for ourselves is a gain for us all.

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