Music instructors innovate for remote delivery courses

That’s what confronted the Chadron State College music department last month, when the Nebraska State College System announced suspension of all face-to-face classes for the remainder of the spring semester because of the novel coronavirus that has caused thousands of deaths worldwide.

The situation has led instructors to create learning opportunities for students in courses that by nature almost always require personal contact.

“We are making it work but it’s really hard,” said vocal music professor Joel Schreuder in a phone interview that took place just after he concluded a private lesson online with a student. “We are finding creative ways to do that.”

While some CSC courses already incorporated remote delivery methods, the group performance classes that Schreuder teaches depend on people gathering together.

“Most of my stuff doesn’t really work online,” said Schreuder, whose courses this semester include conducting, concert choir, and vocal jazz. “An ensemble is difficult to do with online lessons,” he said.

To adapt to the new situation, Schreuder, like many other CSC instructors, has begun using the Zoom video conferencing application for class meetings.

“For the conducting class I send out a recording of the score I want them to work on and we all meet on Zoom,” he said.

Schreuder has also given students assignments to read and videos on conducting techniques to watch.

“The idea is to give them something related to what we had done in the first half (of the semester),” he said.

Assistant Professor Rick Puzzo said he is primarily teaching classroom courses this semester, so adapting to the online environment hasn’t been as difficult, but has meant changes for his private percussion lessons. One of his students is creating videos of her assignments, which he then critiques via email. Another student, who has sticks, a practice pad, and piano at home, is receiving lessons in stick control and snare drum etudes over Zoom

“We obviously get more accomplished in person, but they are adapting well,” Puzzo said.

Schreuder hit upon a creative solution for the 28 students in his concert choir class, after giving himself a crash course in use of music mixing software. With CSC accompanist Bobby Pace playing the piano score for a song the group had already been practicing, Schreuder recorded a video of himself conducting and sent it out to students. “I had them put an ear bud in one ear, watch me, sing their part, and record it any way they can,” he said.

After students submitted their individual recordings, Schreuder spent hours stitching the tracks together to create a virtual concert choir performance. The piece can be heard online at Schreuder’s Soundcloud page. A recording by the Vocal Jazz Ensemble, created using the same process, can also be heard at Schreuder’s page.

Schreuder said he is pleased that technology has made it possible to provide his students a piece of music that they created, but the result is still missing one of the central aspects of group vocals.

“Listening to each other and breathing together is all part of singing together,” he said. “Trying to do it separately, you just can’t get the little finite things because you are not feeling together.”

The words of a piece the choir has been rehearsing, “The Song We Sing,” emphasizes that insight, Schreuder said. The piece begins “The song we sing is meant to bring a moment of soft weather, where care and worry lift away and we can breathe together.”

“That whole song has people’s heartbeats aligning together as they sing together,” Schreuder said. “It is so evident to me now that that is such a part of what we do.”

With all remaining public events canceled for this semester, planned group and individual performances by CSC music students won’t take place. One student, percussion performance major Kyle Kuxhausen, who was scheduled for a Senior Recital in May, will now perform to an empty auditorium and have the recital streamed live on the CSC Percussion Facebook page May 3 at 7 p.m.

“That way his friends and family can view his recital and he can fulfill his requirement to graduate.”

Although the coronavirus situation has limited students’ ability to practice together and to perform for an audience, Schreuder said it has helped him learn about recording technology.

“I always like learning something new,” he said.

More importantly, Schreuder said, the crisis has brought home the importance of the communal effort involved in creating music.

“We are all learning the value of what it is we do together; that we all need each other to make our music,” he said.