There are several free and inexpensive options you could experiment with to make your connection better:
1) You will get a much better connection if you plug directly into the router vs using wifi.
2) If you are on wifi get as physically close as you can to the router.
3) During the lessons if there are multiple people in the house streaming this will drastically slow down the connection.
4) Record yourself to hear what YOU sound like. You can sign up to ZOOM for free and you can record yourself through the app and can hear what I’m hearing :) You can experiment with friends, relatives and other musicians. I have been doing a lot of this with other teachers where we play for each other to try and get the best sound possible.
5) Using a desktop, laptop, tablet work MUCH better than a phone both for the bigger visual aspect and for the sound quality.
6) A super easy low tech solution for the play alongs and the metronome that several students have been using is to have a small inexpensive bluetooth speaker. You can get something from $20 and up.
7) Experiment with headphones. An easy inexpensive option is to use ear buds that have a microphone. The plug in ones that come with an Iphone if you have one for example are a great option.
8) For the play alongs I send through google docs having these directly on your phone downloaded to Itunes or other media player work MUCH better than playing directly from google docs. You could use these or other music you are working on during the lesson and on your own without an internet connection.
9) Turn on original audio. Here is a quick 1 minute video of how to do that.
10) It’s not at all necessary to go above and beyond that, but If you do want to do something let me know and I can try and help. I’m not a huge tech guy but I can at least point you in the right direction of stores to go to, gear to check out etc. I have a pretty elaborate set up with a 12 channel mixing board, studio headphones, 2 condenser microphones, external led lighting, piano keyboard, recording software etc.
