Marshall O'Leary is known as Mister Marshall in his city of Richmond, Virginia, where he was a traveling music teacher for many years. However, in the last three years, once he switched to online lessons for pandemic purposes, he decided to teach online only. Marshall has retained some of his original local students who have made the switch but is now expanding to accept students from other regions who, for whatever reason, also prefer online lessons. Teaching remotely has not only saved time and gas money, but he's appreciated some other nuances as well, such as not being limited to working with students who are within driving distance only, the ease of arranging make-up lessons when someone has a conflict, as well as having his own piano in his studio so he can play along with his students.

In this lesson, Marshall shares some tips for online music students. In the first few online music lessons, he and his students (sometimes with the help of parents) work to establish preferred camera angles and get familiar with the technology. It eventually becomes second nature in future lessons once everyone knows how to get the camera set up correctly so both teacher and student can hear each other properly. Marshall has learned it's completely worth taking the extra time to get these set up so that it's easy to see and hear at least 90% of what's happening in the lesson. This cuts down on having to repeat himself or the student missing a concept because they couldn't see or hear well or vice versa. Another tip for online teachers is to make sure that your marketing is such that the clients/students know that you only teach remotely to find clients who are looking for the same thing to avoid a mismatch, as it's so much better to teach to someone who expects and wants lessons online than someone who is settling for online when they really want in-person lessons.

Marshall O'Leary has been teaching for 17 years and playing music for 39 years. He plays and teaches the guitar, piano, and saxophone and also performs with his band, Glass Twin (they make music similar to what might happen if Pink Floyd met Radiohead). Currently, he is teaching out of his home, which is also a home recording studio called Rabid Ears Recording, run by his friend. Marshall can currently be found in most places under Mister Marshall Music but will soon be adjusting more of his branding to his name, Marshall O'Leary.

If you'd like to reach out to Marshall, you can find him in the following places:

Email:  marshall@mistermarshallmusic.com 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mistermarshallmusic

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marshalloleary/

Rabid Ears Recording: https://www.facebook.com/rabidearsrecording/