Saturday, June 26, 2021 by Anita Byers | Music Apps

In March 2020, I began a trial use of the app Tonara in my studio.   This was one of the absolute best things that came out of the pandemic.  In a time when all lessons were moved to online, I was able to share recordings, instructional videos, assignments and communicate throughout the week with my students to keep them playing.  It was such a success, that I subscribed to the app for all my students and families! 

When a student joins my studio, they are sent login and password information.   If a student has their own apple or android device, I also encourage the parents to have the app on their device as well so they can monitor the week’s practice.  From time to time, I send out studio announcements to the entire studio, so that is another reason for parents to have the app on their device. There is no additional charge for the app – it is included in your tuition.  

Weekly assignments, along with recordings and videos as well as suggested practice time for each assignment are on the app.  No longer do we have lost and crumpled assignment sheets or the “I didn’t know what to practice” excuse!  😊 I believe this is a help to both students and their parents.

Most of the new pieces I assign have a tutorial video that I have recorded.  Here’s what student Paige said about her Tonara experience. “My favorite thing about the Tonara app is to get to do video lessons so that if I need to I can go back and watch it.  Another thing that I like about the Tonara app is being able to listen to the song to play with it and make sure I have the right notes.”  

There is a message feature and I encourage students who have questions during the week to send me a message or record their piece for me to listen to mid-week.  First year student Audri said “My favorite thing about Tonara is when you send text messages.”   

And finally, here’s what Cora has to say about using Tonara. “Tonara has helped me track my progress at home and my favorite thing about Tonara is that I can communicate with you so much easier.” 

It is unanimous – we love Tonara!