Sales spike for music stores as online art classes prove popular choice

It's not just schools that have been forced into remote learning with many art, language and music classes going digital and attracting a new audience.

Business is booming for Better Music owner Greg Soulsby, who said despite April being a typically quiet period sales were up 50 per cent in the last month, and all the action was online not in store.

He said pianos and keyboards had hit a high note with the community as the most popular sale "by a long way" followed by acoustic guitars and electric drum kits.

"There's a lot of people who are beginners," he said.

"A big part is people coming back to instruments. Maybe they played back at school or afterwards and they had kids."

Mr Soulsby said the trend extended beyond Canberra's borders with his suppliers seeing a spike in demand across the country.

With the retail sector among those to be hardest hit by coronavirus, Mr Soulsby said the recent jump in sales allowed the business with more than 50 staff members to be prepared should business slow down.

"I gives us time to get resources put aside. I'd be naive to think it's just going to continue on like this," he said.

"It gives us good reserves to look after staff and keep everyone employed."

With the "mind-boggling" spike in piano and keyboard those new players need to learn somewhere and while in-person lessons are off the cards a lot can be achieved virtually.

Music Classes Canberra shifted its piano lessons online overnight when social distancing restrictions came into force in the territory last month.

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Teacher Rasa Daukus said the adult group classes were rooted in socialisation but students had responded well to the change of pace.

"I'll have two devices, one at my face and another at my hands so everything is close up at the piano keyboard," Ms Daukus said.

"I can mute students so they can play around while I'm explaining things."

"We thought let's do what we can differently, so we're taking advantage of being online."

Ms Daukus said students had forged a stronger emotional connection to music throughout isolation and shown greater enthusiasm with regular practice.

"They' re really applying that to their interpretation of pieces... I've never seen this before," she said.

"There's a heightened level of expressive engagement with their music."

It's not just sounding out a new tune making a mark with Canberrans, art classes are also proving a popular choice.

Casey Bautista from Life With Paint, a nationwide business offering group art classes, said the shift online had been a "huge success".

Classes previously held at venues across the country including Canberra's Statesmen Hotel moved online and the step-by-step video tutorials have been flying out the door.

Customers can order the videos with or without the supplies and they are posted to your door.

From birthday paint parties via video-conferencing platforms to human resources teams buying kits for staff, Ms Bautista said there had been many creative uses of the new system.

"It's so important right now to keep creative so your not just stuck at home looking at Netflix all day," she said.

" I think it's something that will keep going when we're allowed to do classes again in public."

"People love doing it at home. They'll be able to do their own parties at home."

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