Topic: Online guitar lessons

I have a question. If you were looking for lessons online what would be more interesting to you?

First let me begin by explaining how these lesson formats would work. You would sign up for a course, say Metal Rhythm Guitar, and you would have access to the complete course. In addition to this you would get private video lessons with your instructor through a video exchange system.

As you go through the course you would send your teacher questions through text, mp3's and video. You can either upload video or record video strait onto the site using your webcam. Next the teacher reviews your questions and creates videos and/or other media to answer your questions. Your teacher will also create lesson plans customize specifically for you. No two students learn in the same way so each student needs to focus in on different areas. The teacher would create a plan specifically for each student.

The great thing about this is both the student and the teacher can do the lessons whenever they have time to do it. There is no need to be in one place at one time.

Now what I'm wondering is out the following two options which one would you sign up for if you were going to sign up for online lessons.

Both options include the private online lessons as I just described. The first option includes a library of 10,000 videos of all different styles of music and variety of subjects. Also around 1,000 audio lessons, monthly and weekly video downloads and online tools like metronome,tuner etc...

This option would be $100 a month. Now would you be more interested in paying this amount for all of these extra benefits or would you rather pay half this price for the course and private lessons minus all these extra benefits?

Re: Online guitar lessons

Great idea, but nothing beat one to one, face to face teacher, student tuition.

Anyways i know with my students they get that, plus, videos, MP3s, and backing tracks. All they have to do is turn up with a USB memory stick. for this i charge $120 a month.  default/big_smile

Just Another Geetarman

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Re: Online guitar lessons

I do the same with my in studio students but the thing with that is you are limited to accepting only so many students. Your teaching time is pretty much limited to around 3pm to 8pm. You could go later but I don't plus during the week I don't think many people would be interested in coming at 10pm. Either way I stop at 8pm.

Doing these online lessons it allows me, along with the student, to do lessons whenever we feel like it. This then gives me the daytime hours to work on lessons for my online students. Aside from that it doesn't matter if the student lives down the street or in Japan. They both can take lessons from me!

Now I don't necessarily believe that in person lessons are any better or worse then the online lessons. They both have their advantages and disadvantages.

The first advantage of the online lessons is the student can do the lessons whenever they want to. They don't have to show up at a specific time every single week. If your an active person and do alot of different activities it can be rough to find a specific time to come each week. Again you have from the time you get out of work or school to sometime later in the evening. Then you have to see if the teacher has a time that works for you. If you have a completely open schedule then this is probably not a big deal but again if you are active with other things this can be a nightmare trying to make it work. Also lets face it, when spring and summer comes around you want to be outside doing things!

In these cases it doesn't matter! You can do your other activities or go out and enjoy the nice weather during the day and early evening, come home, grab something to eat and then do your lessons. It doesn't matter if you you do them at 8pm, 8am or 3am. It's complete flexibility!

The advantage of taking in studio lessons is you can ask questions and get an immediate answer. This is sort of a disadvantage of the online lessons but on the same count their are advantages to this. First let me start by saying that while you can't ask questions in real time you would get all your questions answered usually by the next day. In a way this is good because you can really think about your questions and concentrate on asking good ones instead of silly questions you could answer yourself with a little thought. This makes you think a little more about what you are doing. Another advantage here is while I feel I'm pretty good at explaining everything thoroughly, with the online lessons I have time to really think about my answers. I can really think about the questions and figure out the best most direct way of explaining the concepts of whatever questions they had. Again while I strive to give my best every single time in my private in studio lessons you are guaranteed to get my absolute best possible answers to your questions with the online lessons. Why because I've had plenty of time to think about it.

Another advantage is you can review the lessons as many times as you want. If you forget something I said then just rewind the video, reread the section or listen to the mp3 again. If you don't understand something then just send me a message or video. There is no waiting until the next lesson to get your questions answered!

Still another advantage is you can go at your own pace. You get your full course curriculum so if you master something you can move onto the next lesson immediately instead of waiting a week to receive it in your weekly lessons. If you had a bad week or you learn at a slower pace you can take your time with it. No pressure of having to show up for lessons unprepared and having to give excuses to the teacher. Now having said that I will contact the student and ask what is going on if I don't have any feedback. The point being is that you can go at your own pace whether it be speeding through it because you are absorbing it like a sponge or take your time to really understand the stuff. I'm sure we have all experienced not understanding something but when the teacher asks if you understand you end up saying yes even though you don't. This is not a good thing but sometimes your embarrassed to say no and you just want to move along. (Note here to students. DON'T DO THIS! This is what we are here for. Any good teacher will be willing to explain things over 100 times for you if need be. No questions is a silly one!)

So the advantages of private in studio lessons is you can get your questions answered immediately and you interact with the teacher there in front of you.  If you have a pretty open schedule or can work out a solid specific time each week to be at lessons then in studio lessons are a way to go.

If you have a crazy schedule, can't set aside a specific time every week or you just feel like studying in the comfort of your own home then the online lessons are the way to go. Also some people just feel more comfortable and learn better in this format.

So again they both have their own advantages and disadvantages. It's all a matter of what works best for you!

All of this is great but the question is still not answered. If you WERE looking for online lessons what of the two formats I described in the first post would interest you more?

Re: Online guitar lessons

I run to a timetable. and yes mostly students between 3 and 8.30. but as i teach students of all ages ( 7 - 70 ), i get a lot of daytime students. Now as far as timtabling goes, well each student has a regular slot, and all other activities are worked around it. I am also flexable, in as much that i do usually have 4 or 5 empty slots during the week, so i can always rearrange a lesson when needed.
I have seen many online lessons, and some are good and some are bad. I have taken on students that have done a course of online lessons. But at the end of the day you cannot beat the human touch, the spontaneity, the discourse and most important of all the FUN. learning should be fun, and i make sure my lessons are always fun, it should be fun to learn, in most cases my students who learn online have found online learning a chore, and hard going, and because to a certain point a lot lack self didipline, and motivation, they end up going to a teacher, because a teacher will give them that encouragement, and motivation to keep playing.
Every student has their own pace of learning, and a good teacher will take that into consideration when working with a student. I have taught privately, in schools, and at Adult Education for over 12 years, you learn a lot about human nature when teaching, and that contact when teaching is very important IMO.
However i do see where you are coming from, and i can see the advantages of learning online, but i think the disadvantages far out-way the advantages. But at the end of the day, it,s whatever suits the student best, and if you do have self disapline then it could work very well, but human nature being what it is, most people go into these things with the best intentions, but never reach the end, which is where I come in, and give them the push they need.

Just Another Geetarman

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Re: Online guitar lessons

I want to make clear that I'm certainly not an anti in studio teacher advocate. That's the way I make my living and the online stuff will always be a secondary income. Not that I would ever teach any student in this way! In studio students are my bread and butter!

Now everything you are saying is great but it really all comes down to how well of a teacher you are. If you are a crappy teacher you will teach crappy online just the same as a crappy teacher teaching in a studio.  It would be ludicrous to think that every online lesson experience is going to be absolutely breath taking. I could only imagine the amount of crappy teaching material that must be out there!

What it all comes down to is how well you teach. Yes being in studio with a live teacher has a certain vibe you create that is pretty cool but in the end the concepts and knowledge you teach along with how well you teach it translates through either way. If you are into hard rock or metal think of Troy Stetina, which is only book/CD or Metal Method. I'm certainly not comparing myself to these guys but the point is if you are good at teaching you will be good at teaching no matter what medium you pick.

While I find this sidestep interesting it has nothing to do with my post. I'm talking about a comparison of two formats of online teaching and which sounds more interesting to people. If you want to create another post on this then fine but these questions are very important so I don't want to get sidetracked here.

I'm open for anybody's opinions, even alternate pricing plans you would like to see.

Re: Online guitar lessons

Nobody has any thoughts or idea's our there?

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Re: Online guitar lessons

The online course is a good idea, though I would assume there must be some kind of time limit or limitation to the number of questions / interactions at any given time?

Personally, unless the videos were something special, I don't think it warrants paying that amount - I appreciate there is some crappy material out there on the web however youtube has plenty of really great videos that provides all manner of teachings at zero cost.

The tuner, metronome etc can all be found with a simple Google search - again some are crappy but some are very good.

Re: Online guitar lessons

Yes, the price thing is what I'm trying to figure out. If I were to do it on my own as opposed to going with this company I could charge alot less. I just couldn't offer the 10,000 extra video's, audio lessons and other extra's. It would just be course material and private lessons.

As far as comparing youtube video's and lessons like these there is really no comparison at all. With youtube video's there is no structure. Plus about the extent you can ask questions is in the comment area under the video.

With lessons like these it's very similar to taking live one on one private lessons. You have the course material PLUS the teacher to structure an actual plan of attack for you. You can also submit videos and/or audio examples of your playing of your playing for the teacher to review. Any questions you need answered will get answered by professional teacher that actually teaches for a living. Not that some of the guys on youtube don't teach. I've seen some very good teachers on youtube. So yes they are free but they are only good as a supplement if you are really serious about your playing. You really need someone to review what you are playing and give you advise on how to improve your technique or whatever it is you are working on. Also you need some type of structure. Viewing a video on sweep picking, playing chords, modes etc.... are great but how does it all connect. How does all of this relate to your goals?

If you are a very well organized person who is very goal oriented in whatever you do then maybe you can week through all the thousands of videos to figure out your own plan but even then it would be quicker to study with someone who has been there and done that already. However most people are not like this. I get tons and tons of students all the time the come to me saying they tried to teach themselves using youtube videos and even instructional books but just can't seem to get where they want to.

If you really think about it $100 is not much though. You would pay $100 a month for weekly half hour lessons with a local teacher. Think about the amount of material you would go over in this amount of time. It's really alot less then what you would get from a program like this. I do understand though that most people don't realize this and see all the free stuff already on the web so it devalues programs like these but there is nothing I can do to change that unfortunately. That is why I'm trying to figure out an alternate payment plan that will work for people.

As far as the amount of questions I was debating with student paying a certain price per private lesson and getting an intense lesson like you would in a private in studio lesson or just paying a membership and just answering questions as they come along. For example if someone has a question on Monday and then another on Tuesday then I'd answer them both.

So again viewing youtube videos and getting private lessons whether it be online or in studio are just two completely different things that really can't be compared in the least bit. As I mentioned earlier it's great supplemental material but youtube videos should never be your main source of study if you are serious at all about your playing! Yes youtube video's are free but as the saying goes you get what you pay for!

Actually a couple ideas I had was to charge a certain amount for each section of the program, say $15 or $20 and then pay additional payment for private online lessons. The other is say pay a monthly charge for the course material along with the private online support which would include customized lesson plans for each student. Maybe 40 or 50 bucks which would be half the amount of this other program I was talking about and half the amount of private in studio half hour lessons. It would actually be about the same as one hour long in studio lesson. When you really think about it and put it into perspective this is a great deal!

The other thing people don't realize is the amount of thought and work that gets put into programs like these. Anybody can make some cool videos on arpeggios or pentatonic scales but to organize a complete program that will most directly help the student understand the material is an exhausting amount of work and effort. Not to mention the extra amount of work it takes doing the custom private videos for each student.

This is certainly way to much work work to do for free. As soon as I have my course material done I will also be doing some free youtube videos just like everyone else. These will not be as much work because each video will be on a certain subject and will not have to tie in with a full structure course. Not to mention I won't have to do a bunch of recordings, diagrams and extra private support.

So anyways if you still disagree I would still like to hear what it is you disagree with though. Or if you have any additional comments I would also be interested in them. The more I hear the better!

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Re: Online guitar lessons

So are you saying that if someone signed up for the $100 they could use their tutor to help out with any of the 10k videos as well as the initial course?

I get that having a tutor is way better than youtube, but if you learn the basics with a tutor (either online or offline) then you can go off and discover whatever you like. If there was a technique you couldn't accomplish then you ask your tutor.

I think having 10k videos + audio lessons etc will take someone more off course than watching an unstructured youtube video

I'm all for the course but can't see the video advantage, certainly not for the price!

Just my opinion!

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Re: Online guitar lessons

No the 10k videos and audio lessons you could equate to youtube video's except they are done by top pro's. They are just a supplement.

The meat of the program is the course you are taking which is done by the teacher and you would ask whatever questions are related to that. I would imagine that if you had a questions about something not in the course the teacher would still answer it, I know I would, as long as it doesn't cause a detour away from the course material.

I guess the best way to check out what I'm talking about is to just direct you to the site I'm talking about. Go to http://truefire.com/guitar-sherpa/why_sherpa.html to see how it works.

The other option I was talking about was a site of my own where as I was talking about would be at least half the cost of the sherpa but minus all the 10k videos and audio lessons.

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Re: Online guitar lessons

So anybody else out there have any thoughts or ideas?

Re: Online guitar lessons

Thanks for this very useful and much needed information. I was looking for this from long time and my search completes here.

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