I was just wondering if anyone else has seen the "Artistworks Academy of Bluegrass" site?
Academy of Bluegrass |
The basic idea is personalized lessons by a teacher using internet distance learning.
It looks like they have been around for a while doing the other instruments (Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin, fiddle) and just added a Bass site about three weeks ago!
The instructor is Missy Raines.
When you sign up ($90 for 3 months, $150 for 6 months, or $240 for a year tuition) you get acccess to pre-recorded video lessons. I can't telll what they have for the other instruments, but for Bass they have 3 categories (Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced lessons). So the idea is, you watch the lesson, then record yourself doing the assignment and send it over the net to the teacher who watches your video and then records a custom response to you. All the videos and responses are posted so all of the current students can learn from past students.
The best part of the whole thing is the actual lessons. They are recorded from a very high angle so you get to see the fingerboard looking down. They also do a slow-motion video of hard lessons so you can really see what is happening. The sound slows down too, but it stays in pitch so you can really see and hear what the teacher is doing.
They post backup tracks for all the songs in the lessons also.
Lots of opportunity to chat and forum/network with the teacher and other students.
I'm a beginning student. My problem is I can't find anyone locally that is willing to teach Bluegrass. There seems to be a certain "snob factor" that local teachers have about Bluegrass "OH you want to learn that?..." I don't ever intend on playing classical Arco music.BLUEGRASS IS WHY I BOUGHT MY BASS! Get over it!
Anyway, after a fruitless search for a Bluegrass teacher, that respected the genre, I found this the Academy of Bluegrass site. It looked like a lot of fun, so I signed up for the 6 month deal.
Here's my analysis:
-The lesson production values are superb. Most professional I have seen. As discussed above, the high angle camera and slow Motion replays make it head and shoulders above any DVD lessons I have bought thus far (including both the Homespun series I bought and watched)
-I very much like the instructors style of teaching, speaking (but this of course is a personal preference)
-The downside to the whole thing is that it looks like a lot of the benefit is watching other student's video's and her responses. Thus far its too new to have enough students to have a library of video exchanges. I think in a few months this is going to be a real powerhouse learning site for us Bluegrass folk. But only time will tell. If others don't see value in it and don't sign up then it will end up just being another "Internet video lesson" site, but one with high production values.
I looked at it like this: it was the cost of 2 1/2 live lessons (with teachers who did not respect Bluegrass) to give it a try for 6 months with someone who is ALL ABOUT Bluegrass.
Anyone else seen or been a member any of their other schools (fiddle, guitar, mando, banjo)? I would love to know if your experience with the other schools lived up to the potential.
