Artist Academy of Bluegrass ? Any Feedback?

[mandodan1960]

What do you think ?

[robert.najlis]

the ability to have send videos to Mike Marshall and get responses back from him is incredible. In my opinion that is the best thing about it, and makes it more than worth it.

[mandodan1960]

How is the content of the lessons. Camera angles, lighting etc..., Can you slow it down ?

[Nancyf]

I am loving it! Lesson content is excellent - anywhere from 3-10 minutes. I can breeze through them or watch one over and over, I can go back to the beginner level to cover some of the holes in my knowledge and technique, or move ahead to more advanced lessons to learn a new tune. Lots of tunes to learn with back up tracks at various speeds for practice, plus printable (or just look at it online) sheet music. Exercises. Many (all?) lessons are presented with a slow motion version. Lighting excellent. 3 or 4 angles provided, which aren't as good as in-person, but suffice. One favorite is watching other people's videos and Mike's feedback, because there are all sorts of things to glean from that - not only critique on mechanics, but he also gives a half dozen or so licks to add on to the version being played, so I'm able to learn those too. Well worth the price. And addicting. I'm wanting to do it all the time! :-)

[sachmo63]

I'm confused, how large are these downloads? If they are downloads, the site is pretty vague on the subject. Also what is "intermediate"?? " Advanced"

Thanks in advance.

S

[Marcus CA]

The downloads are pretty basic: a pdf of tab or an MP3 of a practice track.

In the intermediate and advanced section, the opening video addresses that question, and basically invites you to send Mike a video of a tune that you do well in order to get his perspective of your level. Personally, I felt that I was intermediate, but went through a bunch of the beginners' lessons anyway. Most of them were review for me, but most of them had a nugget or two that made me glad that I watched them.

The lessons are really meant to be done in order. Mike often refers to theory or techniques that he presents in the earlier videos. Usually, you can skip around if you want to, but there may be a couple of things that you are expected to know from those previous lessons.

All in all, I think that it is an incredible program. The lessons are put together thoughtfully with clear explanations and great camerawork. Mike doesn't just show a tune; he presents the hows and whys behind it.

[rwmanos]

In my opinion Academy of Bluegrass is a great learning tool . There are no extremely advance things but mike said he is going to upload more advanced videos in the mean time. When you send him a video he answers pretty fast with another video explaining what you did wrong . I think that this is a huge advantage. What I really miss is lesson on other genres except bluegrass , there are some but the content is quite limited.

[SternART]

And most times Mike also says what you did right.......before he adds a critique, or suggests what to try next, or shows some hot licks to take what you did further. Seems he has a good ability to see where a student is and show them where to go. He is a good teacher, and the more student videos and responses there are it will keep getting better in content. Both Mike and Darol recently wrote they are open to other genres of music too, and those guys can play it all. I've been digging it, but just getting started. Seems like a good value to me, compared to the cost of private lessons, or skype. You get out what you put in.........you could sign up for 3 months & there is enough to keep you busy long hours every day......even if you didn't have hardware to make your own videos to send in..........put some time in on the numerous video lessons on there & learn away!

[Buddah]

Signed up for Bryan Sutton's guitar course at the academy of bluegrass, and have been quite impressed with the content and the quality of the videos. Haven't been able to locate any tab downloads at the site yet though, which would be helpful to have for those times when I don't want to sit in front of a computer while practicing. Do Mike's mando lessons include tab downloads for some or all of the content?

[Marcus CA]

I'm about 1/3 of the way through the intermediate set of mando lessons, and I'm guessing maybe half of the tune lessons have had downloadable tab. I don't remember any of the theory or philosophy (e.g. "How to Practice") lessons having it. Most lessons have mp3 downloads of practice tracks at a couple of tempos (usually 60 bps and 70 or 80).

[Schlegel]

Being a mostly self-taught folk music player I'm getting a lot out of the beginner material. The lessons are well made individually, and build on each other very logically. I'm quite happy with the value per dollar, and once you add the video exchanges, I don't see how you can't get your money's worth if you are willing to do the work.

[Amy Burcham]

As SternART says, Mike and Darol have both invited students to submit videos in other genres....or to use the forum to work on their own composition skills. This is a flat-out amazing offer from these two, who are so broad, deep, and essentially devoted to music across a number of traditions - and beyond tradition if that's your desire. The lessons already recorded will undoubtedly be supplemented by new ones in other styles as time goes on, but in some ways that doesn't even matter, because the fundamentals they are teaching work well across the board. It's a very, very happy place, this online school, just full of potential and encouragement.

[Buddah]

Cool. I've gone through a handful of the intermediate guitar lessons, and have yet to stumble across any tab; at any rate, I'm really liking this way of learning from one of the best in the biz. Technology well-applied for sure!

[bgjunkie]

I went through all the beginner and about a 1/3 of the intermediate and I haven't seen the tab some are talking about. I have done well picking things out by watching/listening to the normal speed and viewing the slow speed if necessary, but in some cases it would be nice to have the tab as reference.

I think the site is very well done. Mike's videos are great. I keep trying to record a video to upload for Mike's review, but every time that little red light goes on I screw something up.

[Milan Christi]

I was skeptical at first but quickly overcame my skepticism. I've taken many lessons in my time where you go to the teacher's house on Wednesday night and by Saturday you've totally forgotten what he said. The bad habits kick in and off you - down the wrong road. The ability to go back over the video lessons as many times as one wishes makes this a great learning opportunity in my opinion. I've also learned a lot by watching the other students' videos and hearing Mike's feedback. I've been meandering my way through the beginner and intermediate lessons - frustrating at times cuz you just want to go 'rip into a tune.' but I'm staying dedicated to the slower tempos and I must say my tone and right hand have improved quite a bit - my biggest weaknesses. I'll be sticking with it remembering that development is measured in terms of months and not days. Oh yes, I'm finally learning the doggone notes on the fretboard - slowly but surely.

[HogTime]

I'm glad I came across the post. Had no idea this particular online instruction existed. Going to give it a try after doing some traveling this summer.

[Buddah]

Aha! Now I'm starting to get into some of the tabbed out material (in the Bryan Sutton/Guitar portion of the program). It kicks in once you've worked through the theory/scale stuff in the beginner and early intermediate lessons, and get into applying that to actual songs.
Makes a bit of sense, actually; work on your ability to figure out by ear and eye those note sequences that are (largely) predictable (i.e. scales), and introduce the tab/notation once the sequences become more complex (i.e. fiddle tunes).

[El Greco]

Cool thread. I was looking for this kind of information. Thanks for the feedback everyone.

[Barry Wilson]

I learned whiskey before breakfast then went and listened on youtube. man that song flies along. so I spent the night working on that song. I am new to BG music so if it's an old overplayed tune, that's news to me. it's a new song for me and I am loving it...

I think I just talked a buddy into signing up to learn the guitar stuff so we can jam these tunes. my first week and have spent many hours with the lessons. I am loving it.

[John Ritchhart]

I'm amazed that they have time to devote to this. It's a major undertaking for them. I have submitted three videos so far (.wmv) and Mike has responded to all three with five to ten minute critiques and encouragement. It's a good value for the money because you can also look at everyone else's submissions and see the critique Mike gives to them. So you get the benefit of watching people at all three levels.

[SternART]

Yeah, it is like a Master's class.........you can learn a lot just by seeing what Mike suggests to other students. He is really a good teacher! But there are guests too.....a student sent in some Bach on a video, and Mike introduces Caterina Lichtenberg to help with the response. How cool is that! There are students at every level sending in things, and some folks really get a thorough response from Mike, enough to watch over & over to try & learn all he has suggested. One student sent in an improvised version of Blackberry Blossom and I saw an up the neck lick he got into......I soaked that right up......you can learn from the other students too! Add Mike's response & there is a whole lesson of improvising ideas to learn on there. The more student videos with responses they archive, the better it will get! Just the video lessons contain massive amounts of great material, but these critique videos really add a lot!

[Toycona]

Can't wait to start!

[Barry Wilson]

ya I was doing the beginner thing about will the circle.... then I saw a student submission and mike was going into picking an apreggio with that riff. I spent the day learning to do that picking pattern while playing the simple riff. made a boring exercise a super big challenge.

I think I have learned a lot of useful stuff my first week. and go back pretty much every day to check or relearn/practice stuff. I want to dive in the higher stuff but I know I need to do the exercises and learn the good habits to break the bad ones... I have almost beat the flailing fan fingers now...

[D tide]

For those of you that are doing this how quick of feedback do you get when you send in a video?, I'm doing it on another instrument and want to compare

[Rosemary Philips]

For those of you that are doing this how quick of feedback do you get when you send in a video?, I'm doing it on another instrument and want to compare

I've only submitted one so far and Mike responded in about a week. I think it varies depending on his schedule.