The past two years have seen an explosion in the ways that musicians can teach online. Why give lessons in your local music store when you can make more money teaching people online from the comfort of your own home?  Here are some ideas to get you started:

YouTube

Guitar teachers like Justin Sandercoe and Marty Schwartz have developed huge YouTube followings by using the video platform to offer free lessons to learners around the world. While you can get your own channel up and running in no time there is a real art to building the kind of views and subscribers necessary to generate significant ad revenue. If you want to learn how to teach music on YouTube check out this excellent Creator Playbook.

Google+ Hangouts

It’s still early days at Google’s fledgling social network but a number of teachers are already using the Google+ Hangout feature to provide one-on-one lessons, group lessons and Q&A sessions. The ability to then automatically upload those lessons to YouTube is very useful and my sources at Google say that a lot of work is going on behind the scenes to integrate YouTube and Google+.  However the chances of Google+ replacing your in-person teaching any time soon is pretty remote but it’s worth investing the energy now to build up a following. To learn more join the Guitar Lessons community page on Google+ to meet some of the teachers there.

eBooks

A while back lots of teachers were creating online method books using sites like e-junkie and Amazon’s CreateSpace. Apart from the issue with copyright the trend is for eBooks to be used as giveaways to build your email list.  My suggestion is to either use ebooks as a giveaway or sell them as part of a bigger bundle (Video Course + eBook).

Self-Hosted e-Learning Sites

There are a hundred and one ways to create your own e-learning site and at some point I hope to put together a guide on the subject. In the meantime I would only suggest building your own site if you are comfortable with the technology side of things. Whenever I speak to music teachers who want to teach online I always suggest that they find the solution which allows them to spend the most amount of time teaching and the least time coding. Having said that if you do want to take on the task then I would go for a combination of WordPress (CMS), Buddypress (social/community), WishlistMember (membership), 1ShoppingCart (cart), OptimizePress (landing pages) and Hostgator (hosting).

Hosted e-Learning Solutions

Let’s say you don’t want to spend hours building your own e-learning site from the ground up. That’s where sites like Knoodle, SubHub and Membergate come in.  They offer an all-in-one solution on a per-monthly subscription basis. As we are still in the early stages of the online education revolution there exists on the one side, big bloated LMS’ (learning management systems) and on the other side, bare-bones membership site platforms.

Online Music Education Publishers

Sites like GuitarTricks and GuitarMasterclass are always looking for new instructors. One of the quickest ways of starting to teach online is to contact an existing site and offer to become a teacher. This way you don’t have to worry about servers, site designs and marketing and can focus 100% of your time on teaching and interacting with students. The downside is that you’ll receive a smaller share of any revenues you generate.

Online Learning Platforms 

Sites like Udemy.com and Lynda.com give you the ability to create your own online courses although both are very general and might not have some of the functionality that music teachers would desire. Udemy is striving to become like a blogging network where anyone can create their own course. The downside of this is that the quality of the teachers varies greatly and the marketing is on you. Lynda on the other hand curates the content, markets your course and actually works with you to build a detailed and progressive lessons list.

ArtistWorks

OK, so full disclosure here. I work with the team at ArtistWorks so I may be a little biased. However ArtistWorks has not only created one of the most amazing platforms to learn music online but also has some of the biggest names in music education. Award-winners including Nathan East, Billy Cobham, Paul Gilbert, Martin Taylor and Tony Trischka as well as leading professors from Juilliard and Curtis all teach music online at ArtistWorks. Each of the music instructors film a comprehensive video curriculum and subscribers can not only watch the video lessons but also receive personalized video feedback from their teacher. ArtistWorks also handles all the technology, customer service and marketing to allow the teachers to focus their time on actually teaching and interacting with their students online.

Do you teach music? What questions do you have about teaching music online? Please add them to the comments below and I’ll answer as best I can.

Someone asked me the other day what I did for a living so I created the term Direct-to-Learner™ or Direct-to-Student™ business to describe it.

Direct-to-fan is a business model that has been around for a while, where musicians bypass the major label system to sell direct to their fans.  In a similar way the Direct-to-Learner™ model allows teachers, instructors, educators and brands to provide education directly to their students and customers and bypasses traditional institutions such as universities, colleges, schools or education publishers.

Direct-to-Learner™ allows anyone to build and leverage a community of learners throughout their career and lets the instructor (or the team that supports that instructor) create interest in their method or lessons directly with their students, identify those students, market directly to and develop relationships with those students, sell directly to and monetize those relationships, and use those relationships to expand their student base.

An example of this is the Luis Conte School of Percussion that was launched this week.  The ArtistWorks platform allows Grammy Award-winning, master percussionist Luis Conte to teach directly to his fans and students online.  Check it out.

“The SF MusicTech Summit brings together visionaries in the evolving music/business/technology ecosystem, along with the best and brightest developers, entrepreneurs, investors, service providers, journalists, musicians, and organizations who work with them at the convergence of culture and commerce.”

I attended the summit for the first time earlier this year and you can read my SFMusicTech Virgin story here.  This year we actually have ArtistWorks CEO and co-founder David Butler speaking on a panel with Berkleemusic CEO Debbie Cavalier.  Check out this little video to see just how excited I am and then head over to www.sfmusictech.com.

Trumpet Lessons Online

So you want trumpet lessons?  You normally have three choices:

• In-person trumpet teacher
• Books & DVD’s
• Online

If you are looking to learn trumpet online then the four most popular sites are TrumpetStudio.com, eTrumpetLesson.com, PlaywithaPro.com and ArtistWorks’ Online Trumpet School with David Bilger.  Here is a little review of each of them:

TrumpetStudio.com

TrumpetStudio.com

Pros – Good selection of articles, tips, practice routines and methods books to learn to play trumpet.

Cons – Only suggested for beginners as there isn’t much depth to what is available.

Rating – 3/5

eTrumpetLessons.com

eTrumpetLessons.com

Pros – Basic introductory guide to playing trumpet consisting of online videos, dvd’s and a book.

Cons – Still very basic and the whole site felt very salesy

Rating – 2/5

Playwithapro.com

PlaywithaPro.com

Pros – Selection of great teachers with high quality online videos.

Cons – You have to buy individual packages of videos and there is no feedback or community to the site.

Rating – 4/5

Trumpet Lessons with ArtistWorks

ArtistWorks Trumpet School with David Bilger

Pros – High quality instruction, hundreds of videos, personalized feedback, community features, experienced teacher.

Cons – Slightly pricer than the other sites but still well worth it.

Rating – 5/5

So all in all if you are looking at learning trumpet then I would highly recommend David Bilger’s online trumpet school with ArtistWorks.  ArtistWorks is the gold standard in online music lessons and you can get free sample lessons from their trumpet school at www.artistworks.com

In the meantime here is a list of just some of the trumpet lessons and trumpet exercises you’ll find at the ArtistWorks Online Trumpet School with David Bilger:

Fundamentals to Professional

• Holding the instrument
• Breathing Part 1
• Breathing Part 2
• Developing Your Sound
• Single tonguing –Part 1
• Single tonguing –Part 2
• Single tonguing –Part 3
• Major and Minor Scales
• Intonation – multipart lesson
• Rhythmic Basics
• Basic Daily Practice Habits
• Proper Posture
• INTERMEDIATE LESSONS:
• Buzzing – multipart lesson
• Multiple Tonguing Basics – Part 1
• Multiple Tonguing Basics – Part 2
• Flexibility to Extend Range – Part 1
• Flexibility to Extend Range – Part 2
• Dynamic Range – Part 1
• Dynamic Range – Part 2
• Finger Dexterity
• Rhythmic Subdivision
• Vibrato
• More on Intonation
• The Use & Tuning of Mutes – Part 1
• The Use & Tuning of Mutes – Part 2
• The Use & Tuning of Mutes – Part 3
• Flow Studies for Developing Phrasing
• Practice Tips and Defining a Routine
• Pedal Tones
• Lip Trills for Ultimate Range Development
• Developing an Even Sound Across Registers
• More on Dynamic Range Development
• Multiple Tonguing of Difficult Passages
• Mixed Meter Rhythms
• Transposition
• Intonation Refinement
• Defining Your Style
• Employing Different Keyed Trumpets – Part 1
• Employing Different Keyed Trumpets – Part 2
• Recital Planning and Competitions – Part 1
• Recital Planning and Competitions – Part 2
• PROFESSIONAL LESSONS:
• Extended Techniques
• Vibrato for Musical Effect
• Moving Easily Between Styles
• The Role of Different Orchestral Section Members
• Balancing Practice with a Difficult Performance Schedule – 2 parts
• Pops Concert Playing
• Audition Prep and Performance – Part 1
• Audition Prep and Performance – Part 2
• Situational Dynamics
• Constructing Cadenzas

Etudes

• Longinotti Etude in form of a cadenza
• Carlier Etude #3, Part 1
• Carlier Etude #3, Part 2
• Bordogni Etude #3, Part 1
• Bordogni Etude #3, Part 2
• Arban Characteristic Study #4, Part 1
• Arban Characteristic Study #4, Part 2
• Charlier Etude #13, Part 1
• Charlier Etude #13, Part 2

Orchestral Excerpts

• Introduction to Orchestral Excerpts
• Bartok – Concerto for Orchestra, 1st, 2nd & 5th mvmt
• Beethoven – Leonore Overture 3
• Beethoven – Symphony #9, 4th mvmt
• Bizet – Carmen, Prelude to Act 1
• Brahms – Symphony #2, 1st mvmt
• Brahms – Symphony #2, 4th mvmt
• Copland – Outdoor Overture
• Debussy – Fetes, 2 parts
• Gershwin – American in Paris – Part 1
• Gershwin – American in Paris – Part 2
• Gershwin – American in Paris – Part 3
• Gershwin – Concerto in F, 2nd mvmt
• Haydn – Concerto in E flat 1st mvmt
• Mahler – Symphony #1, 1st mvmt
• Mahler – Symphony #1, 3rd mvmt
• Mahler – Symphony #3, 3rd mvmt
• Mahler – Symphony #5, 1st mvmt
• Mussorgsky – Pictures at an Exhibition
• Mussorgsky – “Samuel Goldenberg”
• Ravel – Bolero
• Ravel – Piano Concerto in G, 1st mvmt, Part 1
• Ravel – Piano Concerto in G, 1st mvmt, Part 2
• Ravel – Piano Concerto in G, 1st mvmt, Part 3
• Respighi – Pines of Rome, 1st mvmt, multipart lesson
• Rimsky-Korsakov – Scheherazade, 3rd and 4th mvmt, Part 2
• Rimsky-Korsakov – Scheherazade, 3rd and 4th mvmt, Part 3
• Rimsky-Korsakov – Scheherazade, 3rd and 4th mvmt, Part 3
• Rimsky-Korsakov – Cappricio Espagnol
• Schumann – Symphony #2, 1st mvmt
• Shostakovich – Piano Concerto, 2nd and 4th mvmt
• Shostakovich – Symphony #5, 1st mvmt
• Strauss – Don Juan
• Strauss – Ein Heldenleben – B flat Offstage
• Strauss – Ein Heldenleben – E flat
• Strauss – Zarathustra
• Stravinsky – Petrouchka Ballerina’s Dance
• Stravinsky – Waltz Part 1 and Part 2
• Tchaikovsky – Swan Lake, Neapolitan Dance
• Tchaikovsky – Symphony #4, 1st mvmt
• Wagner – Parsifal Prelude, Part 1
• Wagner – Parsifal Prelude, Part 2

Solo Repertoire

• Arutunian – Concerto for Trumpet – Part 1
• Arutunian – Concerto for Trumpet – Part 2
• Arutunian – Concerto for Trumpet – Part 3
• Arutunian – Concerto for Trumpet – Part 4
• Arutunian – Concerto for Trumpet – Cadenza
• Pennequin Concert Piece – Part 1
• Pennequin Concert Piece – Part 2
• Pennequin Concert Piece – Part 3
• Haydn Concerto in E flat, 2nd movement
• Hindemith Sonata, first part of 1st movement, Part 1
• Hindemith Sonata, first part of 1st movement, Part 2
• Ropartz – “Andante and Allegro” – Part 1
• Ropartz – “Andante and Allegro” – Part 2

More online trumpet lessons here.

Flute teacher Jeffrey Khaner

It’s easier to get into Harvard than Curtis and so you chances of getting to study with Khaner were infinitesimally small.  However that’s all changed now with the introduction of a new online flute school with Jeffrey Khaner.  You can now get access to hundreds of Khaner’s video flute lessons but more importantly you can receive personalized one-on-one feedback from the great man himself and all for less than $100 a month.  To check out the sample lessons go to www.artistworks.com

In the meantime here are a list of just some of the lessons you’ll find there.

Foundational Skills

• Why We Practice
• How To Practice
• Using Tools: Metronomes
• Using Tools: Tuners
• Learning Music
• Position
• Embouchure
• Breathing
• Intonation
• Dynamics
• Tonguing
• Phrasing

Etudes and Exercises

• Introduction to Etudes
• Andersen Opus 37, Performance
• Andersen Opus 37, Analysis
• Gariboldi Performance
• Gariboldi Analysis
• Köhler Opus 33 Performance
• Köhler Opus 33 Analysis
• Paganini- Caprice Performance
• Paganini- Caprice Analysis
• Karg-Elert – Caprice Performance
• Karg-Elert – Caprice Analysis
• Bach Etude #1 Performance
• Bach Etude #1 Analysis
• Altes Etude #1 Performance
• Altes Etude #1 Analysis
• Bitsch Etude #1 Performance
• Bitsch Etude #1 Analysis
• Bozza – Arabesques Performance
• Bozza – Arabesques Analysis
• Castéréde – Etude #1 Performance
• Castéréde – Etude #1 Analysis
• How to Approach Exercises
• Longtones Part 1
• Longtones Part 2
• Vibrato
• Scales
• Intervals Part 1
• Intervals Part 2
• Articulation
• Double Tonguing

Orchestral Excerpts

• How to Approach Orchestral Excerpts
• Taking an Audition
• Bach St. Matthew Passion
• Beethoven Symphony #3
• Beethoven Sympony #4
• Beethoven – Leonore #3
• Beethoven Symphony #6
• Beethoven Symphony #7
• Bizet – Carmen Entr’acte
• Brahms Symphony #1
• Brahms Symphony #4
• Debussy Afternoon of a Faun
• Dvörak Symphony 8
• Gluck Menuet and Dance of the Blessed Spirits
• Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis -2 mvmts
• Mendelssohn Midsummer Night’s Dream Scherzo
• Mendelssohn Symphony #4
• Prokofiev Peter and the Wolf Opening
• Ravel Bolero
• Ravel Daphnis and Chloe
• Rimsky-Korsakov Cappricio Espagnol
• Rossini William Tell Overture
• Saint-Saens – Carnival of the Animals, Voliere
• Shostakovich Symphony #5 1st and 2nd mvmt
• Strauss – Salome
• Strauss – Till Eulenspeigel
• Stravinsky – Firebird Suite
• Stravinsky Petrouchka Part 1
• Stravinsky Petrouchka Cadenza

Solo Repertoire

• Approaching Solo Repertoire
• On playing Bach
• Bach Sonata in E Minor 1st & 2nd mvmts
• Bach Sonata in E minor 3rd & 4th mvmts
• On Playing Mozart
• Mozart Concerto in G 1st, 2nd, 3rd mvmts
• Taffanel Griffes Poem

ArtistWorks Classical also includes current ArtistWorks instructors Christie Peery (Piano Lessons), and Jason Vieaux (Classical Guitar Lessons), with Violin Lessons with Nathan Cole coming soon.

The CEO and co-founder of ArtistWorks, David Butler said:

“The dream of every aspiring classical musician is to study under a world-renowned master. The ArtistWorks Classical Music Campus makes this dream a reality by offering serious music students an opportunity to get direct guidance and individualized instruction from some of the greatest classical musicians teaching and performing today.” 

ArtistWorks offers the best classical music teachers, all of whom are principal performers within their respective orchestras. In addition, most are music instructors at various ultra exclusive classical music schools including Juilliard, Curtis Institute and the Carnegie Mellon University School of Music (among others). Previously, having direct access to these prestigious teaching artists was virtually unobtainable.

Each ArtistWorks school covers everything an aspiring player would want to know, regardless of the level that you enter at.  They also provide the most popular etudes, orchestral excerpts, and solo instrument pieces designed to give classical musicians a competitive edge for competitions and auditions.

Most noted as a member of acclaimed Heavy Metal band Racer X, platinum-selling Hard Rock band Mr. Big and a recent member of the G3 guitar super tour, “guitar deity” Paul Gilbert’s distinctive playing has influenced and inspired an entire generation of guitar players across the globe. Gilbert’s new Rock Guitar School features a complete course of beginner-to-advanced guitar lessons – ranging from classic riffs and guitar licks to Paul’s signature blazing arpeggios and string skipping.

Paul Gilbert and James Taylor

The team here at ArtistWorks have done a great job on the creation and marketing of the first rock guitar school that will use Video Exchange™ technology.  The initial marketing of the school has been about getting Paul’s current fans, shred guitarists and guitar magazine editors and bloggers excited about the site.  The marketing campaign now begins to implement the wider marketing strategy that will focus more on SEO, Affiliates, advertising, referral marketing, content marketing, conversion marketing, email marketing, public relations, social media and PPC.

Check out this video about Paul’s online guitar school.

Someone recently asked me what drives me?  When I was a child I was told by my grandfather that you should never do anything because of the money so subsequently financial reward has never been a big part of why I get up early and work late.  No what drives and excites me is having the freedom to learn and to grow by working with big ideas and great people.  If I’m not learning in one area then I move onto an area where I can.

The first part of this is the importance of freedom.  I was heavily influenced by writers like John Stuart Mill, Isaiah Berlin and more recently Tim Ferriss.  Each wrote about how we should cherish our freedom and the ability to do what we want, when we want, with whomever we want as long as we don’t harm others.  I would argue that this concept of freedom, of not being constrained by others and having the space to live our lives as we sit fit, is central to living the good life (however we define it).

Learning and having the time, opportunity and resources to do so is what I primarily want to do with my own freedom.  If I feel I am no longer learning and growing as a person then I change my situation.  This attitude which many will find selfish is behind all of my most important decisions.  I will forgo financial or other rewards as long as I am doing something that is stretching me.  Some people thought I was mad to leave the music industry in the UK and travel 6000 miles to begin again in technology startups in California.  The reason for that was my work in the music industry no longer challenged me and I needed to go to new places and learn new things.

The next important component for me is the opportunity to engage with big ideas.  My current role as a director of an education startup allows me to work with others on the big idea of how technology can transform education and learning around the world.  EdTech, e-learning or online education is one of the hottest topics and investment areas in Silicon Valley just now because the rewards for investors and humanity are potentially huge.  Having the opportunity to work in this field at a critical time is incredibly exciting and I feel grateful for living at this point in history.

The final thing that makes me go above and beyond are the great people that I get to work with and help.  A thread that has run throughout my life is my ability to help others achieve their goals and potential.  Whether that be working with a pop artist to reach more people by playing bigger venues or an online teacher by enabling them to positively impact students from Shanghai to San Francisco, all are about helping them achieve their goals.

So what drives you in your life?   Why not leave a comment below.

Hermione Way and James Taylor at SF MusicTech (Photo by Michael O'Donnel www.zatphoto.com)

Panel highlights for me were hearing Ted Cohen from TAG Strategic talk about strategic marketing for music related brands and attending talks on Social Media and the Future of Digital.  I also had the chance to meet some great people at the Summit including artist Stefan Aronsen, Christen McFarland from The Recording Academy, Kelli Richards from All Access Group , In Ticketing’s Eric Weisz, and Karen T. van Leith and Michael Good from MakeMusic.

Fellow Brit and natural born enthusiast for life Hermione Way and I had an interesting discussion about the importance of trust in social media and marketing in general. SF Music Tech founder Brian Zisk was very kind in saying some nice words about what we are doing at ArtistWorks and allowing me to speak at the Pitch Session in front of a packed room of fellow entrepreneurs, technologists and venture capitalists.

Anyway check out the SF MusicTech site to find out more information and get involved in their next event later this year.

Work

The first couple of months of 2011 were spent traveling back and forth between Scotland and California for work.  I’ve always enjoyed California and the San Francisco Bay area and this was the first time I was able to spend a significant amount of time here.  Apart from the climate, good wine and food I also love the general outlook to life that many people have here.  The folks that move to the sunshine state, whether that’s to work in technology in Silicon Valley, to find fame and fortune in Los Angeles or just to generally reinvent themselves have a pioneer spirit about them.  In October I decided to make the move permanent and joined ArtistWorks, the world’s leading providers of music education online, as Director of Global Business Development.  The past couple of months have been the most rewarding period in my business career as we launched the ArtistWorks Academy of Bluegrass, the ArtistWorks Academy of Drums and quietly signed some of the world’s greatest music artists with a view to announcing a whole slew of new online music schools in 2012.  ArtistWorks is one of the most hotly tipped EdTech (education technology) companies in the Bay area and the company has been growing at a pretty phenomenal rate as it now teaches music online to students in over 52 countries.  It’s also given me the opportunity to work with some incredibly talented people in the worlds of technology, marketing, music, video editing, sound design and education.

Politics – Well that was interesting!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  As anyone that knows me will testify, I am passionate about politics and the role of politics in improving the lives of others.  In the Spring of this year I was a list candidate for the Scottish Liberal Democrats at the Scottish Parliamentary Elections when my party took a pretty serious hammering.  I’ve previously written about some of the reasons I believe we lost but from a personal perspective I do not find the current political landscape of Scotland particularly appealing.  Following the election I decided to take a step back from being involved in any political party and instead focus on areas where I believe I can have more impact.

Thirty Seven Beds and Twenty Cars

After the election I decided I needed to make a major change in my life and the result was that my wife and I decided in the summer to move to America.  We did so in a rather unusual way however.  Not knowing where in California we wanted to live we exchanged our holiday home in Europe with different families in Northern California using a website called Home Exchange and the result was that over the past couple of months we have stayed in some amazing places.  These include two weeks to two months in holiday homes in Mill Valley, Napa, St Helena, Yountville, Guerneville, San Anselmo, Carneros and Sonoma.  Exchanging homes in this way allowed us to get to know the area better for when we decided to settle down somewhere longer term, we met lots of new friends and it made us appreciate how to travel in a minimal way.  In addition to this we ended up making additional trips to Los Angeles, Carmel, Saratoga, Monterey and Italy.  Tallying it up I figured I’ve slept in a total of 37 beds this year and driven a total of twenty hire cars though!

Zen and the Art of Tea

Living in California has meant some pretty big changes to my diet, exercise regime and general well-being.  One of the first things I got into when I arrived here was Bikram Yoga as well as significantly improving my diet by eating lots more fresh fruit and veggies.  Lifestyle design and experimenting with different foods and exercise regimes is big here and it’s been kind of fun to shake things up a little bit.  As a Brit it’s also nice to see that California finally has a proper tea shop with Samovar Tea Lounges springing up in San Francisco.

My Top Books of 2011

• The Four Hour Body by Tim Ferriss
• Poor Charlie’s Almanack by Charles T. Munger
• Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
• 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout

My Top Gigs of 2011

• Jeff Beck at Napa Opera House
• The Infamous Stringdusters at The Independent, SF
• Steely Dan at Mountain Winery
• Russell Ferrante and Bob Mintzer at Teatro Alaleano, Montegiorgio

My Top Tracks of 2011

• Make it Mine by Jason Mraz
• Big Lights Bigger City by Cee Lo Green
• Stratus by Billy Cobham
• You Are by The Punch Brothers
• Alfie by Pat Metheny

A Special Thanks

To finish off I’d like to thank a couple of people who have made 2011 so much fun.  First of all my wife for supporting me and having the spirit and good nature to follow me on this excellent adventure.  To the team I work with at ArtistWorks for putting their faith in me and inspiring me to work harder and smarter each day.  To my friends and family who supported me in making this change.  To an old school friend who convinced me to take the plunge and set out across the sea.

Here’s to a great 2012.