Social network for music learning
 

If there was a social network site for where you could learn music from professional teachers (beginner to pro level) would you join? Members would get badges/levels for the completed lessons if their progress is approved by teachers, so it would also be a "social game". Thanks for the answers!

Sounds interesting.... it wouldn't suprise me if that actually happens at some point. I would join. What would you learn???

You could take lessons from the basics like tuning your guitar, holding a drumstick properly, scales, chords. Then it would continue with more and more complex exercises. Learning accompaniment, solo licks etc.

Short answer - no.

Long answer - How is that different than asking for lessons / tips RIGHT HERE? How would it compete with youtube? If you load up youtube right now and search for 'guitar lessons' you get 218 000 results. 35 000 specifically for beginners. Piano lessons - 45 000. Drum lessons - 40 000. Like it or not any potential site idea you have of this nature IS going to be directly compared to youtube.

How do you plan on paying for those professional teachers? How do you plan on not having their lessons stolen and circulated for free after their first publication? The only real way around that is to make it a private (read: PAID) service. Why would anyone pay for online lessons when the vast majority of those same people could pay similar amounts to have personal face to face lessons?

That badges / levels thing you describe is inane as well, sure it's a way of tracking progress within the training mode in Rockband on ps3 or xbox but actually learning to play music isn't a competition, there's no checklist that upon being filled to X amount means you're a for really real musician now. No one who isn't involved with that service would honestly give a crap about what badges / trophies you have on some online profile as opposed to just wanting to hear what you can do with the instrument.

Sometimes it can be difficult and costly to learn lessons from music teachers. Using social networking sites will make it more accessible and cheaper to people to learn music. There will be far more people benefiting. Every industry is relying on social networking these days.

:bonkhead: How do you figure it would become cheaper? Do you work for free? Why would a proper music teacher work for free?

The reason it can be difficult and costly to get lessons is because being a professional music teacher is a specialized skill. If you're offering a service where the public needs to pay for access to a site that will feature professional instruction then you need to pay for professional instructors.

The site also needs to offer something more than what's already available, so no canned streaming lessons (free on youtube / music sites), no volunteer teachers (free on any music forum including this one). Otherwise what do you really have?

So what does that leave? Either class based instruction or individual one on one instruction. Neither of those is a cheap option, nor does the original concept provide much in terms of market viability. Especially not when originally pitched like some half baked video game idea.

I just get that feelings that things on the internet are cheaper. You wouldn't have to travel anyway.

If it provides accessable music tuition to people who need it/want to be part of something fun then sure. I certainly can't afford private lessons. I learn off what I can find on the net so yeah it could work providing there was some way for the professional tutors to get paid something

The potential market for something like this is absolutely there!

As evidenced by this site, and others, there are plenty of people that like social networng and have interest in playing music.

There may be a way to do something like that through this site. idk. lol

I'm sure there are people here that know a thing or two that could teach some things to willing pupils. Just depends on what you want to know and who could give the time of day.

That's because most people STEAL on the internet. If you don't have to travel then you're working through the net and need the technological infrastructure and ability to make it happen (HD webcam / video editing skills / high speed internet / etc.) Then you need a way to protect it or you'll never profit from it. Then there's also the cost of maintaining the website and servers, and promoting the site so there's always enough users to justify its existence.

If you can't afford lessons then how do you honestly think professionals would get paid? At the end of the day good intentions are just hot air. You might get a few altruistic instructors but for the most part, people have bills to pay and as a result don't work for free.

Would you pay cash money for an account to be on this forum? There's a huge difference in farting around a webforum and posting lists of favourite musical whatevers or discussing your favourite band/album and actually learning to play an instrument.

You're also right, there IS a way to do something like this on this site - make a thread in the Instrument section and ask for a bit of advice.

I suspect the question is for market research.

Would I? No. Because I'm not interested in music lessons.

Anyway, it probably could succeed financially if ad-supported.

In my view is not needed. Just go to a good place and learn how to do some music.

Social networking is not enough to learn music as you need to have practical knowledge and environment to learn music, then you can create interest in yourself.

I agree with Mr Dave. No shortage of stuff already out there. Aside from youtube, there are websites for free piano lessons on line with many lessons progressing from basic to advanced, same goes for drums. There are all kinds of site for learning guitar. Sure there's a market for it. But plenty of supply to meet the demand.

I don't think this person is coming back.