As a musician and music educator of over 25 years, I have been able to see as trends change in the industry. The year 2020 brought an influx of online courses to the market, which made a lot of people think differently about how they go about learning.
After years of teaching private lessons in person and online, you may find it surprising that I was an early adapter of online courses. I created my first online course Piano Skills for Singers back in 2018, as a way of providing a lower-cost option for people who wanted to study with me but didn't have the budget for regular lessons. The response was amazing - over 600 people have taken that course and I expanded my offerings to fifteen courses since then.
Now that you understand my background and expertise, I would like to share some thoughts on online courses and the pros and cons of each.
Private Lessons
Private lessons are what most people consider first when studying singing or an instrument like piano. Lessons are typically given in person, but since 2020 many teachers continue to teach via online platforms such as Zoom and Rock Out Loud.
Private lessons tend to be tailored to the unique needs of students - since it's a one-on-one setting, the teacher is able to focus on the strengths and challenges of each student. Private teachers are able to give a lot of structure to their learning and can help students make deliberate progress from week to week. Many of my students appreciate the accountability that comes from weekly or biweekly lessons and they tend to make a lot of improvement from making that commitment.
Since one-on-one lessons are by definition custom services, they can be expensive. You can also be limited by the expertise of the teacher you chose. Private lessons can be hard to schedule for folks who work unusual hours or have busy lives. They are not always a good fit for everyone.
Online Courses
Online courses can be asynchronous (pre-recorded) or synchronous (live). They often come with a video component, a print component and some kind of feedback system, either via a private Facebook group or a Mighty Networks group.
Online courses are great to gathering a narrow set of specific skills, like Beginner Jazz Piano or for getting broader, more generalized training like Musicianship Skills for General Piano Skills.
Online courses can be asynchronous (pre-recorded) or synchronous (live). They often come with a video component, a print component and some kind of feedback system, either via a private Facebook group or a Mighty Networks group.
Online courses are great to gathering a narrow set of specific skills, like Beginner Jazz Piano or for getting broader, more generalized training like Musicianship Skills for General Piano Skills.
Course platforms like Teachable and Kajabi make it easy to set up video learning and downloads and the technology has come a long way in the past few years. They are very user friendly and boast features such as in-platform commenting, quizzing features and apps for handheld digital devices.
A Less Expensive Choice
Online courses tend to be far less expensive than one-on-one private lessons and allow for a lot of flexibility of learning. They work great for folks who prefer self directed learning and they are a godsend for people with busy or irregular schedules. Many of my course participants do their practicing in the early morning or late night, even squeezing in learning time between meetings. (I won't name names, but more than a few of my students have MIDI keyboards hidden in their desk at work!)
Online courses are also fantastic for people who want a broad range of knowledge, as they can pick and choose from a variety of sources to customize their learning.
The Downside to Online Courses
After many years of creating online courses, the biggest shortcoming with online courses is that people love to buy them, but often don't actually USE them. Just like people who love to buy books as a hobby, but don't spend much time reading, the urge to purchase a course can often eclipse the desire to do the work.
Some folks don't do well with asynchronous learning, because they need the accountability of private lessons in order to succeed. This can post issues.
Hybrid Options: Combining the Best of Both Worlds
Since we don't live in a binary world, I wanted to share with you some hybrid models that have worked really well for my students and colleagues.
The first is a hybrid model, where a student signs up for an online course and combines it with monthly or biweekly private lessons. This gives the student some time to learn on their own, but can consult with the private instructor to help answer questions, troubleshoot any challenges or offer additional support.
I have several students who combine The Versatile Musician studies with occasional private lessons with me, including a few who check in every six weeks or longer. They are able to work at their own pace, but they also have someone to check in with and I am able to help them work more efficiently and check to make sure that their work is accurate.
The Membership Model: This changed EVERYTHING
When I first started my journey as an online course creator, it seemed simplest to just sell them one at a time. Students would purchase whichever individual course and get a year's access to the material.
Interestingly enough, I found that it didn't work as well as I thought it would.
Unfortunately, I found that a lot of people just never used them.
Even though I was fine with making sales, I created these courses so people could actually improve their skills - not buy them and leave them to gather virtual dust.
When I switched to a membership model that changed overnight.
Actually Doing the Work
See those lecture completions? They were done in TWO WEEKS. 715 lesson completions and 17 course completions done in only 14 days. That is a LOT of progress!!
Most members are logging in a few times a week and some are checking in every single day. And, this is ammounting to a lot of progress and growth.
Making The Commitment
Turns out that when people commit to a membership (and a monthly fee), they actually commit to doing the work.
Not only that, I have found that most people actually need a range of skills. An all-inclusive membership gives folks the opportunity to have everything in one place, which vastly streamlines their study. Rather than having to switch from book to video to private teacher, they have everything in one place. A lot of Versatile Musician members were what I call "course jumpers", but they found it was much easier to stay in one place.
Find What's Right For You
I always recommend that people find what's right for them based on their disposition.
- Do you need a lot of support or are you good at setting goals and meeting them?
- Do you have a budget for a premium product like private lessons, or would a less expensive package like an online course or membership work best for you?
- Do you have a schedule that allows for weekly lessons or do you need to find something that fits in the cracks?
Me, I prefer to do my own thing at my own time, so I do best with individual courses.
Many of my students appreciate the "white glove" service of private lessons so they feel that sense of accountability and structure.
Members of The Versatile Musician appreciate working at their own pace and love the bonus of monthly Zoom calls and being able to ask questions on the Teachable platform.
I hope you find what works best for you! Feel free to reach out with any questions.
Want to level up your musical skills? Strengthen your piano skills, develop your ear training, become a rhythm ninja and learn new skills like jazz and improvisation.
The Versatile Musician is an all-in-one membership that combines video lessons, print material and live support to help you level up your skills and thrive as a musician and music teacher.
To learn more, check out www.theversatilemusician.com and get ready to become the best musician possible!
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