The Musician's Channel: Pro Musicians & Teachers Teach Music

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of creating a commercial-free television channel dedicated to music education, featuring professional musicians and teachers providing lessons across various instruments. Participants explore the feasibility, potential formats, and challenges of such a channel, as well as alternatives like online platforms.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants propose a dedicated channel for music lessons, covering multiple instruments and skill levels, which could be beneficial for educational purposes.
  • Others suggest that online platforms offering on-demand lessons might be more practical and cost-effective than a traditional TV channel.
  • Concerns are raised about the quality of existing music education materials, with some arguing that many current offerings do not meet high standards.
  • Some participants express skepticism about the economic viability of a TV channel, citing the high overhead costs compared to existing music education DVDs that have not proven profitable.
  • There is a discussion about the effectiveness of video lessons versus in-person instruction, with some arguing that personal feedback from instructors is crucial for learning.
  • Participants note that while video lessons can be beneficial, they may not replace the need for direct interaction with a teacher.
  • One participant highlights the potential for a subscription model that could provide extensive content at a lower cost compared to traditional lessons.
  • Ambitious goals are mentioned regarding the channel's popularity and its potential impact on children's education, though some express doubts about achieving such goals.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the feasibility or desirability of a dedicated music education channel versus online alternatives. Multiple competing views remain regarding the effectiveness of video lessons and the economic implications of such a venture.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include unresolved questions about production costs, the quality of existing educational materials, and the potential audience's willingness to pay for such content. The discussion also reflects varying assumptions about the effectiveness of video versus in-person instruction.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in music education, educators seeking innovative teaching methods, and those exploring the economics of educational content delivery may find this discussion relevant.

  • #31
chroot said:
That sounds like a pretty ambitious goal. :smile: Get an education in business administration before investing your own money.

chroot said:
I don't think you understand the economics involved in producing broadcast-quality video.

chroot said:
my MBA from Stanford.
Warren, I don't mean to be insulting, but you're being a little bit condescending to a guy that is excited about following through with an idea—we have far to little of those.

Also, W3pcq a good idea to try might be planning on broadcasting the channel online, the economics involved in producing a broadcast-quality video are much better. If you can make a quality teaching video, and get a name out there for actually being good (the odds on quantity are already against you) people would buy it.
 
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  • #32
W3pcq said:
Even if you had an internet based plan, you would still need to charge for a subscription in order to make quality material. There is such a mess of information on the net that your site would get lost, and when found people would wonder if it was just some scam or not. To make the internet version work, you would need to heavily advertise on television/magazines etc, just like the TV version.

The pro of the TV version is that marketing would be much easier because you could buy it through DTV or Comcast. That way you gain many customers right off the bat who just check a box, and add it to their bill. I guess it would be possible to have an online version showcasing the same material available on the net on demand or by subscription.

The internet has a ton of free lessons online (mostly guitar) as well as lessons that you can pay for that I am assuming are of better quality. I agree that it would be easy for your site to get lost on the internet, however I just think that TV isn't the best media for music instruction. The idea of paying for lessons on TV doesn't appeal to me because I could not control the speed of the lesson (can't slow down if its going to fast, can't speed it up if the instructor is absolutely beating a point to death). Plus you can't go back and revisit a point you either missed or did not understand, unless you are fortunate enough to have TiVo. I guess it depends on the style of learning, it may be good for the people who prefer to watch it once and then go off on their own and try it by themselves until they can get it right. Depending on the type of shows they may well be interesting to just watch rather than try to learn something from. However I just don't think it would be terribly valuable as learning tool.
 
  • #33
scorpa said:
The internet has a ton of free lessons online (mostly guitar) as well as lessons that you can pay for that I am assuming are of better quality. I agree that it would be easy for your site to get lost on the internet, however I just think that TV isn't the best media for music instruction. The idea of paying for lessons on TV doesn't appeal to me because I could not control the speed of the lesson (can't slow down if its going to fast, can't speed it up if the instructor is absolutely beating a point to death). Plus you can't go back and revisit a point you either missed or did not understand, unless you are fortunate enough to have TiVo. I guess it depends on the style of learning, it may be good for the people who prefer to watch it once and then go off on their own and try it by themselves until they can get it right. Depending on the type of shows they may well be interesting to just watch rather than try to learn something from. However I just don't think it would be terribly valuable as learning tool.

That is a good point. I'm not sure if it would be interesting enough to watch as entertainment, and whether it would be constructive enough to watch purely for education. I guess it would have to be sort of a mixture of both which degrades quality on both sides. On the other hand you could have specific shows dealing with different appeals. Certain shows would be just performances by various professional musicians, solos, bands etc. Other shows could be pure basic instruction, some could be interviews and demonstration of advanced techniques.
 
  • #34
Hell, no need to even pay for it, just make a google pages account and a site, then make videos. Sounds good.
 

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