{"id":373,"date":"2011-04-27T11:36:32","date_gmt":"2011-04-27T16:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/?p=373"},"modified":"2011-04-27T11:36:32","modified_gmt":"2011-04-27T16:36:32","slug":"new-technology-doesnt-necessarily-mean-better-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/new-technology-doesnt-necessarily-mean-better-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"New Technology Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Better Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

I saw a story today about a new iPad app called “On The Music Path” (http:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/on-the-music-path-ipad-app-offers-users-in-depth-one-on-one-lessons-taught-by-master-musicians-including-jackson-browne-ravi-shankar-and-richard-thompson-120766969.html<\/a>) that provides music lessons from famous rock stars and musicians:<\/p>\n

[content_box_grey width=”75%”]<\/p>\n

Imagine taking in-depth, one-on-one guitar lessons from Jackson Browne<\/strong> or Richard Thompson<\/strong>. \u00a0These are among the rarefied experiences offered by On The Music Path,<\/strong> a new iPad app<\/strong> designed to teach users to play real instruments with instruction from world-class musicians. Lessons are shot in high-definition video<\/strong> by award-winning cinematographer Alan Kozlowski<\/strong>, who developed the app with business partner Derek Penn<\/strong>. \u00a0On The Music Path<\/strong> offers insight and inspiration to students from beginners to advanced players, building an archive of wisdom from master practitioners passing down their art to future generations.<\/p>\n

In addition to Browne<\/strong> and Thompson<\/strong>, world-renowned artists teaching On The Music Path <\/strong>master classes include: Marcia Ball, Roscoe Beck, Michael Chapdelaine, Luis Conte,<\/strong> Steve Ferrone, Steve Postell, Lee Ritenour<\/strong>, Vonda Shepard, Leland Sklar<\/strong>, Kenny Sultan<\/strong>, Scott Tennant<\/strong>, <\/strong>and even the legendary Ravi Shankar<\/strong>. \u00a0The range of lessons will continue to grow as the app’s repertoire evolves.<\/p>\n

“In an age when more people are learning to play virtual guitars than real guitars, On The Music Path<\/strong> is unabashedly ‘old school and proud of it,'” says Penn<\/strong>. “There are no machine-generated jam tracks, game leaderboards, or polyphonic note-detection algorithms — just lessons from extraordinary players, and technological teaching tools used in service of understanding how to play it.”<\/p>\n

Jackson Browne<\/strong> breaks down some of the essential elements of his distinctive style on “Fingerpicking and Alternate Tunings,”<\/strong> for intermediate to advanced players. \u00a0Richard Thompson, <\/strong>a guitarist Rolling Stone<\/em><\/strong> has cited as one of the Top 20 of all time, teaches “Folk Rock Guitar.”<\/strong> Each of these two lessons features four of the artist’s signature songs. \u00a0Also among the initial slate of lessons are “Fundamentals of the Guitar<\/strong>” from singer-songwriter Steve<\/strong> Postell<\/strong>; “Intro to the Blues”<\/strong> from blues guitarist Kenny Sultan<\/strong>; and “Intro to the Classical Guitar<\/strong>” from Scott Tennant<\/strong>, member of the Grammy\u00ae-winning L.A. Guitar Quartet.<\/p>\n

Alan<\/strong> Kozlowski <\/strong>is On The Path’s<\/strong> founder and creative director. \u00a0Derek Penn<\/strong> is co-founder and chief software architect. \u00a0“On The Music Path<\/strong> embodies our passion for great musicianship,” says Kozlowski<\/strong>, “and for the tradition of apprenticeship between a student and teacher that goes back thousands of years, and that I have personally experienced through my mentor and teacher Ravi Shankar<\/strong>, who is the embodiment of this path.”<\/p>\n

On The Music Path’s<\/strong> simple, elegant user interface leverages the intuitive nature of the iPad’s touch-based operating system. \u00a0Features include a built-in metronome, the ability for users to record themselves, and the functionality for users to slow the video down to 1\/4 of its original speed to practice at their own pace. \u00a0At each lesson’s end, users have the opportunity to play along with the teacher<\/strong>. \u00a0Lessons range from 45 to 85 minutes, and are accompanied by complete musical notation and tablature synchronized to the teacher’s playing. \u00a0The application can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store<\/strong> beginning April 28<\/strong>, with lessons available from $2.99 to $19.99. \u00a0Students can try out the first chapters of any lesson at no charge before purchasing.<\/p>\n

“Learning your instrument doesn’t get any better than this,” says Jac Holzman<\/strong>, founder of Elektra Records, a company whose artist-friendly model inspired Kozlowski<\/strong> and Penn<\/strong> in establishing On The Music Path.<\/strong><\/p>\n[\/content_box_grey]<\/p>\n

Now I don’t usually go spouting my opinion about things like this… but I’m genuinely concerned. While I won’t argue that Jackson Browne has written some great songs over the years, what is it that makes him a good music teacher? Or teacher of anything for that matter?<\/p>\n

It just so happens that there are a couple of actual teachers on the list, Kenny Sultan and Scott Tennant. I don’t know Kenny’s stuff personally but I know he has at least written some instructional materials. I have one of Scott’s books and it’s really good so I know he does good work.<\/p>\n

Learners of guitar see this sort of thing all the time. Rock stars being marketed as good musicians\/teachers. Being a rock star and being a good musician are not mutually inclusive. In other words, just because you’re a rock star doesn’t mean you can play well… and it certainly doesn’t mean you can teach.<\/p>\n

Teaching guitar, or any instrument, and being good at it requires experience, patience, and an actual desire to see your students improve. You have to take time and notice the things that work and the things that don’t. You can’t just teach something some way because that’s the way you learned it.<\/p>\n

In many cases the way I learned something is not the way that works best for the majority of students. And a good teacher should notice when one method is not working and be willing to experiment with others to find the best way.<\/p>\n

Obviously having technology is not inherently a bad thing. And I know that a lot of people like to learn on the ipad. And having the ability to slow down the videos and record yourself… these are all great things. But if the people actually providing the instruction are not doing their job, the rest of it won’t matter at all.<\/p>\n

I’d like to hear your thoughts on this one too… please leave your comments below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I saw a story today about a new iPad app called “On The Music Path” (http:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/on-the-music-path-ipad-app-offers-users-in-depth-one-on-one-lessons-taught-by-master-musicians-including-jackson-browne-ravi-shankar-and-richard-thompson-120766969.html) that provides music lessons from famous rock stars and musicians: [content_box_grey width=”75%”] Imagine taking in-depth, one-on-one guitar lessons from Jackson Browne or Richard Thompson. \u00a0These are among the rarefied experiences offered by On The Music Path, a new iPad […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}