Skype lessons?

[jetsedgwick]

I would like to take Skype lessons as it fits my schedule more. Anyone have anyone that they have worked with that really helped? I saw banjo Ben's site, he seems like he knows his stuff. Thanks in advance.

[Mickey King]

I've never take Skype lessons but I think it would be the closest thing to live in-person lessons you could get. Banjo Ben has some pretty good stuff although it's not Skype. He has a selection of videos and tabs for numerous tunes and levels of difficulty. You also get guitar and banjo in the same package. Iv'e also done Mike Marshall's program that many people like but it had less actual instruction to me. My favorite is Matt Flinner's courses through Go to Meeting software. Very similar to Skype I suppose, you get to see him live, although he can't see you. You can ask questions by chat or has the capability for you own mic but everyone seems to use the chat window. Numerous students are attending the same lesson at once. Matt is very thorough I have enjoyed his lessons for over two years now. You can also got back and watch the videos from the live session later and even download all the sessions to keep forever. Check out mattflinner.com

[Josh Levine]

Zak Borden is the man.

[Billgrass]

Don Julin is your man! He was voted best teacher at the Mandolin Symposium by the students and selected to write Mandolin for Dummies. He just came off the road after 3 years and is taking students. NFI, I am just a happy pupil. donjulin@mac.com

[bigskygirl]

I've been Skyping with Emory Lester for a couple of years now ever since I met him at Kaufman Kamp and have a lesson every couple of weeks or so.

I find it more to my liking rather than a group or prerecorded presentation because it's a one hour lesson dedicated to me, my questions, concerns, and skill level. We go over whatever ques I have, he usually has something planned for me to learn, and heck...it's Emory Lester one of the best!

NFI here's the link...http://www.emorylester.com/homepgskype.htm

There are lots of options based on your interest, Google around and check out your favorite players as most offer Skype instruction now.

[pointpergame]

I haven't taken a Skype lesson from him, but last week I attended a friend's mandolin lesson with Al Eisenman. He was smart, insightful, friendly, and full of wit. Sitting down with a first-rate pro musician is a powerful experience. I think Skyping would be as well.

His web site is http://www.fiddlin-al.com

[Gelsenbury]

I can recommend Fred Keller. He's on the Mandolin Café too.

[KEB]

I've done a handful of different types of online lessons over the last few years.

I started out with Marshall's Academy of Bluegrass, and while I love the concept, I found that the kind of freeform lessons where you work at your own pace didn't really work for me that well. I never felt like my videos were up to snuff, and I only really did one exchange. There's a pretty nice framework of lessons in there, but they're kind of static, so if you're not activley exchanging with Mike, you can easily kind of just sit there.

I then took Matt Flinner's lessons, which I really, enjoyed. They're well-thought out and they're pretty aggressively paced. You get a lot for your money with weekly hour plus long lessons and weekly hour long sessions. You usually get about two songs/tunes in any given week as well as a bunch of different exercises to work on. It works well for students at a variety of levels, but it'd be pretty hard to really do all the stuff that you work on every week real justice.

In the last few months, I've started working with Emory Lester, who's a great guy, and a really good teacher. I like it because it's a dedicated hour of music directly with me. He can see what we're doing, and if I need an extra week or two on a concept, I can get that feedback directly in line. If there's something that we're working on that we enjoy, we can keep at it or move on past. We've been doing a lot of Grisman tunes lately and some fiddle tunes.

Frankly, I've considered trying to do both Matt's and Emory's lessons simultaneously because I enjoy them so much, but I don't get enough practice time to do both real justice. I think these are two of the best deals on instruction out there, and I'd recommend them both heartily.

[Pete Smith]

Wayne Fugate also is also available via Skype

[yankees1]

I would recommend Pete Martin ! Check out pete@petimarpress.com . He is an excellent instructor and uses Skype !

[UsuallyPickin]

I took SKYPE lessons with both Sharon Gilchrist and Jesse Cobb. I learned some interesting things from each of them. Both are good teachers. R/

[Traceyleezle]

I am taking lessons using Skype with a wonderful teacher. I found her through Take Lessons online. Her name is Hillary Klug. I really enjoy the fact that I can take music lessons in my home at 8:00 at night when it's most convenient for me.

[Dave1066]

I will also second the Pete Martin suggestion, he is my tutor through Skype, he is very good! He is a regular poster here too.

[Mando thrasher]

I've also had a very positive experience with Emory Lester. See my related post Emory Lester - Skype Lessons.

[John Gardinsky]

I've been taking lessons every two weeks for the last four years with Mike Compton. He's helped me immeasurably. He's not your guy though if you require false praise, he's quite frank.

[yankees1]

Pete Martin pete@petimarpress.com

[Rosemary Philips]

I've been taking lessons every two weeks for the last four years with Mike Compton. He's helped me immeasurably. He's not your guy though if you require false praise, he's quite frank.

So true...but in a good way...;)

[CWRoyds]

I have had great results from Skype lesson, and would recommend it if you don't have a great teacher near you.
The only problem I have found with it is that you cannot play together with the teacher.
There is a time lag of about a second, depending on your connection speed, so it is literally impossible to jam together.
That is not a reason to avoid taking Skype lesson, but it is an annoyance.