Caterina Lichtenberg‘s On-line course

Hello -
I would like to hear from anyone who has taken Caterina Lichtenberg‘s ArtistWorks on-line course. Did you progress well with it; does she provide PDF’s for all of the pieces and exercises she presents; and would you recommend it? It would also interest me to know your experience level before starting the course. I’ve searched for threads on this question but have not found any. Finally, if you have submitted videos to ArtistWorks, can you recommend a low priced video camera to use for this purpose? Thank you in advance for any input.

You mean the artist works one?

I am a subscriber.

While has some intro material, it pretty much assumes you can read music and have some facility with mandolin already.

It's strengths include a thorough introduction to classical techniques. Basically a select set of etudes you need to cover the techniques.

After that it's a difficulty-ordered progression through the better known repertoire.

Sheet music and recorded accompaniments at different tempos are provided.

The videos walk through every piece where she shows how to play them. These alone are priceless IMHO.

I’m a subscriber as well. I’m pretty sure it is one of the only online course for classical mandolin out there. As Kurth stated, you should be able to read standard notation and have more than an absolute beginner’s level of playing ability. The curriculum starts very basic and gradually progresses to more advanced material. I came to her course after a couple of years on Mike Marshall’s site.

I would say that I started on her site as an intermediate bluegrass player who liked to dabble in Bach. Soon I realized about this whole other world of mandolin pedagogy. There are many pieces in the curriculum that can be downloaded as PDFs and some play along tracks. The ability to submit videos of yourself playing coupled with a personalized response video is what sets Artistworks apart imho. I feel that studying the techniques of a totally different style has helped my overall playing, no matter the genre.

As far as making a video, I never have used a stand-alone camera. I’ve submitted videos shot on my laptop’s built-in camera as well as my phone. From there it is just a simple upload process to the site.

I have her DVD/Booklet. It has plenty to keep you busy, understandable, doable, recommended. Some folks need an online instructor for motivation, I don't. I think you should be an intermediate player, with a firm grasp of playing before tackling this. I went from bluegrass to her classical without trouble. It has easier to advanced tunes, will keep you busy!

I'm a subscriber as well. The course is well structured, with each new concept clearly explained and demonstrated. Studying classical mandolin opens up a whole other world of possibilities on the instrument, IMHO. I'm glad to have signed up.

Thanks to all who replied. I took advantage of the Labor Day $100 discount and signed up for a full year. From my initial browsing I am very, very impressed with this program!

Hi Tim, I am thinking about signing up to Caterina's course and was wondering what your thoughts are now you are about half way through?
Any insights or revelations?!
Cheers,
Dean

Hey Dean, jumping in on this until Tim gets back to you (since I see it's been a while since the last post, and I don't know who all from this thread is active at the moment). I haven't taken Caterina's course, I spent a long time deliberating between Caterina's and Mike's. Eventually I went with Mike's, mostly because I was leaning more toward playing bluegrass at the time. I have since also begun taking Darol's fiddle course to get back into the instrument of my childhood.

I say all this just to make the point that across the board in the two courses the level of instruction has been thorough, very helpful, and pretty much as good as I could possibly ask for from an online course. Like I said, I have not taken Caterina's course specifically, but from the many video samples I've watched, I imagine it is up to the same standard of instruction. I know she works very closely with Mike, so I imagine that, music style aside, they run their courses similarly. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend any of the ArtistWorks courses.

I wonder what percentage of mandolin players can read music.

I can read music (as well as TAB) and read the music, mainly use TAB if I can't figure out the fingering to get from "here" to "there" smoothly. I also started with Mike Marshall's bluegrass course, and am about (in the next month or so) to switch over to Caterina Lichtenberg's course as classical mandolin is mainly where my interests lie. I have been satisfied with the ArtistWorks course so far (in my second year with them.) :mandosmiley:

Thanks MoreThanQuinn. Good to hear the Mike Marshall course is working out for you. I was doing the Paul Gilbert rock guitar course a couple of years ago! It was fun and he is of course a monster player, but I have fallen down the mandolin rabbit hole, and am loving approaching it from a classical study and then having that as a basis for everything
else I like to attempt. Sight reading is way more logical on mando than guitar, and I
have been a guitarist for so much longer. I now wish I started on mandolin 30 years earlier!

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Originally Posted by MoreThanQuinn

Hey Dean, jumping in on this until Tim gets back to you (since I see it's been a while since the last post, and I don't know who all from this thread is active at the moment). I haven't taken Caterina's course, I spent a long time deliberating between Caterina's and Mike's. Eventually I went with Mike's, mostly because I was leaning more toward playing bluegrass at the time. I have since also begun taking Darol's fiddle course to get back into the instrument of my childhood.

I say all this just to make the point that across the board in the two courses the level of instruction has been thorough, very helpful, and pretty much as good as I could possibly ask for from an online course. Like I said, I have not taken Caterina's course specifically, but from the many video samples I've watched, I imagine it is up to the same standard of instruction. I know she works very closely with Mike, so I imagine that, music style aside, they run their courses similarly. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend any of the ArtistWorks courses.

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Hi Dean -
Sorry I missed your post until now. I am many months into the course now - in the beginner sections. I concur with all other positive comments on this thread. I am immensely pleased with the program logistics and Caterina’s teaching ability. There are, for me, absolutely no downsides!

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Originally Posted by dpriest

I wonder what percentage of mandolin players can read music.

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I went to the CMSA convention in Portland a few years ago. At that time, based on that experience, I would have said 100%. And many of them could sight read at tempo.

It was challenging, to say the least.