1 year of online lessons

[jessefair]

So my wife is ok with me signing up for one year of Online Lessons. I am leaning towards artistworks with the Great Mike Marshall but I am wanting opinions on peghead nation and is there any more, that are around Mike Marshalls skill?

[RandyC]

I signed up for a year of the Mike Marshall lessons at artistworks and so far I have loved it. Tons of lessons, licks and tunes of the week and much more. He also does the video feedback and does a great job with feedback. He is also very enthusiastic in the lesson and each one is very in depth.

[jessefair]

Randy awesome thanks for the review, that pretty much seals the deal.

[MikeyG]

I am wanting opinions on peghead nation

Here's one: I took two Peghead courses for nearly 3 years. I'm NOT going there anymore. If you want to know why, PM me.

MikeyG

[LadysSolo]

I am doing the Artistworks also, I signed up during one of the specials they were having, and I figured out it would be a bit over $17.00/month, which I did not feel was too bad. I have done about 15 or so lessons so far, and if I keep it up I will definitely have gotten my money's worth.

[gfury]

I have the Artistworks subscription. The lessons are very good, and there is tons of material.

However, I don't use it as much as I would like. If I had a computer in my practice area I would use it more. I may not renew when it expires in March.

[bigskygirl]

I’d take that money and try Banjo Ben (free 3 day trial), Peghead Nation (free month), Mandolessons (free, runs on donations), Pickin’ Lessons (posts videos on YT), ArtistWorks (nothing free I’ve seen but email them and ask) and then decide what jives for YOU, why go all in on one you don’t know will work for you.

[Don Grieser]

FYI, ArtistWorks sets you up automatically for auto renewal when you sign up. You have to go into your account settings and change that if you don't want it to auto renew.

[johngdon]

I’d take that money and try Banjo Ben (free 3 day trial), Peghead Nation (free month), Mandolessons (free, runs on donations), Pickin’ Lessons (posts videos on YT), ArtistWorks (nothing free I’ve seen but email them and ask) and then decide what jives for YOU, why go all in on one you don’t know will work for you.

I agree. Try them all out. I like Banjo Ben’s song arrangements a lot, so I like to enroll for a month and learn a few new songs. Peghead Nation gives you the coherence of a thought out course; the mandolin theory class took me about two months to go through; when I started out brand new, Sharon Gilchrist's intro course took me about 6 months or so. I’ll probably take another course later this year for a few months. Mandolessons can’t be beat for the vast number of tunes and is totally a la carte; just don’t forget to slip Baron a few bucks as you go along so he can make a living. I hope he keeps making play along tracks, those are great practice.

[johngdon]

Here's one: I took two Peghead courses for nearly 3 years. I'm NOT going there anymore. If you want to know why, PM me.

MikeyG

Hmmm....seems a little unfair to imply you had a bad experience without saying what it was. Your reason might be very particular and not applicable to what others might experience, or it could be more general, but we don’t know. I’d hate to see their business suffer from veiled criticism. (I have no connection to PegHead Nation other than being a very satisfied customer.)

[RobP]

I'm slowly working through the Peghead Nation Intermediate Bluegrass course by Sharon G. I've learned a few tunes, plus she gives some very good insider hints about playing. I'm a satisfied customer so far.

[Gina Willis]

It’s a fair question to ask the pros and cons of the various online courses — but unless all the courses offer personalized video or Skype feedback from the instructor, it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, in my opinion. That’s why I went with ArtistWorks.

[Mark Gunter]

Here's one: I took two Peghead courses for nearly 3 years. I'm NOT going there anymore. If you want to know why, PM me.
MikeyG

Hmmm....seems a little unfair to imply you had a bad experience without saying what it was. Your reason might be very particular and not applicable to what others might experience, or it could be more general, but we don’t know. I’d hate to see their business suffer from veiled criticism. (I have no connection to PegHead Nation other than being a very satisfied customer.)

MikeyG was responding to a request for "opinions" and I wouldn't fault him on that (though may have been better for him to just contact the OP via PM rather than making an awkward post requesting a PM from OP).

I can speak for myself, though, that veiled criticism from a user after 3 years of service would not dissuade me, myself, from studying there. I would instead assume that the user must have had nearly three years of satisfactory service, and then may have had a personal issue. I wouldn't PM to learn more, as I wouldn't consider it my business, and I wouldn't give the unspoken criticism any weight.

[Mark Wilson]

If I was gonna take online lessons for a year I would try at least 4 different flavors for 3 months each. I've thoroughly enjoyed every online instructor site I've tried.

[Chuck Leyda]

Artistworks and Banjo Ben are top notch. Peghead looks good too.

If bluegrass is your thing you can't go wrong with Banjo Ben. His new updated site is really well made. He's friendly and a good teacher. You get all three schools for one price. Great value.

If you are willing and able to make videos, Artistworks is an incredible value. Mike Marshall is a really intuitive teacher. His personal advice changed a lot about how I play.

[Steve-o]

I’ve tried both Artistworks and Peghead Nation and liked them both. I wasn’t comfortable submitting videos to Mike, so I never did that. I settled on Peghead for 2 reasons - 1) I play a variety of styles, so I bounce around 4 different instructors (you can switch any time), and 2) I pay only $15/month. I join during the holidays, there’s a 10% off the normal $200/year fee.

[LadysSolo]

FYI, ArtistWorks sets you up automatically for auto renewal when you sign up. You have to go into your account settings and change that if you don't want it to auto renew.

This is true, but supposedly you can change instructors, and since I play mainly classical, I will likely switch to Caterina Lichtenberg when my account is renewed. I am not unhappy with Artistworks, so I plan to do at least one more year after the first year is up (with Mike Marshall.) Nothing against Mr. Marshall, I just mainly play classical, and he was recommended for strong basics before going to Ms. Lichtenberg.