By Kira Grunenberg

Skype’s video chatting abilities have helped connect music teachers and students – across state lines, time zones, even whole continents. A smooth enough internet connection can make it possible to eliminate the obstacle of physical borders altogether and certainly over the past year, musicians of varying skill levels have occasionally turned to cyber connections to get their necessary dose of guidance.

What about utilizing the internet and a video screen for all of one’s musical development –and furthermore – developing a business for just such a purpose? This is the primary M.O. of Strum School, a service whose mission is described on their website as “help[ing] you learn to play the guitar on your own terms!”

A young company started in early 2012, StrumSchool’s main selling points are summed up as follows: “High Quality, Low Cost, Personal Instruction When and Where You Want It.”  This introduction comes with the announcement of the launch of on-demand, interactive video guitar lessons. Despite the relative newness of this endeavor, it seems Strum School’s CEO and founder, Benjamin Shapiro, has established his business in a niche perfect for his target consumer base of beginner guitarists.

Although StrumSchool is clearly structured around the internet, the change in online methods being implemented today is intended to stand perfectly between what the public knows as existing online convenience and the more customized nature of in-person instruction –with added layer of instant-gratification in the form of constant access to assistance when a student feels motivated. Shapiro explains how these new video lessons aren’t just another run of the mill YouTube cram session:

Until today, beginning guitar students have had to choose between impersonal ‘one-size- fits-all’ online lessons or expensive private lessons that have to be scheduled in advance. StrumSchool’s On-Demand Lesson Service combines the best of both worlds. By using both the low cost and whenever-you-want-it convenience of Internet-based instruction, and the highly personalized, interactive instruction provided by a professional music teacher, we make it easy for our students to get help quickly without having to pay an arm and a leg.

Shapiro’s decision to go with this approach might not sound like the most dramatic change to his business model. Nevertheless, given StrumSchool’s pre-existing offerings, (e.g. live chat and classic tutorials), and its experienced teaching staff who are emphasized as not just “moonlighting musicians,” these on-demand videos with a personal touch sound like the appropriate “icing on the cake” to lock StrumSchool into place as a reliable, computer-based resource for novice instrumentalists.

You can learn more about StrumSchool and about signing up for lessons here.

Kira is an old school music nerd with a love for all things creative; always searching for music’s common ground. She graduated with an M.A. in Performing Arts Administration from New York University. Drop her a tweet @shadowmelody1

 

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