By: Marcos Rios
In the last few years there has been a constant rise in online music education, in the realm of jazz guitarists and shred guitarist who are willing to provide guitar lessons to students willing to pay the right amount. The primary vehicle in these lessons is usually a program called Skype. In my experience taking online lessons some of these may cost one from $50 to $160 depending on the time and the player. One of the consequences I found with some of these lessons is that the program one using to stream to the other musicians can at any moment fail either video or audio wise. Another negative aspect is that there is usually no follow through after the lessons and one can’t review the lesson if one doesn’t record it. I believe that the Jimmy Bruno’s Guitar Workshop gives a good option for these musicians who are frustrated with other technology and are looking for more bang for their buck.
Jimmy Bruno’s Guitar Workshop gives musicians from many ages access to one of the greatest improvisers of all time. This is an easy to use website that provides students access to lessons on topics from the basics of jazz guitar, such as how to improvise on a ii-V-I in C major, to advanced concepts such as improvising over a tune like “Cherokee” and everything in between. Contrary to how most lesson websites make me feel, which is at times quite overwhelming, the way Jimmy sets up his lessons makes it feel very comfortable to the user. Each of these lessons provides a video of Jimmy Bruno teaching and performing these concepts, as well as lead sheets and downloadable exercises which help the student absorb the concepts found in each lesson. I found it very nice that this website allows students to go at their own pace during their lessons.
The lessons section in this website helps players from all ages design their own lessons. The lessons sections is divided into bigger sections which are Getting Started, Chord studies, Arpeggios Shapes, Improvisation, Technique and Tune Analysis. These bigger sections have different levels of difficulty in which the student chooses their own learning path to follow. Bruno suggests going for the lessons that contain content that the student doesn’t know in order for the student to benefit more from these lessons. I find this beneficial, because from personal experience in taking guitar lessons with an array of private teachers at times one doesn’t really get what one wants out of the lesson.
Jimmy Bruno’s Jazz Guitar Workshop Website lets the student control their lesson experience in a very unique and highly effective manner. After the student learns the lesson he or she can submit a video in which the student plays what he has learned in the Master classes section of the website. In this section Bruno watches the video and then comments on it and recommends what the student should do next. This website also has a forum in which the students can discuss what they are working on and other topics.
I believe that learning music via internet is becoming very prominent in the music society we are living in. The Jimmy Bruno Guitar Workshop is an affordable and great way to learn from one of the greatest Jazz guitarists of our generation. Anyone who is serious about jazz guitar should consider this website for their online learning endeavors.
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Jimmy Bruno's Guitar Workshop
Jimmy Bruno's Guitar Workshop
Jimmy Bruno's Guitar Workshop
Jimmy Bruno's Guitar Workshop
