Duke Robillard . Swingin' the Blues

[mikcaren]

First off, I want to thank all of you for helping Duke and I put together the lesson plan for the Swingin' the Blues series. We have just launched the series and you can find it here:

http://www.redoakmusic.com/online-gu...ng-guitar.html

The goal for this series is to transition a player familiar with standard 12 bar blues to more melodic and complex jazz / blues / swing playing. The series first focuses on jazz / blues and swing rhythm guitar to lay a solid foundation and then teaches passing chords, comping, riffing, double stops and lead guitar. The series ends by putting the lessons to practice in three songs: Swingin' with Lucy Mae, Moten Swing and Lester Leaps In.

Each lesson has video with synchronized tab, slow practice, practice and jam track (no guitar) videos ... and a hardcopy print-out of the tab.

Hope you like it and thanks again for the help and feedback.

Mike

[jimfog]

Maybe I'm missing it, but I don't see the cost anywhere.

[mikcaren]

Originally Posted by jimfog

Maybe I'm missing it, but I don't see the cost anywhere.

Yes ... good point. The cost is $4.99 / lesson. There are also two double lessons (it made sense material / teaching wise to keep them all together) which are $9.99.

[Rob 62]

Mike:
I've checked out the lesson samples, and they look good. So - how does it work? If I add a lesson to my cart, and pay - am I able to download that lesson to my computer, or is it just buying me access to an embedded streaming video? If that is the case, how many views would the subscription price buy?

[mikcaren]

Originally Posted by Rob 62

Mike:
I've checked out the lesson samples, and they look good. So - how does it work? If I add a lesson to my cart, and pay - am I able to download that lesson to my computer, or is it just buying me access to an embedded streaming video? If that is the case, how many views would the subscription price buy?

Great question. With the purchase, you buy access to an embedded streaming video with synchronized tab. With each purchase, the lessons show up on your 'My Music' page ... so over time, you build up a songbook of lessons that you can access from any computer, any time etc.. For each lesson of this series, there is typically 1 lesson, with 1-4 practice tracks and 1-4 jam tracks ... all with synchronized tab. You can watch it as many times as you want for the next 10 years.

There is also a print button to enable printing of all the tab.

Hope that helps and let me know what you think.

[Rob 62]

Mike:
I registered yesterday, and have been playing with one of the Moten Swing lessons. I'll soon collect a few more - these are very nicely done. The loop function, the split screen options, and the printable sheet music/tab - all good ideas, well executed. If I ever think of anything that would make these lessons better, I will contact you.

You can watch it as many times as you want for the next 10 years.

So, Red Oak has a server that will maintain these lessons for ten years, even if Red Oak (and let's hope not - best of luck to you!), bites it in a year? Clarify, if you can.

[jbever]

Mike, great to hear. I've done several of Duke's and Kenny Ray's lessons and still go back to them to pick up more. I've enjoyed these! Thanks and will be getting the new ones also.

[motis1953]

Looks great.

[Chappie]

My only concern is if I buy a lesson and the company doesn't last,...then what?

No huge deal..just curious.

thanks,
Randy

[greggorypeccary]

Originally Posted by Chappie

My only concern is if I buy a lesson and the company doesn't last,...then what?

No huge deal..just curious.

thanks,
Randy

I looked at the free lesson yesterday and will probably grab a couple more, I love Duke's style!

But they're not that involved. Print out the music and you can keep it. How many times will you really need to watch the video, especially once you've got the concept?

[Chappie]

Originally Posted by greggorypeccary

I looked at the free lesson yesterday and will probably grab a couple more, I love Duke's style!

But they're not that involved. Print out the music and you can keep it. How many times will you really need to watch the video, especially once you've got the concept?

good point....looking at some Duke stuff now..

Randy

[Rob 62]

I still open books I bought years ago. I revisit, and learn something new. I'd like to think that I could do the same with these lessons. In sour economic times, it is a fair question to ask how long an embedded, streaming lesson will be available. It might be good for Red Oak to offer the lessons on DVD - give a person the option to spend six times more for a hard copy that they can put on their shelf, load into their hard drive, etc.

That said, I have already paid for a first lesson (received a credit of $4.99 toward a $9.99 lesson), and I think it is great. I wish all the best to Red Oak.

[mikcaren]

Originally Posted by Rob 62

Mike:
I registered yesterday, and have been playing with one of the Moten Swing lessons. I'll soon collect a few more - these are very nicely done. The loop function, the split screen options, and the printable sheet music/tab - all good ideas, well executed. If I ever think of anything that would make these lessons better, I will contact you.



So, Red Oak has a server that will maintain these lessons for ten years, even if Red Oak (and let's hope not - best of luck to you!), bites it in a year? Clarify, if you can.

Hi Rob,

Glad you are enjoying the lessons and the functionality we put together. I actually did all the coding for the multi-media ... so glad it was time well spent. We've got an even better loop function in the works, and some things past that ... always interested in ideas on how to make the experience more fun and effective so definitely drop a line if you have any ideas.

Understand the concern over the online part ... especially for a new company. I chose a web-service as the delivery platform as I think this is the best choice for the future. Over the next couple years I believe people are going to be taking lessons like this on their big internet enabled HD TV's, iPads, slates, laptops etc. and I think it will be easier to deliver, manage and consume the lessons if the only thing you need to remember is the website name and your login info.

That being said, after the improved looper, we are looking to implement a download page for each lesson ... that includes the videos, MP3's (we've had requests for these) and PDF's of the tab for each lesson, practice and jam track. The thing this won't have is the synchronized tab + video ... yet ...

In terms of our server, yes we will keep it up for at least 10 years. From an economic perspective, serving the lessons is really a small part of the operation (as long as things are designed correctly .. which we did). The real investment is creating the high quality content.

Anyways, really happy to hear you like the lesson and sorry for the long answer, I like talking about this stuff ...

Mike

[Rob 62]

Thanks, Mike. I've since signed up for three more, and I got a friend to sign up for four.

[bigdaddy]

Cool stuff, Mike. I like the Jam sections where I can watch Duke play but can't hear him (leaving room for my playing). That's a neat idea.