Project ConceptA website for music learners that involves goal-setting, goal-tracking and community adviceMy general idea is to create a website for music learners. The focus will not necessarily be on instructional videos and resources - though those may be included - but on motivation and community. As I play instruments that are best suited to musical styles that are rather obscure in the North American context, I find my motivation suffers when I dont have people to play with. Music-making, for me and for many others, is best as a social activity. I was thinking about what kind of interactive thing might inspire me to keep up and build on my skills, and what kinds of musical collaboration work well online. Teaching and learning do pretty well it seems. Im trying to formulate something that is more personal than instructional videos, but less formal, more flexible, and potentially more free than most services offering paid online lessons (though I think the inclusion of paid offering will probably make sense). Im thinking of something like discussion forums, but with an emphasis on videos, so that users can potentially demonstrate where they are struggling, or record visual demonstrations in response to a question. Video could also be used to demonstrate and celebrate progress over time.

Vision Statement The key to playing an instrument well is regular practice, but finding the motivation to stick to a regular practice routine can be challenging. This is true for many music learners, but perhaps especially for people who are teaching themselves. Our website will support the efforts of music learners by allowing them to set goals, track their progress, and offer one another advice and encouragement. We aim to create a community whose members are motivated to guide and inspire one another in their music making.

Comparative Analysis Online Communities and Services for Music LearnersThere appear to be no websites, services or apps that perform exactly the same function as the proposed project, so Ive examined a range of websites/web apps. The first two are sites dedicated to specific instrument communities, with discussion boards/

forums and other resources. The next two are sites that facilitate online music lessons using video conference, scheduling and payment tools - these might offer ideas about organizing a multi-instrument music learning site, as well as ways to make the proposed project financially sustainable. The last is a social goal-tracking and motivational web app dedicated to fitness rather than music, but including a range of potentially applicable features.

Banjo Hangouthttp://www.banjohangout.org

I want to start with an interesting example of an online music community. Banjo Hangout claims to be the worlds largest and most active banjo community, built for banjo players, by banjo players. The site offers a wealth of information for banjo learners, some of it paid, but much of it freely contributed by community members. Though its visual design is dated, it features a great deal of useful functionality. I suspect that one key to the communitys success, and the dedication of its members, is the fact that the banjo is less common than many other instruments, and is usually learned outside of formal music institutions. Banjo players usually have to make some effort to connect with one another, so an online community may be particularly valuable.

As it happens, this community has been the subject of an online ethnography by Janice Waldron, a professor of music eduction at the University of Windsor. Ill discuss some of her more applicable insights following a review of the websites most relevant features.

Forums and Blogs

Over 100,000 forum threads divided into 19 topics, including playing advice for various styles, banjo setup and repair, classified ads, tab requests, MP3 and video posts, and shopping advice

Requests for advice may get hundreds of replies. For example, one posters request for practice tips for how to avoid tensing up during fast passages received 248 replies.

Members can create and join groups based on special interests within the banjo community, post to group blogs, and link to other content relevant to the group

Members can also create individual blogs, with posts appearing in a community feed.

Note: I found it surprisingly difficult to find online music learning sites with flexibly-organized member forums. This seems like the easiest way to solicit and receive advice from the community, and evidently produces a high level of engagement on this site.

Media Archives

List of YouTube-hosted videos

Members can also upload MP3 audio tracks, which members can add to personal playlists

native media player runs in pop-out window, which displays a link to song details and comments, along with a like button and a link to group button

copyright notice briefly and simply explains what kinds of recordings are or are not permissible by copyright law - apparently the site has a licensing agreement with BMI, ASCAP and SESAC to allow cover renditions of songs whose rights they manage

most tracks appear to be recorded by community members, playing either covers or their own compositions

Other Learning Materials and Reviews

Incudes: A tabulature archive Group workshops hosted on the Hangout Chatroom

It is difficult to tell what form these took, though apparently webcams and microphones were not required to participate

It appears these have not been held since 2012 Instructional videos available for purchase and download. These can be filtered by

format, instructor, instrument (mostly banjo, but a few other instruments related to the banjo by type or musical style), level, and style

these include one page with virtual DVDs distributed by special media player, while another page offers individual lessons and lesson bundles available for purchase and download to local media players

Teacher listings displays teacher name and location, and can be filtered by styles and levels

taught, and whether lessons are offered online or in person unlike two of the other sites examined here, banjohangouts.org does not

host online lessons Links to external lessons and other resources Members can also post reviews of banjos and banjo-related products and services

Sponsorship

Site is supported by advertising and member donations, as well as sales of branded merchandise from their online store

Members wishing to support the site through regular donations can join the Banjo Hangout Players Union, for which they get a members-only t-shirt, branded case stickers, merchandise discounts, and no Google ads displayed on the site

Participating in the Community: Ethnographic Insights

A full literature review of online music learning communities is beyond the scope of this report, but I wanted to discuss the Janice Waldrons article, which originally directed my 1attention to banjohangout.org. Id like to highlight a few points that come up in the article, which may be worth thinking about:

Waldron focuses her narrative on three veteran banjo-players who volunteered to be interviewed by Skype. I have primarily been thinking about how to motivate beginner and novice music learners, but the narratives here often highlight ways in which experienced players instruct and inspire one another with new ideas and approaches.

The question of what motivates people to create free online resources - sometimes of quite high quality - seems particularly relevant to this project. One ethnography participant works as an instructional designer, and began making banjo tutorials as practice videos for honing professional skills (for example, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QOQ1x9nrQM).

What inspires a community of makers to learn tips and tricks for creating better instructional videos, and giving better online feedback?

All of the interviewees learned the banjo informally for the most part, with two expressing frustration with their experiences of formal music pedagogy. All three learned during the 1960s, under the influence of the folk music revival. I wonder to what extent the nature of Banjo Hangouts is shaped by the banjos associations with folk music and informal, aural music learning? Do the practices of an online community like this one come more naturally to banjo learners than to students of orchestral instruments?

Violinist.comhttp://www.violinist.com

In an effort to answer my last question, Ill look at another instrument-focused online community - this one dedicated to the violin. This is the currently the second site that comes up for the search terms online violin community, and the first that is not a vehicle for a single teacher. The site was created by a violinist and journalist, and features curated member blog posts and coverage of violin events.

Blogs and Discussion Board

Members can create personal blogs Website creator covers violin competitions, interviews prize winners and professional

players, and curates other member blog posts for the homepage feed Members who write a blog of sufficient interest to the community as a whole

may have the satisfaction of seeing it featured

Waldron, Janice. 2011. Locating narratives in postmodern spaces: a cyber ethnographic field 1study of informal music learning in online community. Action, Criticism and Theory for Music Education 10 (2).

Discussion board doesnt use the traditional forum structure of Banjo Hangout, but rather a feed of new threads that can be filtered by topic using a drop-down menu (I found this rather less easy to use, especially as I was trying to get a sense of how much material there was under each topic)

Topics are similar to those of Banjo Hangout, except: Playing advice is not subdivided by style - the repertoire topic covers only

Western classical music - but rather technique and practicing vs. teaching and pedagogy

schools, teachers and camps constitute a discussion thread, though there is also a searchable database for finding violin teachers

a health thread appears to attract a lot of engagement, given the violins special ergonomic challenges

While some topics seem to see little use, technique and practicing seems to be very popular

In general, there appears to be less engagement here than on Banjo Hangout, though its difficult to say for sure due to differences in how thread information is displayed

Posts suggest that users here are largely involved in offline, formal music education in the Western classical tradition, but they still find it useful to consult an online community for advice and motivation tips

Other Resources

Violin Facts page includes internal links that seem to generally serve as an FAQ, grouped as Words and Phrases to Know, Instruments and Accessories, Teaching, Technique, Repertoire, Fitness, Famous Violinists, and an interactive photo labeling parts of a violin

Find a Violin Teacher and Find a Violin Performer are searchable directories

Sponsorship

The site sells its creators book of collected interviews with famous violinists, as either a paperback or an ebook, via the Apple and Amazon bookstores

Violin-related business can pay to be listed in the sites Business Directory

LessonFacehttps://www.lessonface.com

A very user-friendly website for matching music teachers with students. I want to use it to start thinking about how a more video-oriented website for music learning might work (the last two included embedded videos, but advice was largely solicited and delivered by text). A few features worth considering:

building trust and confidence: the site thoroughly describes its criteria for vetting teachers, including minimum professional qualifications, ability to handle the

technology needed for online lessons, and (in the case of U.S. residents) background checks that cover the national sex offender registry

prominently includes a page entitled Parents: Start Here, with specific suggestions for choosing a music teacher for your child, and highlighting the benefits of online classes for parents

questions of safety and trust will be important on a website that encourages participants to post videos of themselves, especially if children are involved

multiple options for instruction: includes group lessons and masterclasses, as well as individual instruction

includes teachers for various instruments, vocal styles, and also lessons in the use of audio recording and mixing software, music theory, songwriting, improvisation

ease of use for students and teachers: students book lessons and pay through the site, which means teachers dont have to set up payment methods or schedule times

users can browse teachers, and filter by instrument, skill level, price (instructors set their own rates), days and times available, and other criteria

featured teachers and masterclasses appear on the homepage uses a built-in video conference tool rather than relying on a third party such

as Skype, and offers technical support by phone good visual design: attractive interface, with friendly, informal graphics other resources: a news feed includes a few tips and related products, but there

isnt much in the way of independent learning resources

Some gaps in LessonFaces offerings, as well as a possible technical hazard:

when I was on the site, the pages were loading quite slowly, which raises the question: what are the technical requirements associated with hosting video conferencing? What are the risks?

includes no social media or community features, and very minimal independent music learning resources

besides a few instructors in Carnatic and Hindustani music and some non-Western percussion, lessons focus on Western music genres and instruments

Zoen (Zenph Online Education Network)https://www.thezoen.com

An online music lesson platform is similar to LessonFace, but a bit more bare-bones. It includes:

a system for scheduling and paying for lessons browsable instructor profiles

instructors can also include a video, whose link displays on the search results page

rather than

recommendations for webcams and headphones, with links to online stores also includes its own embedded video conference tool

Unlike LessonFace, it does not include:

stated criteria for vetting teachers - each instructor may list their qualifications in their profile, but theres little to indicate that the site vets its teachers

advertised group lessons and masterclasses a prominently displayed technical support phone number

Fitocracyhttps://www.fitocracy.com

Though geared towards a different set of users, this award-winning web app features many ideas that we could apply to a music learning community. Their business model might be particularly useful to consider: they offer free and paid membership levels, with paying members having various levels of access to professional trainers. There are also hero memberships that come with added social features. The site for music learners might adopt a similar model, offering professional musicians the opportunity to win business (similar to existing online music lesson sites), while also encouraging them to contribute free content in order to boost their own profiles. Below are features we might like to incorporate into our music website, as well a few gaps:

Goal-tracking and Motivation

gamified" approach to goal-tracking and motivation users can log individual exercises or choose from a list of workout routines

either must be chosen from a list, where each list item has been pre-assigned a number of points

loveable robot mascot awards points for workouts completed animated time to calculate points provides a sense of anticipation and

reward points allow users to level up as well as complete quests very smooth user experience - large library of workout routines make it easy to

choose and log a workout, while also offering a fair degree of customization could adapt a similar system for music learners

a library of exercises for popular instruments at various levels OR a list of skills to be worked on, by instrument type (eg. under wind

instrument we might include fingering speed and breath support) - user would have to find exercises appropriate to their instrument and level

Social Networking

user profiles include feeds, featuring points, levels, badges, and status updates can follow and be followed by other users

can comment on each others profiles, and award props (similar to likes on Facebook)

can create or join groups organized around common goals or interests, friendly competitions, or individual goals

paid hero subscriptions offer private messages, the ability to challenge other users to duels, and the ability to save the workouts of other users

might be worth looking into whether common interest groups, forums, or a combination would work best for the purposes of our music site

social interaction is based entirely on text, with occasional photos. A similar website for music learners might encourage more audio and video components to status updates, challenges, etc.

Education

articles in searchable Knowledge Center contributed by fitness experts contributors may include a prominent blurb describing their expertise, business and

contact information music instructors might also be motivated to contribute free content in exchange for

exposure to new business there really isnt a venue for asking questions of the community at large, unless

youre able to draw attention to your personal feed - users must pay a coach to get personalized advice, while on Banjo Hangouts and Violinist.com, advice could be had in abundance for free.

SummarySo far, there appears to be no Fitocracy for music learners. As a music learner myself, I think the approach could be very productive, especially if we used video as a way of recording and reflecting on practice, tracking improvement over time, and perhaps even socializing. At the same time, I have always loved the discussion forum model, and find it the easiest way to become invested in a community of common interest. Banjo Hangouts site would not have been as vibrant as it is if the focus of social interaction were liking, following, and a Facebook-like feed of status updates. Combining Fitocracys emphasis on rewarding practice routines and achieving personal goals with Banjo Hangouts public discussions is an idea that I as a musician find very appealing.

Online music lesson services and instructional videos attest to the fact that people find video - recorded or live - a useful and valuable way to learn music online. However, LessonFace reminds us that security may be a concern for many users when it comes to live, face-to-face communications. I wonder how many users would feel more comfortable with asynchronous video interactions? Im imagining discussion forums such as those on Banjo Hangout where users could post videos as well as text.

Students might demonstrate where theyre struggling, and other community members might catch problems that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. As with Fitocracy and the music lesson websites, users might be offered the opportunity to purchase private lessons when needed, while free content would be enough to encourage a broad base to participate and enrich the community.

In short, there appears to be an opportunity here to create a unique digital offering that would be of value to music learners.