"Teach the World" through ArtistWorks.
ArtistWorks has broken new ground by creating the newest generation of technology for online visual education. Until now, any music student or pastime players who want to get personal instruction from the world’s most talented artists could not readily have that access. Likewise, musicians who are "on the road" or in the studio much of the year typically could not justify the time for giving private lessons to the few students living nearby. Teacher and student have often been separated by many borders, sometimes even oceans.
The ArtistWorks mission is to unite experienced teaching musicians with the students who want to either learn the instrument or get better at their playing. Using our Video Exchange System (VES, patent pending), the ArtistWorks’ Learning Method revolutionizes the way musicians personally teach a surprisingly large number of students around the globe. We’ve uniquely implemented traditional face-to-face education with 21st century video technology like nobody else has done before by preserving personalized guidance, feedback and monitoring from the teacher. Unlike in person instruction, the lessons are always available to the learner so they can go back and review old material they have perhaps forgotten or need to review.
Some people unfamiliar with ArtistWorks may mistake our platform and format for simple “video chat” where two people have a simultaneous private interchange that no one else can see and that is not recorded. Although this type of communication is effective for conversations, we find it inefficient and non-productive for the teaching and learning anything visual, like a musical instrument. Slow Internet connections and the need to be in the same time zone limits the effectiveness of this kind of instruction.
Our students get the highest quality education from the ArtistWorks instructor by using our Video Exchange System, a vital link in the ArtistWorks Learning Method. Each teacher records an extensive and progressive curriculum in the ArtistWorks Video Studio that is posted to their subscription based website and is always available to students. Subscribing students are able to watch the lessons at any time and as many times as they would like. Although study is self-paced and video submission is not required, the lessons are structured for optimal learning and pivotal techniques are highlighted as assignments for students to submit to the instructor through the Video Exchange System.
Here’s where the ArtistWorks Learning Method becomes incredibly powerful:
When students are ready to have their playing evaluated by the teacher, they simply use their webcam or smart phone to record their practicing and submit the video through the VES for the teacher to review their submission. In order for the student to prevent bad habits and repetitive mistakes, the teacher records a Response Video with individual, personalized instruction. There are no pre-canned responses and each video is responded to, guiding the student toward their next assignment. This is one of the critical steps to the learning process and is the very essence of what separates the ArtistWorks Learning Method from DVDs or free videos online.
We created the Video Exchange Center on all of our sites that lists every Video Exchange between teacher and student, a very popular as well as essential resource for learning an instrument. Equally important is how all students benefit from viewing these exchanges. Even if a student does not send in a video, they gain knowledge and understanding by watching the Video Exchanges between their fellow students and the teacher, often discovering they too are making the same mistake.
The ArtistWorks Learning Method breaks the barrier to one-sided learning that is espoused on free video sites as well as DVD’s. In order to learn a visual skill like a musical instrument well and to progress correctly, feedback, guidance and an assignment are needed from someone who has taken the journey and experienced the learning process themself. Even more revolutionizing is the ability for “beginners” to get personal lessons from the best musical expertise, something that has been virtually impossible until now. Players of all levels, regardless of experience are improving their skills, learning more techniques and expanding their abilities because they have access to world class instruction in an easy to use format in their own home through the ArtistWorks Learning Method.
Here are some questions we often get:
Who are the ArtistWorks partners? In addition to the musicians featured on this website, there are a number of artists and experts in various stages of development that will be announced in 2012. As ArtistWorks’ influence grows, we are exploring the expansion in to multiple other disciplines along with continuing our legacy of musical instrument instruction.
Why do artists or musicians join the ArtistWorks family? ArtistWorks partners know that they are being provided the opportunity to pass on their art or skill to aspiring students. ArtistWorks partners are touching thousands of lives. The ArtistWorks' platform makes it easy for artists and experts (even musicians "on the road") to teach surprisingly large numbers of students. The ArtistWorks Learning Method creates a rich and immersive educational experience for online communities through our implementation of social features that foster networking and encouragement to fellow students, coupled with our powerful learning tool, the Video Exchange System (VES).
How did this all get started?
David Butler, a former AOL executive and Co-founder of ArtistWorks, was interested in seeing if he could combine his interest in music and music instruction with his knowledge of the Internet and interest in videography. His first project was to enable his jazz guitar teacher to teach him through an exchange of videos that was recorded and kept paired together for later reference. David subsequently expanded the concept and technology and started ArtistWorks with his wife, Patricia Butler. At ArtistWorks, he is taking his concept of Internet-based “Video Exchange System” and ArtistWorks Learning Method to multiple artists and varying disciplines.
