In 2007, Ben Shapiro did what many of us who aspire to play the guitar do -- he surfed YouTube for tips and tidbits on how to get started.
Sure, he found some viable videos, but he couldn't quite seem to find a comprehensive one-stop source to help him take his strumming skills to the next level.
That's when Ben's entrepreneurial spirit kicked in.
He saw an opportunity to start an online guitar education resource, which he dubbed "StrumSchool." "The genesis of this site is that I went online to find a guitar lesson that didn't cost an arm and a leg," Ben told us. "But I had a hard time looking through YouTube, because there's so much content and you have to know what you’re looking for." In the beginning, Ben started recording his own instructional videos, but as the years progressed, he wanted to make StrumSchool more multi-faceted and interactive. So, in February 2012, StrumSchool 2.0 launched.
When we caught up with Ben, he was finishing a typical day at the Makeshift Society (235 Gough), a co-op workspace for creatives and startups, where he’s been working full-time since October 2012. He mentioned to us that StrumSchool's mission is to foster a learning environment where students can go at their own pace and walk through the basics like the anatomy of the guitar to learning basic chords. "People can learn on their own schedule," Ben noted. "Instead of having to book lessons weeks in advance, they are able to go online and learn little chunks of knowledge when they are ready. That's one of the beauties of our business model--whenever you get stuck, you can get online and have someone help you over that hurdle." StrumSchool basically captures the spirit of a typical in-person guitar jam session and repackages it for the a web-based curriculum, including: a library of pre-recorded lesson clips, live webcam lessons with teachers, a blog catering to deciphering chords of popular songs, and a list of guitar vocabulary. The most recently added feature is the live lessons, which are free for the first 15 minutes, and $1 per minute after. These aren't just any normal guitar classes, though. StrumSchool's faculty is armed with 25 masters of the guitar from across the U.S. that Ben has personally recruited. "The beauty of being online is that we’re able to comb through a nation's worth of teachers and cherry-pick the people we really like," Ben explained. "Also, since we have people spread throughout the country, we get to play with timezones, so there's always someone on the site." He vets potential teachers by assessing whether he would like to take a lesson from them himself. Teachers are expected to be able to teach the classics, like how to fingerpick like Jimi Hendrix, but also how to play some more contemporary tunes like those of Taylor Swift. "Then I go over role-playing exercises to understand what their teaching style is and what their skills are, so they don't get pigeonholed into one specific genre," Ben said.
StrumSchool's student body is as diverse as its instructors. It's primarily comprised of guitar enthusiasts from the U.S., Canada, and U.K., though some hail from as far away as India. On average, the site gets about 500 to 1,000 visits per day. Despite its global reach, Ben feels grounded and inspired by Hayes Valley and particularly the creative space that is Makeshift Society. "[Makeshift] is an environment for creatives. There's a lot of people doing different types of businesses," Ben mentioned. "It helps you think about your world in a different way when you have bloggers, photographers and even winemakers in the same space." As StrumSchool continues its musical education renaissance, Ben hopes to see more startups move from traditional technology hotspots, like SOMA, to find residence in our charming and inspiring valley.
If you know a Hayes Valley-based startup that you think deserves a profile on Hayeswire, let us know -- tips [at] hayeswire {{dot}} com.
He saw an opportunity to start an online guitar education resource, which he dubbed "StrumSchool." "The genesis of this site is that I went online to find a guitar lesson that didn't cost an arm and a leg," Ben told us. "But I had a hard time looking through YouTube, because there's so much content and you have to know what you’re looking for." In the beginning, Ben started recording his own instructional videos, but as the years progressed, he wanted to make StrumSchool more multi-faceted and interactive. So, in February 2012, StrumSchool 2.0 launched.
When we caught up with Ben, he was finishing a typical day at the Makeshift Society (235 Gough), a co-op workspace for creatives and startups, where he’s been working full-time since October 2012. He mentioned to us that StrumSchool's mission is to foster a learning environment where students can go at their own pace and walk through the basics like the anatomy of the guitar to learning basic chords. "People can learn on their own schedule," Ben noted. "Instead of having to book lessons weeks in advance, they are able to go online and learn little chunks of knowledge when they are ready. That's one of the beauties of our business model--whenever you get stuck, you can get online and have someone help you over that hurdle." StrumSchool basically captures the spirit of a typical in-person guitar jam session and repackages it for the a web-based curriculum, including: a library of pre-recorded lesson clips, live webcam lessons with teachers, a blog catering to deciphering chords of popular songs, and a list of guitar vocabulary. The most recently added feature is the live lessons, which are free for the first 15 minutes, and $1 per minute after. These aren't just any normal guitar classes, though. StrumSchool's faculty is armed with 25 masters of the guitar from across the U.S. that Ben has personally recruited. "The beauty of being online is that we’re able to comb through a nation's worth of teachers and cherry-pick the people we really like," Ben explained. "Also, since we have people spread throughout the country, we get to play with timezones, so there's always someone on the site." He vets potential teachers by assessing whether he would like to take a lesson from them himself. Teachers are expected to be able to teach the classics, like how to fingerpick like Jimi Hendrix, but also how to play some more contemporary tunes like those of Taylor Swift. "Then I go over role-playing exercises to understand what their teaching style is and what their skills are, so they don't get pigeonholed into one specific genre," Ben said.
StrumSchool's student body is as diverse as its instructors. It's primarily comprised of guitar enthusiasts from the U.S., Canada, and U.K., though some hail from as far away as India. On average, the site gets about 500 to 1,000 visits per day. Despite its global reach, Ben feels grounded and inspired by Hayes Valley and particularly the creative space that is Makeshift Society. "[Makeshift] is an environment for creatives. There's a lot of people doing different types of businesses," Ben mentioned. "It helps you think about your world in a different way when you have bloggers, photographers and even winemakers in the same space." As StrumSchool continues its musical education renaissance, Ben hopes to see more startups move from traditional technology hotspots, like SOMA, to find residence in our charming and inspiring valley.
If you know a Hayes Valley-based startup that you think deserves a profile on Hayeswire, let us know -- tips [at] hayeswire {{dot}} com.
