Country Blues > Performance Corner

Country Blues Instruction Market?

(1/2) > >>

2handband:
Hi, I'm Gene and this is my first post on this forum. I am a blues and ragtime guitarist and guitar educator. I have a question that I've been posting on various guitar forums and would like some input from this board. Do you think there is a market for a country blues guitar method aimed at the complete beginner? I've been teaching this music for years and just lately have had many students who have never before touched a guitar who are very interested in these styles. Most methods that I am familiar with assume that you already have a basic understanding of the instrument, and even ignoring that I haven't found any methods that I really have been able to use. I've developed a method myself which will take a student form complete beginner to the advanced stages (proven over and over again in my studio) but have been told by some people who ought to know that I'd be wasting my time trying to market it. Any thoughts?

Slack:
Welcome to Weenie Campbell Gene!

Sure there is a beginners CB market - cannot say how big it is - but my guess would be that it is pretty small.  There are a number of instructors with instructional material that cater to beginners - Happy Traum, Fred Sokolow, Stephan Grossman to name a few... so you know there is some kind of market.  Port Townsend workshop always has classes that cater to beginners and they are well attended. 

Never know till you try as they say.

Cheers,
slack

koaguitarman:
Hi Gene and Welcome
I agree with slack, you'll never know if you don't try. How much investment would be needed? It sounds like a great idea, all you need is some investers!
Russ

2handband:
Actually, Russ, that's the only thing stopping me right now; I want to do this on video and I'm looking at 5-10k. I'm working on trying to raise the money.

a2tom:
It probably isn't strictly correct to say that there aren't materials out there for the complete beginner. ?That's how I started - I had to learn how to finger a C chord to be able to play my first song (Freight Train), and was off onto blues and ragtime from there. ?I used a couple of different things at the very beginning, but my main one was some material from Stefan Grossman. ?He (and the others mentioned) certainly already provide a significant volume of material for which you really don't need any prior time with the guitar. ?

I obviously know nothing of your approach to teaching, and it may be better than what is out there for those first tough days if you have an actual _method_ for finger training (fretting and picking) that is linked to the blues. ?But there is competition out there that has been out there for a while and is pretty well known. ?The burden would be on you to show you were better. ?The question of "what would it take to get started" is dead on - how much of a risk you are willing to take to produce and market first materials, how big your initial target market was, etc. ?Basic business plan stuff. ?

I'd be interested to hear what you find limiting in materials from folks like Grossman, Traum, etc. ?Seems to me that would define whether marketing your unique approach might be worth it.

Tom

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page