Anyone heard of the Guitar Mastery Intensive program?

[sjm1580]

Interesting approach and perspective on teaching, if indeed it is different than other internet options.

https://www.guitarmasteryintensive.com/

Is anyone familiar with this program?

Thank you.

[garysathome]

At 5k its a little out of my price range

[sjm1580]

Originally Posted by garysathome

At 5k its a little out of my price range

A little out of mine too. Do you know anything about it?

[carolb]

Did you find out any more info about the legitimacy of the guitar mastery intensive? Odd that they don't post the program cost on the website, that raised red flags for me.

[sjm1580]

Originally Posted by carolb

Did you find out any more info about the legitimacy of the guitar mastery intensive? Odd that they don't post the program cost on the website, that raised red flags for me.

I didn't pursue it much more after finding out the cost (if I remember correctly, it was $5k plus). Sorry I don't have much more information for you.

[PTL]

Depending on how much 1-1 the program provides among other things, $5K for 3 months MAY possibly be warranted. However, there's also a limit to how much one can absorb and improve in endeavors such as music which is not merely intellectual but also physical. My son practices a musical instrument 4-6 hours daily under some of the highest level in person instruction, and is gifted as a musician. Even under those conditions, there are still limits to his growth.

[Duck916]

I didn't see pricing on the site. If it's really $5000 for three months, that's about $385 per week. The description of the program makes it sound as if you get a weekly one-on-one session with an instructor, plus unlimited email access (and maybe live chats, too). That's a good amount of time, but I compare it to my one-on-one instruction with a live, in-person instructor I used to pay $80/hour once a week for. It's hard for me to see the value.

I consider myself a beginner (maybe an advanced beginner). Their description of the "intermediate" level player they cater to sounds like more of a true beginner to me.

[carolb]

My red flags turned out to be warranted. I just got off the "interview" call with their "admissions department".

Multiple red flags:
- The interviewer mentioned during the call that they have a pretty extensive student interview process. I literally did nothing but submit the application. Just after I submitted my application, I received a request to set up a time for an interview call. Then at the end of the call, I was offered a seat in the program...sounds like an extensive and thorough interview process...

- The interviewer avoided talking about the cost of the program ($5995) until the very end where they try to immediately get you to pay $1000 to hold your seat. After I expressed some hesitation to pay immediately on the call, the interviewer implied that if I were to hang up and not make a financial commitment, I would have no chance in continuing with this semester's program.

- After I expressed that it would be helpful if they were more transparent about the cost and had it available on the website and that I would need more time to consider this, the interviewer stating they made it clear at the beginning of the call that a financial investment would be asked for at the end of the conversation.

- I asked about the scholarships they offer to underrepresented folks, and they said they offer scholarships up to 10% of the cost, but that they typically are only offered to "third world students".

- I asked if they could get me in contact with a past student so that I could ask them about their experience in the program, and they said that's not possible. They offered the chance to speak to a mentor/teacher.

I'd recommend to stay away.

[tippy5]

Let's see her do the 5 fret span, Ralph Towner chords on a standard scale.

[Dogma]

Were you instructed to pay said $1K deposit with a Walgreens gift card ?

[RalphH]

Looks dodgy as anything to me. Simple website with a bunch of vanilla stock images that anyone could build in 5 mins flat, no postal address, no price, no information about the course at all, just the ability to have them call you [and pressure you into handing over money].

[GuitarMastery]

Hey there,

Spencer here. I’m one of the founders here at Guitar Mastery Intensive. I want to just pop in here and provide a bit more transparency around who we are, and how our admissions process works.

We are pleased to have become a forum sponsor and have added a thread in the AGF Marketplace to announce our service. You can view it here. Within the detail is an explanation of how our business model works which should address the questions that have been raised in this thread.

We look forward to any inquiries you may have. Thank you.

[drzo]

Hi all,

I wanted to jump in here as a former GMI student who is not in any way financially affiliated with the company / course. No one from GMI has asked me to post here or encouraged me to speak up- I just found this post while googling the program and want to pitch my 2 cents in.

I can’t speak to anyone else’s experience or financial situation, but I can tell you that the program absolutely delivered on it’s promise for me: helping me break out of the intermediate plateau and reach “fluency” on the instrument in a systematic way.

I had the good fortune to study with Ila (lead teacher / co-founder at GMI) in the early GMI days, when the online program and tech was way less sophisticated than it is now. Ila was the first teacher who had the comprehensive system I was hungry for (but didn’t even know I needed). I made more progress (by far) with Ila than with any other teacher.

To be honest, it was kind of heartbreaking how much time I felt like I’d wasted on other methods... This is why I’m so passionate about this approach and why I bothered jumping in here to talk about it.

The price? Well here’s the thing… In my 10+ years of playing guitar, I have spent 10s of thousands of dollars on guitar lessons (ie $100/ lesson * 52 weeks = $5200). And in the years before learning Ila’s method, I had never actually met anyone who had a comprehensive system for going from here to there. It was all patchy, and totally depended on the availability, temperament and approach of the teacher. I had many teachers who were amazing players, but somehow it just never added up to me getting a lot better like I wanted, even if I practiced consistently (1ish hour per day was probably my average).

So, with GMI you’re not just getting a 3 month program plus mentorship and a bunch of tech goodies (which is awesome in and of itself)-- you’re getting a system you can practice for a lifetime. In fact I STILL practice with Ila’s system every day, even though I don’t take 1 on 1 lessons anymore.

To be clear, I don’t want to invalidate anyone else’s experience at all… but it felt important to jump in and provide some additional context as a student. I’d say don’t jump too quickly to conclusions about this stuff. For me, this was the best investment I ever made in my own playing. It would be sad if people passed up the opportunity if this is actually what people are looking for.

[davidbeinct]

Originally Posted by drzo

Hi all,

I wanted to jump in here as a former GMI student who is not in any way financially affiliated with the company / course. No one from GMI has asked me to post here or encouraged me to speak up- I just found this post while googling the program and want to pitch my 2 cents in.

I can’t speak to anyone else’s experience or financial situation, but I can tell you that the program absolutely delivered on it’s promise for me: helping me break out of the intermediate plateau and reach “fluency” on the instrument in a systematic way.

I had the good fortune to study with Ila (lead teacher / co-founder at GMI) in the early GMI days, when the online program and tech was way less sophisticated than it is now. Ila was the first teacher who had the comprehensive system I was hungry for (but didn’t even know I needed). I made more progress (by far) with Ila than with any other teacher.

To be honest, it was kind of heartbreaking how much time I felt like I’d wasted on other methods... This is why I’m so passionate about this approach and why I bothered jumping in here to talk about it.

The price? Well here’s the thing… In my 10+ years of playing guitar, I have spent 10s of thousands of dollars on guitar lessons (ie $100/ lesson * 52 weeks = $5200). And in the years before learning Ila’s method, I had never actually met anyone who had a comprehensive system for going from here to there. It was all patchy, and totally depended on the availability, temperament and approach of the teacher. I had many teachers who were amazing players, but somehow it just never added up to me getting a lot better like I wanted, even if I practiced consistently (1ish hour per day was probably my average).

So, with GMI you’re not just getting a 3 month program plus mentorship and a bunch of tech goodies (which is awesome in and of itself)-- you’re getting a system you can practice for a lifetime. In fact I STILL practice with Ila’s system every day, even though I don’t take 1 on 1 lessons anymore.

To be clear, I don’t want to invalidate anyone else’s experience at all… but it felt important to jump in and provide some additional context as a student. I’d say don’t jump too quickly to conclusions about this stuff. For me, this was the best investment I ever made in my own playing. It would be sad if people passed up the opportunity if this is actually what people are looking for.

Thanks for posting that. Do you have any SoundCloud files or YouTube vids showing your playing? It would be illuminating to the overall discussion here.

[Denny B]

Originally Posted by carolb

My red flags turned out to be warranted. I just got off the "interview" call with their "admissions department".

Multiple red flags:
- The interviewer mentioned during the call that they have a pretty extensive student interview process. I literally did nothing but submit the application. Just after I submitted my application, I received a request to set up a time for an interview call. Then at the end of the call, I was offered a seat in the program...sounds like an extensive and thorough interview process...

- The interviewer avoided talking about the cost of the program ($5995) until the very end where they try to immediately get you to pay $1000 to hold your seat. After I expressed some hesitation to pay immediately on the call, the interviewer implied that if I were to hang up and not make a financial commitment, I would have no chance in continuing with this semester's program.

- After I expressed that it would be helpful if they were more transparent about the cost and had it available on the website and that I would need more time to consider this, the interviewer stating they made it clear at the beginning of the call that a financial investment would be asked for at the end of the conversation.

- I asked about the scholarships they offer to underrepresented folks, and they said they offer scholarships up to 10% of the cost, but that they typically are only offered to "third world students".

- I asked if they could get me in contact with a past student so that I could ask them about their experience in the program, and they said that's not possible. They offered the chance to speak to a mentor/teacher.

I'd recommend to stay away.

Thanks for posting your experience and opinions following your contact and inquiries about this course, Carol...much appreciated..