Yousician, the world’s leading platform to learn and play music, has partnered with Montclair State University’s John J. Cali School of Music to provide free premium+ subscriptions to 150 students as a compliment to their music education curriculum.
Due to the new demands on music educators affected by the global pandemic and lightning-speed advancements in digital technology, Yousician collaborated with Montclair State University (MSU) to understand the challenges they currently face and offer a unique solution to both support and reinvent traditional music lessons.
Dr. Bryan Powell, Assistant Professor of Music Education and Music Technology at MSU, used Yousician in his “Guitar Techniques” and “Teaching Popular Music” classes as a remote music learning supplement to his existing syllabus.
Dr. Powell said, "It's been a great experience integrating Yousician into the class syllabus this semester. My students have found it to be really helpful to have a guitar practice tool that is fun and motivating, and I like that it provides them with real-time feedback, especially during remote learning when I can't be with them in person.”
In addition to providing MSU music students with access to the platform, Yousician hosted two Yousician Guest Teacher Series with Mark Bryan, lead guitarist from Hootie & The Blowfish, and Nancy Wilson, lead guitarist and vocalist from the multi-platinum rock group Heart.
Both Bryan and Wilson delivered a tailored lesson in their area of music expertise as well as a much-needed boost of inspiration to MSU music students. Bryan performed some of the band’s hits and discussed his new solo album, Midlife Priceless, out April 2, 2021. He performed “Only Wanna Be With You” and “Hold My Hand” plus his new single off his upcoming album, “A Little More Rock N Roll.” Bryan tested his guitar skills on Yousician with R.E.M’s hit “Losing My Religion”, which the band released a cover of this past April. “When we were cutting our teeth as a band, almost every night fans would hear us onstage covering R.E.M.,” frontman Darius Rucker said.
Bryan said, “Teaching ‘Music Industry’ at the College of Charleston was a chance for me to share 20 years of experience with the next generation. It also helped shape my understanding of how we share music in the era of streaming. More than ever, I feel purposeful about sharing the gift of music; a blessing whether you're giving or receiving."
Wilson, Yousician’s first female guest teacher, performed iconic Heart hits “Barracuda”, “Even It Up” and “Silver Wheels”. The songs, “Barracuda” and “Kick It Out” will be available to learn and play for guitar, bass and voice on December 18th. Wilson also put her guitar skills to the test on the Yousician app with
the song “Barracuda”.
Wilson gave meaningful advice for future music educators saying, “I think learning to play by ear is one thing that is really good to be able to improvise by ear and not to be stuck only playing by reading music
on a page. Developing your ear, harmony and intervals is really gratifying because you can pick up an instrument and ‘oh, yea, i think i know how that goes’ and you can kinda figure it out without needing a crutch of music on a page... I think music educators can help develop the ear which is just as important as knowing how to read [music].”
The Yousician Guest Teacher Series launched this past summer with iconic musical artists such as Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Jason Mraz and Phil Collen from Def Leppard. The class experiences bring artists into the classroom to inspire students to keep their music education going no matter the circumstance.
In an effort to continue music learning during these difficult times, Yousician will continue to offer special access to the platform for all music educators and students. The Yousician for Teachers initiative launched in March 2020 and has provided access to over 100,000 students globally.
About Yousician
Yousician is the world’s leading platform to learn and play music. With a combined 22M monthly active users, our two groundbreaking products, Yousician and GuitarTuna, are the leaders in their field.
The company was founded in 2010 by Chris Thur and Mikko Kaipainen in Helsinki, Finland and also has an office in New York City. The company has 100+ employees from over 25 countries around the globe.
Yousician has revolutionized how people learn and play music with innovative technology that gives players real-time feedback. It offers interactive learning for guitar, bass, ukulele, piano and voice with lessons, exercises and songs.
