Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner - Non Classical What if you could design the ideal "Learn Piano" Method?

Hi all,

For those who haven't seen posts by me, my name is James. I'm a performer and teacher, and I recently started a little website, at www.BetterPiano.com which, so far, offers some free lessons in various areas of improvisation-based piano playing, like jazz, blues, pop, and rock. Most of the lessons that have been posted so far are at the beginner or intermediate level, but I have plans to post more, including at the more advanced level.

First, I want to say that I have made an effort, with as much time as I can grab these days, to really participate in the conversations here, and I hope that that shows. I genuinely enjoy the topics that have been brought up, and it's been my privilege to help others when I could. I'm saying all that to say, I truly hope I don't come off like some sort of spammer whenever I mention my site, and especially for what I'm about to ask now. If I am overstepping any boundaries, I sincerely apologize.

Long story short, for some time it's been a goal of mine to create one or more larger, more in-depth products that I could sell online. I've been planning for years, really, but recently, I've reached a point where I'm ready to take the plunge and start creating! However, some MAJOR questions need to be addressed at the beginning, before I can move forward: what format? physical or electronic? book vs. video? etc. etc. I want to get this right the first time, and I want to give people what they truly want. I've been pulling my hair out researching other systems and trying to anticipate what would be best, but ultimately it comes down to "market research," which I don't exactly have much of. To that end, I have a huge favor to ask: I've set up a small survey (only 8 questions!) that hit on these issues. Would you please take a moment to answer it? Think of this as your chance to have a say in what you'd like to see someday. The survey is here:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9FH2H7Q

And, as a special thanks, I'd like to send anyone who fills out the survey a "Bonus Piano Tip" by email. It's similar to the tips (more like mini-lessons, really) that are available to anyone who signs up on the mailing list at BetterPiano.com, but you can only get it by answering the survey.

Thanks so much. Again, I've really enjoyed chatting with you all so far, and I look forward to much more!

Sincerely,

James



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James Dering
www.BetterPiano.com - A Resource for FREE Piano Goodies!
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Hi James it is great that you have this goal. I don't mind helping you out by doing the survey but I found that your survey though short was difficult to complete. When doing a survey you have to ask the questions in a way that let's people answer without you swaying the answer. Perhaps first find out what people want. Once you know that then you should present users with all sorts of options in how best to learn. It may include all theformats you've listed. But if the content is good and the presentation of the content makes sense I think it would generate interest in your project/site. Good luck!

Hey ZoeCalgary,

First, I'll admit that a few people have mentioned that my question no. 6 seemed to be leaning a little in one direction. I disagree with this, (for reasons that I can explain) but I still acknowledge that a few people have had this response, which means something. Hey, I can admit a mistake! However, I'm pretty blindsided by your response, the first one I've heard which suggests that the whole survey is one-sided. In what ways did you think it was biased, and in what direction did you think I was trying to sway things?

-James
 
 
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James Dering
www.BetterPiano.com - A Resource of FREE Piano Goodies!

I saw your link in another post and checked it out the other day. What you have now is excellent, but I would strongly recommend getting videos for each lesson. The beauty of video is that even if you don't understand a concept right away, any idiot can watch and imitate. lol

Stay with it and I'll come back to the site.

Hi James. I did not mean to offend but to offer advice but realize now I didn't give you anything specific to work with. My apologies for that! I will send you a longer reply tomorrow when I am at my computer and not my phone. It will be easier to switch between my note and the survey.

Hi James, I tried sending my reply yesterday but alas the kids kept me too busy. In looking at the survey again here are some thoughts that my help you obtain information that may prove to be more valuable to you. When I mentioned before that I thought you were 'swaying' the answer it was because of the amount of detail you put in for some of the options. In helping folks at work create surveys we quickly found that the data you get is only as good as the survey and the way the questions are asked. If users feel they can not answer how they want they will not complete the survey or they may complete it but you will later have trouble analyzing the results. Now, I know your survey is meant to be quick and informal but still it needs to allow users the ability to feel they answered properly. Anyway, here are some of my more detailed thoughts:

Q2: It is good to know what level people are at given what genre they want to learn. But wouldn't you also want to know what level they may be at overall? For example, somebody might just be starting in Jazz but be at an intermediate level in classisical. Or at a beginner level overall?

Q3: Perhaps breaking out your answer choices for 1 format per choice and allowing users to pick all that they would be interested in will help you see what the most requested are and help you focus your efforts. For example, I would like a CD, DVD and also streaming video but wasn't able to choose both answers in your survey. Sometimes asking the same question slightly differently helps to narrow down choices when there are so many possible asnwers. For example, of the above choices, please rank them in order of importance to you.

Q4: In this question you are combining two distinct items. Different formats and costs. I feel you should split these out into 2 different questions or clarify the one question to be about downloadable content vs streaming content. The cost question can be handled differently like what fee would people be willing to pay for monthly access to a site or per download, etc. So if people answered $10 per month, this would help you identify the number of subscribers you would need, offset by the cost of producing the content and maintaining the website.

Q5:Similar to Q3 above - maybe breaking out the choices for 1 item per answer.

Q6: This question was about trust. When I went to answer this I found that neither of your options would be the criteria I would use for creating trust. How about things like amount of content, ability to preview content, quality of content, user friendliness of the site, cost for various products, secure payment options, testimonials from other users, forum for users, etc.

Just some suggestions that may help you get more focused and specific data. I'm sure it's all the same things you are thinking of and maybe you've already got enough answers to help you. Good luck with this. It seems like a huge undertaking. I may be one of your future customers.