The prestigious Musicians Institute, which was established in 1977 has built on the idea that musicians should teach and learn from other musicians. It is launching online courses for the first time this month which means musicians can now get access to these musical legend lead courses absolutely anywhere in the world.
MI Online (MIO) includes:
An exclusive online programme from jazz, blues, and rock guitar legend, Scott Henderson, and his unique approach to guitar improvisation
An ‘Intro to DJing’
‘Harmony and Theory Fundamentals’
‘Ear Training Fundamentals’
With a growing catalogue in the following months.
Donny Gruendler, the LA-based President at Musicians Institute and someone who has been in the music industry for many years tells us more about the courses and his very interesting and versatile musical background.
Tell me about yourself and your work at the Musicians Institute?
I’m Donny Gruendler, President of Musicians Institute; the renowned College of Contemporary Music founded in the heart of LA in 1977. Musicians Institute is built on the idea that musicians should teach and learn from other musicians in a creative, collaborative and supportive environment.
I was born and raised in the diverse musical surroundings of Detroit, Michigan. As a result, I grew up alongside an unusually broad range of influences, including soul, funk, pop, hip-hop, traditional swing, hard bop, techno, house and blues. I graduated from Berklee College of Music with a Bachelor of Music Degree and at the age of 21, earned my Master of Music Degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI.
Now based in Los Angeles, I’ve performed, programmed, toured and recorded with artists such as Kenny Burrell, John Medeski, DJ Logic, the Funk Brothers (Motown), DJ A-Ski (Unique 74), La Béte Noire (alongside Art Bleek and Charlie Sputnik), Rick Holmstrom and Kirk Fletcher. I’ve also composed and/or played on jingles for Axe Body Spray, RE/MAX on the Boulevard and NPR. My select lm/TV credits include Last Holiday, Father of Invention and the Showtime feature Chicago Overcoat. I’m also a producer under the pseudonym Inc and one-half of the funky-jazz-soul-electro duo Rhett Frazier Inc. Okayplayer describes our productions as cosmic brilliance delivered via a well-stirred pot of soul, jazz, rock, funk and gospel.
We’re excited to be working towards the launch of our online courses on Monday 17th July 2017. MI Online (MIO) is open to students around the world and includes an exclusive online programme from jazz, blues, and rock guitar legend, Scott Henderson, and his unique approach to guitar improvisation. Other courses we’ll be offering include an ‘Intro to DJing’, ‘Harmony and Theory Fundamentals’ and ‘Ear Training Fundamentals’, with a growing catalogue in the coming months.
What inspired you to launch the courses online? Why Now?
We started our digital evolution in 2014 when we developed 66 interactive e-books and assessments for our core curricula: audio engineering/production, bass, drum, DJ, guitar, keyboard and vocal. It enabled students to immediately review their weekly lessons, read each unit’s chart and play along to practice tracks from their chosen device.
We also developed an MI-customized app for each instrumental discipline, which monitors the student’s performance, in real-time, while they complete their homework. The app then reports back to the course instructor and LMS (Learning Management System). Simply adding a URL to course material doesn’t make it “digital”. We had to properly evolve our content to perform on the digital stage, inside new virtual classrooms.
If we had launched five years ago, we would’ve been another “me too” school, and this would not have satisfied our ethos: to provide students with the unique and comprehensive educational offerings that MI Hollywood has to offer.
I am new to online learning. How does online learning work?
Number one: content is king. The coursework must be relevant, accessible and helpful to today's music learners. We want to provide real-world training with techniques that students can use every day.
Number two: make the student’s learning experience a priority. The LMS (Learning Management System) must be clear and easy to interact with for them to get the most out of their classes. It’s also essential that we provide students with clear, helpful communication via our instructors, teacher assistants and our MI Online team.
Our content, e-learning platform and instructors deliver a learning experience hard-matched by our competitors. In addition to these, we feel strongly that each of our students should have the opportunity to fully interact with our instructors in a collaborative space. We achieve this through our instructors’ hosting of weekly Live Lectures online via an innovative, custom-developed streaming software platform.
Here, our students can view performances and lectures from a variety of camera angles as well as ask their instructor questions in real-time. So, if you are attending Scott Henderson's guitar improvisation lecture, you can view close-up shots of both hands (collectively and separately), as well as any sheet music he’s viewing at a given time.
How do I select my course? What’s the process?
Enrolment into MI Online is really easy and takes just five simple steps:
Register and create your MI Online profile
Select your course and click ‘enroll’
Wait to receive confirmation of your course start date
Complete the weekly unit for 10 weeks
Score 70% or above and receive a Certificate of Accomplishment
All our courses are 10 weeks long and provide a mix of pre-recorded video lessons, weekly assignments and live lectures, all of which are conducted online, with a maximum of 20 students per class.
The online courses offer personalised feedback from the instructors and the content is tailored and structured to help each individual get real-world, practical training. The Live Lectures feature an interactive chat box for students to engage directly with their instructor inside their virtual classrooms.
During the course, students are either prompted to record themselves performing as assignments and/or to complete quizzes. Their instructor then reviews their work and provides feedback; should students score 70% or above in the course, they will be awarded an MI Online Certificate of Accomplishment.
How long has it taken you to get the MI Online platform to where it is now, ready for its first official students?
We have been passionately working on this deployment for around a year. I am very proud of our entire MI Online team.
How many courses will you offer by the end of 2017?
Approximately 15-20 this year, with a full catalogue into next year. Our courses launching in July ’17 are Scott Henderson’s Approach to Guitar Improvisation, Intro to DJing, Oz Noy’s Twisted Guitar Improvisation, Harmony & Music Theory Fundamentals and Ear Training Fundamentals
Where do you see MI Online in five years?
Digital learning as a whole is developing at a rapid pace, and we plan to be at the forefront of this evolution, launching unique methods and refining existing best practices to achieve worthwhile student learning outcomes.
What is your earliest musical memory?
As I was fortunate enough to grow up in a supportive home alongside diverse surroundings, I have two strong childhood musical memories; The first and most formative occurred when I heard Michael Jackson’s song entitled ‘Billie Jean’. I was in Northland Mall with my Mother in Detroit and this incessant beat was playing in the background. I told my Mum that I liked it and as I had just received a good report card; she immediately took me to ‘Harmony House’ a local record store where the clerk introduced me to the Thriller album. For months, I played it over and over and it was my entrance into both popular music and wanting to play the drums. Ndugu Chancellor, who played the drums on Billie Jean became a dear friend of mine years later and I was honoured to share that story with him directly.
A few years later, my Father (who was not a musician) saw a feature on drummer Elvin Jones in the Detroit News, which was promoting his band Jazz Machine. They were playing at the local Attic Theatre and my father took me to the concert. We arrived early and Elvin saw us sitting alone in an empty room and came over to say hello. He moved our seats to the front row, autographed a drumhead and invited us backstage after the show. Not only did this event introduce me to jazz; but as Elvin played and spoke with such joy, it also taught me to focus on emotion within my musical studies as well.
Tell me about your time as a touring musician?
I am very fortunate that I have been able to see the world, play with great musicians and share music with those that are willing to listen! With this in mind, my most treasured recent memory occurred last May, when I played the Musicabana festival in Havana, Cuba alongside Charlie Sputnik and Art Bleek for our electro-project entitled La Bête Noire. Being able to share our music with the Cuban people, as well as collaborate with many traditional Cuban musicians, was definitely a career highlight of mine.
How do you think the music industry has changed? What challenges do you face?
There are so many developments that have affected our industry’s performers, content creators, authors, entrepreneurs, and general creative types. These include, but are not limited to, the proliferation of economical home recording equipment, general advancement in music software and the ability to record on a computer, capability to distribute music in a digital format via online sharing sites, the rise in consumer video quality and photography equipment, and the ability to create a custom branded website. As such, artists today are able to craft their own artistic identity (and resulting career) alone or alongside a set of trusted collaborators via the technological advancements listed above.
The most in-demand musicians have always focused on specialized disciplines such as touch, tone, time, feel, and stylistic diversity. However, each skill alone is no longer enough to ensure success in the current industry climate. Many of today’s biggest rock, pop, R&B, and hip-hop acts, as well as influential industry entrepreneurs, expect their staff to have mastery within multiple areas and handle a wide variety of daily business and promotional tasks including recording, photography, video, marketing, management, and public relations. Technology and its software/devices are here to stay and individuals are seeking to master Pro Tools/Logic, Photoshop, FCPX/Premiere, social media, and marketing platforms. These items, alongside great musicianship and the traditional office suite tools, are our twenty-first-century recipe for success.
Although it may seem daunting to consider each of the previous items in detail, I do my best to encourage each student. If they really want a career in music, I say, “Go for it”. People are successful each day in the industry, why not you? Additionally, one cannot put a price on true happiness, especially when that happiness includes the joy of music making alongside one’s peers, heroes, and other industry professionals. The industry is changing, but there is plenty of work for those willing to put in the time, effort, and hard work.
Music has been a calling for me and has happily resulted in a life-long career. If a life in music is also another individual’s true calling, I will do my very best to encourage, aid, and facilitate any items they may need to achieve their goals and objectives.
Who is on your playlist at the moment?
Wow, it varies from day-to-day. Some of my most listened collections are:
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
John Coltrane - Crescent
Detroit Swindle - Boxed Out
Muddy Waters - anything….
Rufus and Chaka Khan - Stomping at the Savoy
Al Green - Gets Next to You
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
What's a typical day for Donny Gruendler?
I grab a coffee cup, fill it and then check email. Once that is done, I head to my studio for some creative time. Then a shower. Soon thereafter, the next event is either heading to MI in LA, or working with an artist, PR, or MI Partner somewhere in town (or hopefully home in the studio – so I don’t have to drive…!)
To find out more and to book https://www.mi.edu
