We’ve written frequently about how Boston is leading the way in online education, speaking to MIT’s OpenCourseWare initiative and Harvard’s moves to open up. But another prestigious Boston college is innovating with online education, in fact setting world records with its success — Berklee College of Music.
Berkleemusic, the online continuing education arm of Boston’s renowned institute for music, has officially made the Guiness Book of World Records for hosting the largest online guitar lesson earlier this month. The lesson was viewed across the globe over live video streaming platform, Livestream. The lesson itself was given by three time Grammy-award winning rock guitar virtuoso Steve Vai.
Berklee, Livestream, and Vai brought together over 7,000 guitar enthusiasts from across the globe to celebrate online music education. Guinness certified Berklee’s record when the college recruited 4,455 students to the lesson in its first 15 minutes.
“I’m very happy and proud to announce that Berklee College of Music was officially awarded the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest online guitar lesson,” said Berkleemusic Chief Marketing Officer Stefanie Henning. And Vai, a Berklee College of music Alum and music education advocate, had more to say on the power of online education:
“I hope this record encourages players to continue to cultivate their own unique style and spirit on the guitar,” Vai says. “I think this record really showcases the interest that exists in guitar education worldwide. It was a true pleasure working with an institution like Berkleemusic, who shares my interest in helping to bring more skilled musicians into the world.”
Berkleemusic offeres over 130 courses featuring Berklee College of Music’s renowned music faculty, with its Spring term beginning April 4th. Online courses and certification programs include interactive exercises and activities, quizes, discussion boards and online chat, audio and video presentations, sample assignments, and even personalized feedback from faculty. Another new offering for this online education portal is it’s Network feature, allowing students to create portfolio-like profiles they can even upload their own music and recordings to.
Vai has co-authored a new twelve-week online course for Berkleemusic, Steve Vai Guitar Techniques, which helps students gain a deep understanding of Vai’s styles, repertoire, techniques, and musical concepts from anywhere in the world.
For more information regarding enrollment information, and sample instructions, visit Berkleemusic.com and check out a sample course here. Interested in seeing that Guinness World Record-holding guitar lesson? View it in full here.
