Close Up: Mi Online

Online Music Learning For Artists: Currently celebrating its 40th anniversary as one of the country's premier music education institutions, Hollywood-based Musicians Institute (MI) was founded on the idea that musicians should teach and learn from other musicians in a creative, collaborative and supportive environment. Launching July 17, after several months of beta testing MI Online, is the web-enabled extension of these core philosophies, offering access to MI's acclaimed curriculum and interactive course content to anyone, anywhere in the world. Each course is taught by the college's legendary faculty of accomplished musicians. Through live lectures and virtual classrooms, and courses at all skill levels, MI Online provides real-world, artist-driven and authentic learning opportunities that literally allow students to "learn music in your underwear." The courses run for 10 weeks and cost $799.

The Launch Courses: 1) Scott Henderson's Approach To Guitar Improvisation finds the legendary jazz, rock and blues guitarist  (Tribal Tech, Joe Zawinal, Chick Corea) teaching improv, fretboard organization, diatonic scales, the models of the Melodic Minor scale and other advanced scales. "My work for MI has always been more as an open counselor than strictly classroom teacher, and this is a natural extension of that," Henderson says. "I'm impressed with the caliber of questions by the students during our live lectures." 2) Intro to DJing, taught by celebrated DJ, industry veteran and MI Program Chair Charles Chemery (DJ Charlie Sputnik). 3) Harmony & Theory Fundamentals, taught by renowned Australian musician and songwriter Mark Cally. 4) Ear Training Fundamentals, also taught by Cally, trains the student's ear to identify pitch, major scales, melodies, and more. Coming June: legendary guitarist Oz Noy's Twisted Guitar Improv and both Ear Training and Harmony 7 Theory Essentials, intermediate and advanced courses.

The Mission: MI President Donny Gruendler says, "MI's faculty and staff are working musicians who have contributed to major label releases, poplar songs and/or world tours. We founded MI Online to offer those collective musical experiences to today's online learner. We aim to enrich today's global learner with something that is unique in the educational space. These are authentic learning opportunities to those committed to improving their craft and pursuing a meaningful life in music."

Explore MI Online's courses now at online.mi.edu