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Announcement: Shifting from Tutorials to Play-Alongs with Live Lessons (Patreon)

Published:
2018-04-03 00:51:52
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

{Patron-only post}

Aloha Patrons!

First of all, thank you as always for your support in my ukulele journey.  A big welcome to all the new Patrons!  Join our private facebook group and forum to connect with our active Patron community.

Ch-ch-changes: Monthly vote song now gets a Play-Along, plus Live Lesson access for all Patrons

Our community is growing, my career is growing, and I feel it's important that I make a shift in the videos I produce.

Below I'll share the reasons why I am making these changes.  Here are the key points for those who may not want to read everything :)

What's not changing:

  • Voting: All Patrons still get to vote
  • Live Lesson: I will still teach a Live Lesson for the vote-winning song
  • Early Access: $5+ Patrons still get access to participate in the Live Lesson, $3+ Patrons still get early access to the chord chart
  • Live Jams: for $10/$20/$50 Patrons, everything remains the same.  Beginner and Intermediate Live Jams will continue as is.

What is changing:

  • Monthly Play-Along: Instead of a monthly tutorial for the vote-winning song, I will produce a Play-Along video for YouTube, and the chord chart will still be released on Gumroad for free download.  
  • All Patrons get access to recorded Live Lesson: When the Play-Along video is published, all Patrons will receive access to the recorded Live Lesson (I'll aim to release it the month after the vote).
  • Tutorials focused on skills vs songs: I will refocus my tutorial videos on songs that build specific skills and expand my Beginner Lesson series, which I feel will better serve the ukulele community

For example, tonight I am going to publish a Play-Along for The Boxer, our January vote-winning song.  I've given all Patrons access to watch the Live Lesson for The Boxer - this will serve as your tutorial.  I also went ahead and gave all Patrons access to watch the Live Lesson for True Colors since I'm behind in releasing tutorials.  I'm excited to share that I am working on the Play-Along for True Colors with professional video and audio folks, which makes the process a little longer but also higher quality (a change I've been wanting to make for myself).

I know changes of any kind can be disruptive.  Read on if you want to know more.

Why??  

Please know that I am making these changes because I feel they will benefit our Patron community, the wider ukulele community, and my own vision and process as a teacher and artist.  

Here's more detail on why I'm making these changes:

- My time is more limited, and tutorials are time-intensive to produce.  So I would rather focus tutorials on skills vs songs.  I would prefer to choose the tutorial songs and skills to teach that have the widest reach and most impact.  

- I believe that the Live Lessons are a better format for teaching specific songs.  I really enjoy the interaction in the Live Lessons, and I like having more time to explain some of the music theory and songwriting elements that go into arranging the song.  

- By releasing the Live Lesson to all Patrons after the Play-Along is published, all Patrons will still have access to a tutorial.  Plus, they'll get a chance to see the interaction and chat in the Live Lesson.

- My goal is to create better produced and more performative Play-Alongs. I think the Play-Along will be watched by more people, and may lead more people to join Patreon to check out the Live Lesson.

I'm happy to hear your feedback - please read through the FAQs and post any other questions or comments below.

FAQs

Q: Do I still get to vote every month? 

A: Yes! I love finding out what songs the Patrons want through the vote! And now all Patrons $1+ will get access to the recorded Live Lesson.

-

Q: Does the $3 chord chart stay the same? 

A: Yes, $3 Patrons continue to receive early access to the Chord Chart for our vote-winning song.

-

Q: Why should I stay a $5 Patron when the $1 Patrons get access to the Live Lesson later?

A: $5 Patrons get to participate in the "Live" part of the Live Lesson, and will be able to watch and review the Lesson for the month before all Patrons get access.  If you typically do not watch Live Lessons until later, then I totally understand if you want to change your Patron subscription.

-

Q: Why can't you still make a tutorial? 

A: I will still make tutorials, but instead of making them for the vote-winning songs, I would prefer to make tutorials for songs of my choosing that build specific skills and have the most impact for the wider ukulele community.
The Live Lesson is a better format for teaching songs that are voted on, since those songs tend to combine different skills.

-

Thank you for making this community what it is - a place of aloha, creativity, growth, and encouragement.  Please do share your thoughts - I look forward to hearing from you.

xo cynthia.

Comments

Christine G

Interesting changes. Can you clarify what level patron has access to tutorials?

Angel C

Looking forward to the play-alongs and the new direction of the future tutorial videos! Thanks for thoughtfulness you put into teaching and sharing, Cynthia!! :)

Christina Ciano
>>11257509

If I understand what you're asking, I believe Tutorials will be as they are now. Free on YouTube, but they will not be for the Voted on song. The voted on song will get a Live Lesson and a Play-a-Long. Tutorials will be decided upon by Cynthia.

Cynthia Lin
>>11257509

yes, tutorials will be free on youtube for all. $5 Patrons get early access to Live Lessons - after the Play-Along is published, all Patrons $1+ get access to the Live Lesson for that song.

Carol Phillips

I think changing things up is important for you as an artist to keep things fresh! The ukulele community will benefit from you choosing the tutorial material. I am not sure I understand all of the changes but I enjoy your arrangements.

Karen Dombkowski

It sounds like it will help learners like me to pick the songs to learn based on the skills I’d like to work on. Carol Phillips, you introduced me to the sound of chucking when you posted your video ‘King Of The Road’. Then I found Cynthia’s ‘Lion Sleeps Tonight’ tutorial that features the chucking strum.

Irene Allesee

I love these ideas and look forward to learning more. I especially love the skills versus songs idea. Cynthia, I admire how you take the time to reflect and make things better and I enjoy being on the journey with you!

Tracy Whitener

Will the Live lessons will be recorded for the peeps that can't attend?

Jenny Selig
>>11260149

Yes. That isn't changing, except in the sense that the Live Lesson will eventually be available to even more Patrons. From the message above, "$5 Patrons get to participate in the "Live" part of the Live Lesson, and will be able to watch and review the Lesson for the month before all Patrons get access. " and "When the Play-Along video is published, all Patrons will receive access to the recorded Live Lesson (I'll aim to release it the month after the vote)." :)

Jenny Selig

I am a fan of more content, and I love the idea that we will get Live Lessons on Patreon AND Cynthia-choice tutorials on YT. Thanks!

Christina Ciano

I think this format will actually benefit me more than the previous. My fundamentals are terrible. Changing the format a bit to give Cynthia the time to formulate her own YouTube Tutorials will help those of us who still struggle with certain techniques. While finding and learning a song on YT is great and probably how most of us found Cynthia, it may not do much to improve us as players. I think this will help.

Will Peralta

I fall into the group that "typically do not watch Live Lessons until later," due to work schedules, but I will won't lower my subscription level because I still feel it worth supporting your efforts.

Jon F

Awesome changes, thank you. I always learn so much from your live lessons and they are the best way to learn a song's chords and rhythms and your thought process in arranging a song, which I love. Now we have play-alongs as a perfect supplement so I can practice what you taught. I just watched your Boxer play-along and it's the bomb, thanks. And from what I understand, you are now free to do tutorials on exactly what you want, which is what I want too, because I don't even know what I don't know... if that makes sense haha. Just keep on playin' & teachin' Cynthia, that's what you're good at!!! :-)

Jürgen Wurm

I like the idea of tutorials based on skills very much. Plus I think I can benefit from the recorded sessions, so good news! However, will there be part III of the Stairway to Heaven tutorial? Or have I missed it somehow? Greetings from Germany

Vanessa Causley

I am happy to go along with whatever you feel will help all of us grow our uke skills.I thought the Boxer play-a-long was brilliant. The mother in me has been concerned that you have an amazing amount of pressure on you to produce material to the standard that you do,so am hoping that the changes are going to make things easier for you. As for building our skills,I am looking forward to seeing what me and my uke can achieve!!!!!!!!!

Wendy Rinaldi

All the changes sound absolutely great!!! I love everything you do. I'm a ukulele player because of you!!

Dianna

I am more than happy with the changes. I agree with Christina that I frequently feel like I need work on skills. I am looking forward to it. I usually don't get to do the live lesson these days because our boy has piano lessons at 4:30 on Thursdays - usually when the live lessons are on :( But I do go back and watch later, and luckily for me, my ukulele peeps usually have the same questions I would ask. In any case, I have no intention of lowering my pledge. I agree with Will that it is totally worth it. Thanks, Cynthia.

Mariana Font

I can't seem to access the patreons facebook group, I get this message "Sorry, this content isn't available right now. The link you followed may have expired, or the page may only be visible to an audience you're not in." Is the group U.S only? I'm in Sweden.

Jenny Selig
>>11302975

There are lots of international members, Mariana. Let me see if I can add you.

Mariana Font
>>11305821

Thanks Jenny. I still can't access the group. It must be some weird facebook thing, I will ask their help center.

TimmO

I totally understand and agree with this change. Especially the level of detail you put into the tutorials, Cynthia, would be a huge time-sinkhole. In a previous life I did a lot of video editing, and my rule of thumb was more than 100:1 ...that is about two hours of video editing time per minute of finished video. Six hours for a 3-minute spot. So more casual is more realistic. Mahalo for all you do, and especially for building the on line uke community. 😎👏🙏

Shawn Charlene Garner

I agree that a change is needed. I appreciate all your time and reading TimmO words above just re-enforces your decision. If certain people want/need more help then they would certainly benefit and ENJOY private lessons or subscribing to Ukulele Underground.

molly ferrer

Because my favorite morning ritual is to get my cup of coffee and play along with Cynthia for an hour or so, I am super-psyched about this format. It will make it a lot easier to get to the songs quickly :) I'm also very excited about the skills tutorials.

nancyosterman

I am very excited about the changes. I also think working on skills for the tutorials is a great idea. I rarely get to do the live lesson because of the time it’s on. But I do watch it. I plan on staying a $5 patreon. I feel that everything I get from this group is of great value to me.

Nathanael Horne

will the live lessons be available for viewing afterwards if we cant make the live session?