Online resources have become the way many of us get into learning musical instruments. They can vary from learning a riff from your favorite AC/DC song to dissecting the modes of the melodic minor scale. But how does using an online service like Musical U.com stack up compared to the traditional means of hiring a local musician for lessons?
Having read a large volume of positive Musical U reviews, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to see what all the fuss is about!
In this article, we’re going to dive into what Musical U is, the features of their site and their pricing. Be sure to stay until the end so you don’t miss out on some crucial information!
What Is Musical U?
Musical U is a music education platform with many instructional videos, tests, and a wider community of musicians to interact with.
The platform is run by Christopher Sutton and a team around him. Their goal is to aid you in becoming the best musician you can be.
What Does Musical U Do?
Musical U provides a vast number of instructional content for a monthly fee. They aim to be able to teach new musicians how to develop their ears, their sense of time, and much more. They cover a plethora of wider topics which aids musicians in increasing their musicality.
It can be accessed on Musical U.com or their mobile app. They also have a fantastic podcast, ‘Musicality Now’ which provides great insight and information on becoming a better musician.
Not all of us were blessed with a perfect pitch like Charlie Puth. Therefore, Musical U has fantastic lessons and software which helps you develop relative pitch, interval training, and more.
What separates Musical U.com from the competition is that, unlike other online music courses, it has a personalized plan specifically designed to help YOU improve and offers a full support network in your learning.
Roadmaps
When you sign up to Musical U you get access to roadmaps.
These roadmaps are specific to musical skill. So if you want to focus on something specific, the roadmaps will take you down the right path. These include:
- Learning to play chords by ear
- Playing melodies by ear/intervals
- Playing melodies by ear/Solfa
- Getting rhythm
- Learning to sing
- Learning to improvise
Obviously, there’s quite a lot to focus on here and you may not know where to start but fear not! The membership will give you access to the musical community and support network on their platform. This means you will be guided every step of the way.
Modules
Now to get into the actual training modules.
Below you will find an overview of all the different modules:
- Planning
- Pitch
- Intervals
- Melodies
- Chords
- Chord Progressions
- Rhythm
- Playing By Ear
- Singing
- Improvising
Under each module, you will find lots of different lessons which aid you in that specific area.
While the platform does cater to more general musicality, they do primarily focus on piano, guitar, and bass.
They also offer instrument packs as an optional upgrade when you’re working on piano, guitar, bass, or vocals. These packs allow you to take a deeper dive into your chosen instrument.
Dashboard
The intuitive dashboard design is easy to navigate and has everything you need laid out in front of you. It comprises of 6 main elements:
Member Profile
In this section, you can see your username and the points you’ve earned within the community.
This points system is a means of reward to keep you even more focused on your goals. It also includes notifications and private messages sent to your account.
Get Started
New members are encouraged to take four steps – set a vision, make a plan, join the community, and start a progress journal. At each step, you will find useful videos which will help you on your journey.
We think the progress journal is particularly important as tracking your progress as a musician is essential in seeing your improvements to motivate you to work even more.
It also will highlight areas you perhaps haven’t focused on as much and allow you to work on them.
Community
If you’re looking for insights into the training modules and support in your learning, all members are encouraged to join in the discussion. The panel links you to new discussions as well as discussions you’ve started and subscribed to.
Plans & Progress Journals
This tile will show you which training plan you are following at that moment in time.
Additionally, it will show which practice journals you’ve created. This is a great way to dive back into where you left off.
Modules
This section will show which modules you’ve completed as well as the ones you’re currently working on.
Instrument Pack
Instrument packs are here ready for when you wish to upgrade and allow you to go into more depth of your chosen instrument.
Personnel
The Musical U course is primarily taught by:
- Christopher Sutton, Founder and Director
- Ruth Power, Piano
- Dylan Welsh, Guitar
- Clare Wheeler, Vocals
- Steve Lawson, Bass
Christopher Sutton started Musical U.com because as he practiced and improved as a musician, he didn’t feel at the same level as his peers. The missing piece of the puzzle is what he teaches on Musical U which is considered the inner skills of a musician.
While this may sound a bit out there, Sutton has put in the work to break down musicality to the fundamentals and organized them in an easily digestible course.
Musical U Apps
The Musical U app allows you to bring your learning on the move with you. This means you can practice your pitch training exercises on the train to work. Alternatively, it means if you spend a weekend without your instrument, you can still find a way to improve your musicality.
They even offer the option to download training MP3s for you to take your training on the go even without the need for the internet.
They also have a number of intuitive apps recommended on their site, allowing you to take your music practice sessions on the move.
These include:
- Tone Deaf Test
- Sing True
- Interval Recognition
- Chordelia: Triad Tutor
- Chordelia: Seventh Heaven
These apps range from free to paid so check out your chosen application store!
Musical U Pricing
Musical U membership is available for a flat fee of $29.95 per month. We think this is excellently priced for the amount of information you gain from it and the number of services it provides.
In comparison to traditional music lessons, which could cost you that price per week, we think this is an absolute steal.
Alternatives To Musical U
While Musical U.com is a great platform for learning, there are other alternatives. Let’s take a look and discuss any similarities or differences.
Music Theory Videos.com
Music Theory Videos.com is a great free service if you’re looking to learn music theory online. They offer a ‘calculator’ which asks you a series of questions about your current music theory knowledge and gives you an insight into where to start.
Building upon this, there is a section on grades ranging from grade 1 to grade 6+. In these subsections, you have a large array of videos corresponding to their respective grades and difficulty.
If we’re comparing this to Musical U, while Music Theory Videos.com is free, you certainly get what you pay for. The videos are solid but that’s where the experience ends. Musical U.com has an in-built progress tracker whereas Music Theory Videos does not.
Also, the wider network of musicians on Musical U.com makes the learning experience easy and a lot more fun rather than just interacting with YouTube videos all day. There’s neither an app nor downloadable content for Music Theory Videos whereas Musical U does.
iMusic-School.com
iMusic-School.com is another online music learning platform that charges a monthly fee for video courses. There are a multitude of different courses for a variety of different instruments, including a masterclass from the talented multi-instrumentalist and all-around music mastermind Jacob Collier. The site includes 3 different plans to access the videos depending on your needs:
- Flex – 1 month – 24.90€
- Relax 6 month – 19.90€
- VIP – 12 months – 14.90€
This option caters to everyone if you would only like to access their services for a short period of time, you can. Totally commitment-free or with an option of 6 or 12 months will help you hone your skills as a musician.
Despite it being a decent platform and great app, there is a distinct lack of roadmap and direction which could leave some people lost on their learning journey. The community built on Musical U is also another great tool that is not included on iMusic-School.com. However, iMusic School is more affordable so it could fit your requirements if you are on a tighter budget.
MyMusicTheory.com
My Music Theory is another online service that has a variety of music theory resources and videos. There are also quizzes on the site to test your knowledge. Similarly to Music Theory Videos.com, it is organized into grades so you can find the level you are currently working at and go from there.
To get access to each grade and video course, simply click on ‘use lessons on the website’ which will not cost you anything to use. However, if you wish to download these resources and have access to PDFs, there is a price tag on each stage that you can buy and have access to for life.
My Music Theory is another good platform but it does have its flaws. Firstly, buying the courses separately creates a more fragmented experience rather than having access to it all and building your way up like on Musical U.
Additionally, the cost of the video courses is quite expensive, for example, the grade 8 video course is £70. There is an option of paying for the total bundle of all grades for £199 or £10 per month but there is a distinct lack of features for the hefty price tag. For example, there is no online community as we have previously mentioned that is so useful on Musical U. My Music Theory also lacks an app that can be useful for on-the-move learning.
To sum it all up, all the alternatives have great aspects and are still very useful platforms. However, if you would like a complete learning experience with all the features you could want, Musical U is the way to go.
Is Musical U Worth It? Our Final Thoughts
So, there we have our Musical U review! We’ve gone through the aspects of the platform including the different roadmaps musicians can use to progress. We have also touched on what is included on the dashboard once you have bought your membership and how this is intuitive in supporting your learning.
Additionally, the idea of building an online musical community is a great way for bedroom players who don’t know any other musicians to connect with countless others with common interests and questions.
All in all, we think Musical U.com is a great tool for musicians looking to up their game and progress into the best player they can possibly be!
Have you ever used Musical U? Let us know about your experiences in the comment section below! We would love to hear from you!
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