Guitar legend Steve Vai and BerkleeMusic set world record for largest ever online guitar lesson
Guinness Certifies Berkleemusic and Vai Following Live Online Event for Worldwide Guitar-Playing Audience
After several weeks of careful tabulation, it's now official: Berkleemusic, the online continuing education division of Boston's renowned Berklee College of Music, and Grammy®-award winning guitar virtuoso Steve Vai, have set the Guinness® World Record for the world's largest online guitar lesson.
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This first-of-its-kind initiative, held at leading streaming media platform Livestream Studios in New York City on March 3, 2011, brought together almost seven thousand members of the international guitar community in a celebration of online music education.
Guinness certified the world record based on Berklee having recruited 4,455 students over the first 15 minutes to the lesson. Berkleemusic also announced a donation of $7000 - one dollar for each student certified as taking part in the lesson - to the Steve Vai Online Scholarship Fund at Berkleemusic. The fund rewards and assists outstanding students studying in Berkleemusic's multi-course certificate programs.
"I am 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. "This was an amazing collaboration of all the teams here at Berkleemusic with tremendous support from Berklee College of Music President Roger Brown, the College faculty and students, and, of course, the day's guest of honor, Steve Vai."
Berkleemusic and Steve Vai have also co-authored a new twelve-week online course: Steve Vai Guitar Techniques. This online course, nearing the end of its first session, presents students with the chance to gain a deep understanding of Vai's death-defying playing styles, repertoire, techniques, and musical concepts from anywhere in the world, and to incorporate their learnings into their own playing.
Building on the renowned guitar curriculum that Berklee has offered to students for decades, the course is now open for enrollment for the school's spring term which begins on April 4th, 2011. For more information regarding the course, registration information, and to sample an online guitar course, visit Berkleemusic.com.
Steve Vai, who is currently finishing a new solo album and preparing for an extensive world tour to coincide with its fall release, is a Berklee alumnus with a devoted fan base in over seventy countries. He is a passionate advocate for music education and exploration.
"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."
About Berkleemusic.com
Berkleemusic.com is the award-winning online continuing education division of Berklee College of Music, the world leader in music education. Bringing access to Berklee’s acclaimed curriculum to all students anywhere in the world, Berkleemusic is taking a leadership role in educating the next generation of producers, performers, and entrepreneurs on the evolving music industry landscape. Berklee's renowned faculty provide a strong portfolio of over 130 online courses and multi-course certificate programs in Music Production, Guitar, Theory, Harmony & Ear Training, Music Business, Songwriting, and more. Visit berkleemusic.com for in-depth information on how to advance your music career, sample a lesson, or connect with our dedicated student advising team.
Photo credit: Andy Alt
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Fans can view the archived online lesson, chat and question transcripts, as well as Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnel's pre-lesson promotional videos, at: Steve Vai on Berkleemusic.
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