This new venture uses smart watches to create a hands free learning experience that teaches people to play different musical instruments.
Wristruments: Smartwatch App for Guitar, Bass & Ukulele
8 responses to “Wristruments: Smartwatch App for Guitar, Bass & Ukulele”
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I would probably invest in this venture seeing how I play the Guitar and other string instruments. I enjoyed how clear the pitch was and directly informed the audience how smartwatch integration can be used as a new way to teach Guitar. For me, that’s a sign of simple yet effective innovation. The only concern I have is, what sets Wristruments apart from other contemporaries and differentiates it from other digital based music education tools? (eg: Fender Play). While I don’t doubt it’s usefulness, I’m slightly curious whether this method actually makes learning guitar easier than traditional approaches/lessons. I’m always interested in seeing how effective these new tools are as I self taught myself Guitar with minimal digital assistance or tools, most was through practice and by ear/techniques from playing other instruments. I also wonder if this form of technology could be widely implemented in schools so learners can easily learn the basics of playing guitar.
As an EVA interested in music education, I would not back this project. Though I do not doubt that it could be a useful tool for some to more effectively learn to play guitar, uke, or bass, I think overall, their target audience is limited to people who a) have an apple watch or other smart watch (upwards of $1,000) and are able to pay a $100/year subscription fee, and b) are interested in learning to play these instruments. I also don’t see music veterans being interested enough in this product. As far as the pitch goes, I don’t really see a pain point and solution identified, and the developers do not really explain how this product is superior to the many existing and established screen-based apps for learning music. I like the use of “real people” to show their enthusiasm, but there really is just a lot of gasping and excitement, and then some riffs from the experienced players (a little bit too much smoke and mirrors :)). I do think it’s a neat concept but I don’t think there is a big enough need for something like this with so many other products on the market.
Wristruments: Smartwatch App for Guitar, Bss & Ukulele
Pain Point: Wristrument is a much easier way to learn how to play the guitar, bass and Ukulele.
Solution: Play with ease without taking your hands and eyes away from what you are doing.
Differentiation: This product gives learners the opportunity to get rid of the regular music sheet and binder of written chords and music stand.
Marketing: The product can be found online or at any major canadian music shops.
Championship: A team of passionate entrepreneurs, musicians and teachers wanting to improve music learning through technology, education and music
Competition: the market is quite competitive. Among wristrument’s main competitors are Mobileiim, Mobilize Usa LLC, Exoticphone.com, Mobiledownloadblog.
The Ask: no too bad-$53.
The Return: With over 5 million dollars in revenue and a small staff, there is real potential in this venture.
Analysis
The wristrument pitch is a bit simplistic and contains some witness testimonies, but in line with the target market. If the goal was to spur more research about their product, I would say the pitch is acceptable . As an educator and musician, I see how the wristrument could be quite useful to learners. I would however not invest in this venture because this product is too susceptible to market saturation.
Wristruments: Smartwatch App for Guitar, Bss & Ukulele
Pain Point: Wristrument is a much easier way to learn how to play the guitar, bass and Ukulele.
Solution: Play with ease without taking your hands and eyes away from what you are doing.
Differentiation: This product gives learners the opportunity to get rid of the regular music sheet and binder of written chords and music stand.
Marketing: The product can be found online or at any major canadian music shops.
Championship: A team of passionate entrepreneurs, musicians and teachers wanting to improve music learning through technology, education and music
Competition: the market is quite competitive. Among wristrument’s main competitors are Mobileiim, Mobilize Usa LLC, Exoticphone.com, Mobiledownloadblog.
The Ask: no too bad-$53.
The Return: With over 5 million dollars in revenue and a small staff, there is real potential in this venture.
Analysis
The wristrument pitch is a bit simplistic and contains some witness testimonies, but in line with the target market. If the goal was to spur more research about their product, I would say the pitch is acceptable . As an educator and musician, I see how the wristrument could be quite useful to learners. I would however not invest in this venture because this product is too susceptible to market saturation.
As an investor, I would not invest in this venture. The Pain Point is obvious; learning to play an instrument is hard. Solution seems to be that because you don’t have to take your eyes off of your instrument it will be easier to learn. Nowhere in this video do the Champions discuss what the app actually does, how people learn from it, or how it differs from other similar products, except that it uses a smart watch. This also makes this venture as somewhat costly; you need a smart phone, smart watch, and the app. This venture will be marketed to beginners of the guitar, bass, and ukulele, though there are additional claims that this will change the way we all learn forever… my personal favourite quote was that “… the future of Education is on the line…” which really is non-sensical as learning and education will continue to happen with or without this app. The Champions seemed well-rounded; coming artistic, entrepreneurial, and teaching backgrounds. This to me was the strongest aspect of their pitch; their knowledge base is quite diverse. THey were asking for investors but there was mention of a return.
I really found the video a little off-putting; they never explained anything! They just had a bunch of people playing guitar looking and at their wrists. There was no mention of who could actual play guitar and who couldn’t (except for two at the beginning who say they had never played before) and the claims at the end of the app giving “instant gratification” along the lines of social media and that it was going to transform how people learn made me start to not take it seriously anymore. And I still have no idea how this thing even works…
NO – Based solely on the video. As an elevator pitch, I was unable to find out what distinguishes this app from the many guitar apps that are available for phones. While the notion of reversing the watch on your wrist is interesting, I doubt it would take very long for established apps to make use of this innovation. As a music teacher, I also question the pedagogy in keeping your sight lines on the fingerboard – there will come a point where the player will want to play a song that is not part of the app, and they will need to be confident enough to look away from the fingerboard. For the benefit that comes from that convenience, there is not enough return.
At first glance, this looks like an extremely innovative technological venture for music education. At first, it appears “flashy”, “interesting”, and a great way to learn music. However, as I watch further, and look at the above posts, and even especially as a music educator, I cannot endorse this venture. First of all, it depends on every student owning a smart watch (VERY few of my students do). Also, just from the small views made from the smart watch on the video, it doesn’t look 100% easy to use. Many of my students need things explained in a very simple sense. For some, even the chord charts are difficult. If something is too difficult and they find themselves unable to perform or progess, they get easily discouraged, and in some cases, easily up set. There are SOOOOOO MANY programs and apps out there that claim they can “teach you to play piano”, “make you into a master on any instrument”. As a musician, speaking from my own experience and not just trying to endorse my own profession, the best way to learn an instrument, other than concentrated meaningful practice (which should be taking place anyways) is lessons that come from a trained, practiced professional, either one-on-one or in a group setting. A person, a human teacher, can demonstrate the patience, empathy, and understanding of a person attempting to learn something new. A human music teacher can assess their students skill, decide at which rate is best to continue, and under which manner to proceed (some students learn better with a slightly more “aggressive” instructor, this is not how I teach). Some apps maybe beneficial, and to a very small market, this may have its place. To the global educational market, I do not feel this program has a place.
No, I would not invest in this venture.
Here are my issues with this pitch:
1) You need a smartwatch. By watching the video, it only shows an apple watch. Does this work on other watches? I think it is safe to assume that most people in the world have a smartphone. There are lots of apps out there that does the exact same thing. I understand that its revolutionary in the way that it can help people learn primarily the guitar, but smartwatches are designed to give you quick data on the go and not replicate the bigger functions a smart phone can do. Also, looking at a small screen all the time would hurt my eyes.
2) I’m a bit confused by the video. Is the watch talking to the player or is the designer talking to them in the video and giving them tips? If this watch app is to be intuitive, I would like to know how it teaches? From watching the video, there are people that state they have never played before and after watching the video a few times, I’m still confused as to whether the watch is talking to the student or the designer is assisting them.
3) Too compact. If we were to base it on Apple’s Apple Watch, this sounds like a big app to me. An Apple Watch can only hold so much data and by having a watch that also contains a song book, tuner, metronome, etc., I feel my watch would perform slower or I would have to sacrifice apps to use it.
4) Gratification? They don’t mention any feedback that is provided to the player.
Overall, it’s an interesting concept but as a Music Educator, this is something I would be strongly against.