# Experience with scoreclub



## erc13a (Jan 23, 2022)

Hello ! 
I am thinking about subscribing to scoreclub but I have a still have doubts. Is there any downloadable material ? I tried the free lessons and it looks really amazing but what happens once we end the subscription ? Does it mean we have to take notes all along the way ?
Thank you for your help on this.


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## ALittleNightMusic (Jan 23, 2022)

You should take notes - and practice. The material is online and excellent.


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## ryanleachmusic (Jan 23, 2022)

erc13a said:


> Hello !
> I am thinking about subscribing to scoreclub but I have a still have doubts. Is there any downloadable material ? I tried the free lessons and it looks really amazing but what happens once we end the subscription ? Does it mean we have to take notes all along the way ?
> Thank you for your help on this.


I love Scoreclub! Alain is one of the best music teachers you'll ever come across. 100% recommend, the course Orchestrating the Line was a game-changer for me.


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## agarner32 (Jan 23, 2022)

I also 100% recommend. All of his courses are great. He is very musical.


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## RSK (Jan 23, 2022)

I used Scoreclub for several months and have no problem recommending them.

Once you end the subscription, you're done. No further obligation, but no further access to the material. It's as simple as it can get.


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## KEM (Jan 23, 2022)

I’ve been thinking about signing up, I actually have the website opened up on a tab on my phone as I’m typing this, I’ll probably give it a go soon enough


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## emilio_n (Jan 23, 2022)

My only concern is that is too advance for people with a very basic music theory.
I think I need to try a month and see…


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## ALittleNightMusic (Jan 23, 2022)

ryanleachmusic said:


> I love Scoreclub! Alain is one of the best music teachers you'll ever come across. 100% recommend, the course Orchestrating the Line was a game-changer for me.


Speaking of great teachers, I’ll throw in a big recommendation for Ryan’s YouTube channel too.


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## KEM (Jan 23, 2022)

ALittleNightMusic said:


> Speaking of great teachers, I’ll throw in a big recommendation for Ryan’s YouTube channel too.



I’ll second that!!


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## waveheavy (Jan 23, 2022)

RSK said:


> I used Scoreclub for several months and have no problem recommending them.
> 
> Once you end the subscription, you're done. No further obligation, but no further access to the material. It's as simple as it can get.


Did he really do that? I still have access to my Legacy account to all my courses. One might look deeper into that, because I think once you pay for a course you have infinite access to that course.


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## emilio_n (Jan 23, 2022)

waveheavy said:


> Did he really do that? I still have access to my Legacy account to all my courses. One might look deeper into that, because I think once you pay for a course you have infinite access to that course.


I think this is before he moves to subscription mode. All the courses you bought before are yours, for new subscriber this is not the case.


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## waveheavy (Jan 23, 2022)

emilio_n said:


> I think this is before he moves to subscription mode. All the courses you bought before are yours, for new subscriber this is not the case.


In that case, taking notes and screenshots is a must.


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## RobbertZH (Jan 24, 2022)

From ScoreClub, I have the _legacy _course "Memorable Melodies through Motivic Mastery", so I have lifetime access to the videos. But even then, it is more practical to have a document to look things up (although the audio examples in the video do help with understanding the material better). So I made notes and screenshots and assembled a 24 page document. This takes extra time, although it helps with learning too (besides doing the exercises).

But they have switched to subscription-only and I assume that access to the videos stops when the subscription expires.

In comparison, I also have the course "How To Write Music" from ThinkSpace for which I have life-time access. Of course life-time is a very long time and possibly not realistic.
However for this course I could download all videos and a number of PDF documents with the course material (I do not know if this is also true for all other courses of ThinkSpace)


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## wst3 (Jan 24, 2022)

Yeah, that is the sticking point for me. I have a number of the Thinkspace classes, and I have revisited them more than once, and gotten more out of them each time.

I get that I can revisit classes at Scoreclub as long as I subscribe, but that is not practical for me. Some months there is simply no time to spend on line. I suppose if I had money riding on it I'd be more inclined, but I am not sure that is the same thing<G>.

I have two of the legacy classes (counterpoint and memorable melodies) and they are worth whatever I paid for them. I have no doubt the same is true for the subscription, but the price is a little too dear for my lifestyle at the moment. Perhaps later, when things settle down.


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## d.healey (Jan 24, 2022)

erc13a said:


> Is there any downloadable material


The videos used to be downloadable but now have DRM. There are ways around this but officially you can't download the videos. There are some PDFs and other downloadables though. The courses are excellent, especially the OTL ones.


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## ed buller (Jan 24, 2022)

KEM said:


> I’ll second that!!


count me in as a third !

e


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## ed buller (Jan 24, 2022)

Scoreclub is amazing. Worth every penny. There is a lot to learn and it is incredibly well taught.

best

e


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## Arbee (Jan 24, 2022)

I really enjoyed Scoreclub and will resubscribe at some point for a refresher. In the mean time, I made my own notes summary as I went through it which still services me well.


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## ModalRealist (Jan 24, 2022)

I’ve really enjoyed Scoreclub and gotten a lot out of it. I’d say you could learn to read notation whilst taking scoreclub (especially the ‘foundation’ courses). So don’t be put off if you think you don’t have traditional background - I’d say it’s a great chance to fill in the blanks by composing, rather than learning to read for an instrument!

My favourite bits:

The development of more complex arrangements and figuration out of homophonic writing: how to take a melody and build out from it towards a full sketch - this is mainly in the tonal harmony courses
The general orchestration thought processes and approach to the task
The many great breakdowns of effects and texture achievable through the orchestra - how they’re built and why they then sound as they do


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## blaggins (Jan 24, 2022)

I wish there was a subscription "cap" with ScoreClub. Like once you've paid X dollars (probably in the high hundreds, or even 1000+ would be fair given the depth and breadth of content) then you'd just be able to access the materials on an on-going basis. Maybe have to pay a bit more each time a new course is added... or something along those lines.

I am doing music part time and trying to balance learning with doing. Thus the pace I was able to maintain with ScoreClub would have meant like 3 years+ of maintaining a $60/month subscription. No shade whatsoever on the quality of the content (it is great) but I think the faster you are able to ingest it, the more value ScoreClub has for you.


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## ALittleNightMusic (Jan 24, 2022)

I was nervous about how many months I would need to subscribe, but I ended up needing 7 months to go through all of the courses and take notes (this is with a very demanding full-time non-music job). So for $420, I got some of the best music education available out there - pretty fair deal I think!


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## blaggins (Jan 24, 2022)

You are faster than I was @ALittleNightMusic!


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## ALittleNightMusic (Jan 24, 2022)

If ScoreClub's subscription is too pricey, this professor's YouTube channel covers much of the same material from ScoreClub's harmony class and is excellent. There are many YouTube videos on harmony, counterpoint, orchestration - though majority are not nearly as good as this channel.

Seth Monahan


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## bFooz (May 23, 2022)

I also recommend Scoreclub. It is 60$ per month monthly paid, you have access to everything, there are more things inside than courses presented on the website. 

But I also feel reserved about the subscription model. Luckily I bought the majority of the courses when they were still available for a single payment on the legacy site so I cannot really comment on the value of subscription.

As for notes, definitely needed to take own notes even if you have a lifetime access to the course. I can recommend Notion.so for digital notes. The advantage compared to other similar sites is that you can upload an audio file (up to 5MB but for short mp3s that's more than enough) and that audio file can be *played inline* while you watch the screencapped score. So you can create real mutimedia notes like this:


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## Elois (May 25, 2022)

Scoreclub was enlightening for me (especially "Orchestrate the lines" lessons !) : it helped me think about composition in a much more structured way. I think taking notes is of uttermost importance.


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## bFooz (May 26, 2022)

Elois said:


> Scoreclub was enlightening for me (especially "Orchestrate the lines" lessons !) : it helped me think about composition in a much more structured way. I think taking notes is of uttermost importance.


Me too. OTL was probably the best thing I've ever learned.

OTL1 by itself seemed kind of uncomplete but that was natural and it got so much power when advancing into OTL2 which IMO is THE pinnacle of Scoreclub. I was hesitating with OTL3 but finally when I got it it was comparatively good.

For me OTL is the best trilogy I've ever seen. (Better than SW or LOTR  )


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## Syncopator (May 26, 2022)

bFooz said:


> Me too. OTL was probably the best thing I've ever learned.
> 
> OTL1 by itself seemed kind of uncomplete but that was natural and it got so much power when advancing into OTL2 which IMO is THE pinnacle of Scoreclub. I was hesitating with OTL3 but finally when I got it it was comparatively good.
> 
> For me OTL is the best trilogy I've ever seen. (Better than SW or LOTR  )


For the benefit of readers who haven't yet subscribed, what do "SW" and "LOTR" mean?


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## Markrs (May 26, 2022)

Syncopator said:


> For the benefit of readers who haven't yet subscribed, what do "SW" and "LOTR" mean?


Star Wars and Lord of the rings.


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## Syncopator (May 26, 2022)

Markrs said:


> Star Wars and Lord of the rings.


Thank you.


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## bryla (May 26, 2022)

I think people overlook the immensely great value in the course I believe is called motivic mastery.


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## jonathanparham (May 26, 2022)

bryla said:


> I think people overlook the immensely great value in the course I believe is called motivic mastery.


yeah it helps take the small nuggets and threads of ideas and develop them


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## JimDiGritz (Jul 1, 2022)

I've just signed up for Score Club, and am following the suggested Course path.

So far I can say it's very high quality, and Alain's style is very engaging however in my opinion the pre-requisites in the FAQ set the bar too low. Personally I see the pre-reqs as being:

1. Proficient piano skills, able to play scales and chords from memory. Maybe Grade 5+?
2. Ability to sight read/write music
3. Good grasp of Music Theory. For example in the first 2 minutes of the Essential Composer Training: Foundation we are introduced to sub-minor thirds and lesser undecimal neutral seconds.

I'd actually go further and would suggest that Music degree to be a good starting point for this course.

So whilst I'm impressed with the course quality, at my stage I feel that I won't get much from it until I've got at least 4-5 years composing experience under my belt. I sense that by then this will be incredibly germane. 

I'll keep going with the course for the balance of the month (the approach to Diatonic Ear Training has been very useful), but few hours in and I already feel that I've snuck into a post grad particle physics lecture...


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## d.healey (Jul 1, 2022)

I see why you'd come to that conclusion however my experience has been different.

I'm a hacky piano player, I don't have any grades but I'm sure I would be below 5. I can read music about the same speed I can write it, certainly can't sight read anything that isn't incredibly simple.

I agree with number 3. But as a course aimed at musicians/composers that isn't asking much. I found occasionally during the course I'd pause the video and go look up a term or concept and then come back to the video. I don't mind that, I want to learn things and these videos help steer me as to what I should be learning.


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## JimDiGritz (Jul 1, 2022)

d.healey said:


> I see why you'd come to that conclusion however my experience has been different.
> 
> I'm a hacky piano player, I don't have any grades but I'm sure I would be below 5. I can read music about the same speed I can write it, certainly can't sight read anything that isn't incredibly simple.
> 
> I agree with number 3. But as a course aimed at musicians/composers that isn't asking much. I found occasionally during the course I'd pause the video and go look up a term or concept and then come back to the video. I don't mind that, I want to learn things and these videos help steer me as to what I should be learning.


Thanks, and after reading what I wrote I hope it doesn't come off as a criticism of the course. 

Look, I'm only a few hours in (I need to schedule time over the coming weeks to practice the Diatonic Ear Training across all intervals) and I'm 99% sure there's at least $70 worth of value even with my limited knowledge.


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## Jotto (Jul 1, 2022)

Scoreclub is imo very very good. But… the subscription did not work for me at all. I need time and it would be very expencive
for me in the long run to follow these courses.


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## DavidRubenstein (Jul 1, 2022)

I subscribed to Scoreclub for several months, and greatly enjoyed it. What I liked best about it, is that Alain explains every decision he makes. His thought processes are quite transparent, and allowed me to understand everything he was doing.


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## Gingerbread (Jul 1, 2022)

JimDiGritz said:


> I've just signed up for Score Club, and am following the suggested Course path.
> 
> So far I can say it's very high quality, and Alain's style is very engaging however in my opinion the pre-requisites in the FAQ set the bar too low. Personally I see the pre-reqs as being:
> 
> ...


I only somewhat agree. I definitely agree that ScoreClub spurred me to improve my notation reading. Which is a good thing! I quickly realized how much more I'd get out of the class (Foundations) if I could sight-read. So I spent some time improving that, and it certainly _did_ help a lot. I think learning to read music well is a fundamentally basic skill that every musician should learn.

But I don't agree we'd need to know much about music theory. I knew nothing before taking the Foundations course, and it taught me all the basics. It _was_ my music theory learning. And it made it pretty easy to understand.


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