Matt Brockman??? what's the scoop

kehaulani · Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2023 10:40 am Post subject:

Unless I'm reading this wrong, I just don't see what's not intuitive.

First - do NOT click the reply button first and then the Quote button. Just directly click the quote button and the quote appears in a text window into which you can type more text.
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LittleRusty · Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2023 3:52 pm Post subject:

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garycondren · Regular Member Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 34

I responded to his Facebook advertisement. He invites you to schedule a Zoom chat, which I did. But, it's not Matt Brockman on the Zoom chat. I got a guy named Phil Cenedella IV who lives in San Diego. I'm not sure whether Phil is a trumpet player or not. The session had the feeling of a time share presentation or maybe a get-rich-quick scheme. He asks all of these probing questions; it got to feeling a bit odd. Ultimately, I gathered that they're selling a program called "trumpet mastery" that includes access to pre-recorded lesson, live coaching, and a master class series. I think that they charge some fixed price for the one-year program, but when I asked how much, I never got a straight answer. I felt like he was playing games with me, so I ended the session. I'm not saying that Matt is a bad person or anything, but I did end up feeling uncomfortable with his promotional methodology. I'm not sure whether Phil is actually a trumpet player or not. He might just be a sales/marketing person, but I don't know for certain. (There's a thread on Reddit that says that his program costs $12,000 for a year, but this is discounted to $8,000 if you make a commitment on the zoom meeting. It makes sense that he would have to charge that much since he's using fairly sophisticated/costly marketing techniques.)
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Destructo · Veteran Member Joined: 18 Apr 2022 Posts: 173

Destructo · Veteran Member Joined: 18 Apr 2022 Posts: 173

This stuff is getting increasingly common actually.

The first in the brass world I noticed doing it was "Paul the Trombonist".

He (Paul) now also offers classes on how to do what he does:

patdublc · Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2023 4:16 am Post subject:

Shark01 · Veteran Member Joined: 10 Jun 2017 Posts: 283

Is this the guy on The Simpsons? I generally avoid lessons with cartoon characters personally.

invisiblehand · Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2023 11:06 am Post subject:

invisiblehand · Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2023 11:14 am Post subject:

Here is an interesting thread on Reddit. They mention the cost in the thread too.

https://www.reddit.com/r/trumpet/comments/105um8q/matt_brockman_edits_his_videos_to_the_point_where/
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Goby · Heavyweight Member Joined: 11 Jun 2017 Posts: 650

I can't imagine paying $1000 per month for subscription access to an online program. For that much money, you could buy nearly every trumpet pedagogy book on the market in the first month, and spend the remaining $11,000 traveling around the country and paying to take lessons from the best players in every city. An online program rivaling the cost of college tuition is absurd and borderline predatory when you're selling it with manipulative tactics to a (very likely) under informed audience.

bigjoejazz · Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2023 3:47 pm Post subject:

Hey! So I was the original poster of the previously mentioned reddit thread. (Created a profile here just to reply to this!)

I've been keeping an eye on Matt for the past 1.5-2 years, and I'm glad to see that more and more people have noticed some of the deceptive practices he uses.

Matt now works alongside Paul the Trombonist. I actually had a Zoom call for Paul's "Passion Builders" program (last July I believe) just to see what it was all about. I was surprised to hear Matt on the other end of the call instead of Paul. Matt also had his camera turned off the entire time, claiming the weather was bad and he wanted to keep the connection. For what it's worth, I checked the weather in Savannah, where he was located at the time, and he had nothing but clear skies... but given the benefit of the doubt, he might have been traveling.

Paul (and Matt's) whole shtick with Passion Builders seems to be centered around high ticket marketing. The way they help you build a course seems very predatory, and is designed to help you market towards potential buyers who don't realize they could get private lessons at a much lower cost. The suggested course construction gives ZERO one on one time with your students. You make video lessons and a "mastermind" where all your students are on a zoom call with you once or twice a week. I'm sure there's more to it as well, but that's the basics of how the course development works as far as I know. Not worth thousands of dollars each month.

I've seen Jeremy's stuff as well, and while I know it's not for me, it seems like he actually has the know how to do something like this effectively. Matt actually mentioned Jeremy during our Zoom call. I can't say for sure, since I don't know how many students Jeremy has gotten from the model, but it seems like he's a great example of a competent teacher who paid a ton of money for this program and hasn't seen a return on his investment.

Also, to correct a previous poster, the $12000/$8000 mark was to enroll in Passion Builders. According to Matt, he charges each student $5,000/month and makes about $50,000 each month. I'm fairly skeptical of these numbers, and of course, there was no proof offered.

Overall, I think Matt and Paul have found a way to get people enrolled in this SUPER high cost Passion Builders course. I'm sure for some customers it pays off, but I have to imagine with many more, they're out thousands of dollars.
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Benson · Regular Member Joined: 14 Feb 2017 Posts: 35

I did one of his free webinars. His program, asynchronous lessons with two zoom meetings a week, was $8,000 but priced down to $4,600 if I agreed right then and there. I couldn't even discuss it with my family, it had to be decided before the end of the call. He played zero notes and refused to when I asked him. That was really odd. I haven't met a trumpet player who doesn't want to play for someone else. I played a chromatic scale low C to high C. He gave no pointers, no feedback, except something about my breathing being "off". Beforehand, I researched him by reading his Tone Builders books, watching the video of Pandolfi, watching his other videos, and so on. After I played I asked him directly, "What from your program will benefit me? I want to play more efficiently. I need to know you'll be able to provide this before I can make such a financial commitment." He did not like my direct questions. The whole thing was WEIRD. It felt like I was being sold fishy timeshares.

What did I learn? Don't trust Matt Brockman. Also, save your money, buy the Peter Bond book (it's obviously the genesis of Brockman's materials) and get lessons with a local pro.
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Mike Sailors · Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2023 5:49 pm Post subject:

It just floors me that people buy into this sort of garbage. But, they do and they'll keep doing it.

It's much easier to buy an online marketing course than it is to sit your butt in a practice room for hours a day.
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