Here’s my honest MasterClass review after taking multiple courses by creative professionals like Penn and Teller, Werner Herzog, Hans Zimmer, and many more over the last 4 years.
I’m someone who spends most of my time learning, and MasterClass was the first platform that caught my attention in 2020, considering the teachers were A-list celebrities.
And let’s be honest. You don’t get to learn from them anytime you want.
I’m going to cover everything, from purchasing the course to what these courses look like from the inside.
So, let’s get started!
My MasterClass Experience: A Quick Glimpse
The first thing I liked about MasterClass is its instructors. I mean, I’d never thought I’d be taking direct lessons from A-list celebrities and know how they do their craft directly.
Through these courses, I learned a lot more about different skills and was able to decide which field I wanted to pursue further.
The second thing I liked about MasterClass ̧is the quality of these courses. Of course, you don’t learn EVERYTHING after taking one course. I believe you learn different things from different courses. Coming to MasterClass, the courses are structured properly with one of the highest quality production of these videos.
The best part? You have to pay a subscription fee (starting from just $10/month), and you get access to ALL THE COURSES BY MASTERCLASS!
Your money is also safe, considering they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. So, if you are not enjoying the courses, you know your money is not going to be wasted.
Lastly, there are certain areas of improvement for MasterClass, such as no live Q&A or interaction with the instructor. You are just on your own.
It could have been better if MasterClass allowed at least one live session by the instructor, but since these are busy celebrities, we can only hope for good!
Overall, I find MasterClass worth the money, even after 4 years.
MasterClass: An overview
MasterClass is considered the Netflix of online education. You get to learn professional courses handled by A-grade celebrities like Serena Williams, Gordon Ramsay, Anna Wintour, and many more in simple video-formatted lessons that do not exceed 20 minutes per lesson.
Found in 2014, the online learning platform has been making big waves by enhancing the careers of thousands of users and mentoring students in all creative fields.
It has made the dream of learning from legends come true. You will be able to learn from professionally qualified instructors who might also be your inspiration.
Are you wondering if MasterClass covers all the genres of learning?
Well, you name it. MasterClass has the perfect course lined up for you.
From cooking to singing to filmmaking to learning science, MasterClass covers almost every other additional course that you might not find in schools, resulting in 100+ courses.
With HD-quality videos, additional workbooks, simple tasks, and assignments, MasterClass has the right approach to mentoring beginners in any field of interest.
This way, apart from theoretical lessons, you tend to learn practical knowledge about the course.
Who founded MasterClass?
MasterClass, as it is known and recalled by the world today, was initially registered as ‘Yanka Industries’ by David Rogier.
Later, an entrepreneur, Aaron Rasmussen, joined hands with David Rogier and decided to launch an online learning platform that anyone from anywhere in the world can access. After further discussion, in 2014, MasterClass was born.
Image source: MasterClass
The traffic on their websites instantly blew up, and they were getting several sign-ups for their courses worldwide. Looking at the massive hit, MasterClass added various genres to their course list, introduced many new celebrities, and improved the quality of their courses.
MasterClass: updates in 2024 (What’s new)
The best part about MasterClass is that it is constantly updating and adapting to today’s changing world. Additionally, they add a new course every month.
In the updates, I have noticed they have:
- Added new niche courses
- Different set of celebrities
- Changes in pricing plans
- Improved video quality
Apart from that, MasterClass is being prepared for the current trends and is ready to take in requests from its students and implement them in its next update immediately.
So, there is no disappointment in MasterClass being outdated because you are getting a new set of course collections now and then. Also, they are constantly improving.
Who are the instructors in MasterClass?
More than 100+ celebrities are handling diverse courses in MasterClass, from being a chef to excelling in science to featuring in a film to many other fields of a profession in the world.
Though the instructors in MasterClass are paid for each course they offer, their teaching does not seem like they are doing it for profit.
Since the count of instructors in MasterClass exceeds 100, it is impossible to cover them all, so let me quickly share some of the most outstanding instructors who cover unique courses in MasterClass:
- Kelly Wearstler – Interior Design
- Chriss Voss – The Art of Negotiation
- Matthew Walker – The Science of Better Sleep
- Salman Rushdie – Storytelling
- Bob Iger – Business
- Paul Krugman – Economics
MasterClass did not randomly select celebrities by the number of followers they have on Instagram or by the total collection of luxury cars they possess; instead, it carefully handpicked each instructor based on how big they had conquered in life and their secret to stardom and success.
MasterClass: Types of Courses
MasterClass stands out in the diverse courses it offers. The niches it covers are limitless because MasterClass has almost covered all the niches that have ever existed.
Though MasterClass has categorized 11 individual niches in the category section, there are courses considered sub-niches that resonate with the selected category.
For example, if you take writing,
- Billy Collins “Teaches Reading and Writing Poetry.”
- Aaron Sorkin “Teaches Screenwriting.”
- Shonda Rhimes “Teaches Writing for Television.”
- David Mamet “Teaches Dramatic Writing.”
- R. L. Stine “Teaches Writing for a Young Audience.”
Though Aaron Sorkin teaches screenwriting, which falls in the Tv & Movies section, his MasterClass is about writing; hence it is categorized in the Writing category.
Likewise, there are categories by the following names:
Music
- If you are down for country music learning, Reba McEntire has got you.
- While Christina Aguilera teaches pop music and singing, which is a fun course.
- In the mood for some beats? Timbaland teaches producing and beat-making.
- If electronic music interests you, I’d suggest courses by Tom Morello and Deadmau5 to teach Electric Guitar and Electronic Music & Production, respectively.
Business
- There are two brilliant courses for business strategy and leadership by Howard Schultz and Bob Iger.
- Finding trouble in sales and marketing? Daniel Pink teaches Sales and Persuasion.
- I’d recommend Paul Krugman’s MasterClass on Economics and Society if you are an aspiring economist or trying to understand the subject better.
Art & Entertainment
- Frank Gehry’s MasterClass on Design and Architecture is the perfect course for any architecture student.
- Jeff Koons teaches Art & Creativity, an exciting option if you find yourself in the art aisle.
- If digital art and graphic designing sound like your thing, then David Carson’s MasterClass on Graphic Design can enhance your skills even better.
- Something on the entertainment spectrum where David Sedaris teaches Storytelling and Humor can be taken up by young comedians.
Wellness
- Battling with acceptance? RuPaul teaches Self-expression and Authenticity, which can help with self-discovery.
- If you have a knack for Fitness and Wellness, Joe Holder can teach you.
- For a calm and elevating course, Jon Kabat-Zinn teaches Mindful Meditation.
- Matthew Walker’s MasterClass on Science of Better Sleep can solve sleeping patterns and how to sleep deeply.
- If you are trying to learn yoga, Donna Farhi can teach you more about Yoga Foundations.
Home & Lifestyle
- Turn into a BBQ chef by taking up Aaron Franklin’s MasterClass on Texas-style BBQ cooking.
- Forget junk food and learn home cooking with Alice Waters in The Art of Home Cooking.
- Fans of Middle-Eastern cuisine, Yotam Ottolenghi teaches Modern Middle-Eastern Cooking, which is definitely for you.
- If you’d like to learn more than Pizza from Italian cuisine, hop into Mossimo Bottura’s MasterClass, where she teaches Modern Italian Cooking.
How are the lessons categorized in the MasterClass courses?
Though each course in MasterClass teaches different subjects by different instructors in different ways, MasterClass follows a consistent pattern throughout all of its courses.
- The lessons in a MasterClass course can be 20-25 minutes long on average.
- The instructor takes the time to get into the course flow, which means the instructor follows the protocol of beginner’s understanding, explains complicated topics using layman’s terminology, and summarizes the entire course towards the end.
- Each course comes with additional PDF-formatted workbooks, which students can use to learn better outside the course and gain in-depth knowledge about the subject.
- Students also get bonus tips and tricks laid down in the workbooks offered by MasterClass.
- Few MasterClass courses provide the feature of face-to-face interaction with the instructor.
Overall, MasterClass knows how to attract its audience and make it accessible to people of all ages, as well as his experience in educating and teaching them.
List of the best courses offered by MasterClass (Top picks)
You must be convinced to take the courses available in MasterClass with full excitement but a little confused about which one to start with, right?
I have curated the list of the best and most popular courses in MasterClass, which can help enhance skills.
The following are trending courses in MasterClass:
1. Christina Aguilera Teaches Singing
I always wanted to become a singer, but with my bear-like voice, I couldn’t. But did you know that you can actually train your voice to sound better enough to sing pop songs?
Christina Aguilera’s MasterClass breaks down the ultimate guide on finding your voice, learning vibrato, secrets to hitting high notes, and many more excellent tips.
Her MasterClass has 23 lessons divided into sub-sections that take 4 hours to complete. She uses herself as an example and unveils the tricks that worked out for her and what did not.
I observed the right way of learning how to sing by the tips that she gave in her MasterClass.
2. Aaron Franklin Teaches Texas-style BBQ cooking
The MasterClass opened a new perspective on BBQ cooking. There are many segments and segregation according to the cooking style, and you need to learn about handling fire, smoke, offset, and grilling meat. Aaron basically covered it all under one roof, which was brilliant.
His MasterClass has 16 lessons and takes 5 hours to complete fully. Honestly, I was able to learn BBQ cooking in-depth only in his MasterClass because YouTube videos get confusing after a point.
I suggest you take up his MasterClass course if you want to learn A-Z about BBQ cooking.
3. Serena Williams Teaches Tennis
In her masterclass, she covers all aspects of tennis, claiming that the game is only 30% physical and that you have to be mentally prepared for it, which seemed like a great tip.
The course is categorized into 10 lessons, which take less than 2 hours to complete.
You can complete her MasterClass in one sitting like you are watching a live tennis match where she is teaching instead of playing. Her masterclass can be recommended to anyone trying to build up their tennis skills.
4. Penn and Teller Teaches The Art of Magic.
As a kid, I doubted if magic was real or some bluff content only to surprise the public; Penn and Teller proved me wrong through their MasterClass.
I will not open up about what I have learned, but I can drop hints on what they covered in their MasterClass. The magician duo has been creating the perfect course for beginners into the world of magic since the 1980s.
17 lessons to fully understand the techniques, which can take 3 hours to finish. It’s pretty fast, but the teaching is relatively slow and easier to grasp. This way, you have enough time to learn from them.
Additionally, you get PDF-formatted workbooks to exercise while you are taking the course.
5. Hans Zimmer Teaches Film Scoring
The man behind the world-famous background score of The Lion King has joined hands with MasterClass to share his experience as a music composer and teach his impressive film scoring.
In Hans Zimmer’s MasterClass, you learn how to score for a scene, a dialogue, or a character that was impeccable because I did not know there was more to film scoring than music composing.
With 31 long lessons, you learn in-depth about the diverse aspects of film scoring. His MasterClass takes around 5 hours to complete, but trust me, it is worth the time invested.
As a tip, he suggests his signature style of mixing electronic music with the beats of an orchestra.
There you go. The above-listed courses are my best top picks from their incredible MasterClass courses collection, which can help you get started by learning one skill at a time.
I’d recommend a schedule where you can get the most benefit out of MasterClass.
Instead of sitting on one single course all day, you can take one course for a week to complete it entirely, which means you can complete four full-fledged MasterClass courses in a month. Try this.
I am pretty sure you will productively spend the whole month using MasterClass.
Best way to find the right course in MasterClass:
The struggle to find the right course can be daunting when the platform provides so many courses in various niches and categories, and you are not sure what to choose or how to choose.
In that case, I’ve got you covered. Even I was confused about which one to start with when I started the courses in MasterClass.
Until found out my interest was in learning a skill or the niche in which I was most lacking. MasterClass has a well-structured way of categorizing courses and lessons in a course.
In this article, I mentioned the variety of courses that MasterClass offers. If you have read that section, you might have an idea of all the niches that MasterClass provides.
Now, you have to choose the niches you might not have learned earlier or a niche you want to get better at.
This way, you get to categorize your field of interest based on strengths and weaknesses. For example, I know how to cook but wanted to enhance my skill in some cooking regions.
Under the Home & Lifestyle category, I saw many cooking courses, but I wanted to learn BBQ cooking, which Aaron Franklin handled; hence, I opted for the MasterClass, which was named Aaron Franklin “Teaches Texas-style BBQ cooking.”
You can try the same method that I used to learn cooking. The method can be applied to other fields of interest, but you have to know the niche you are picking from and how good you are.
MasterClass: Pros & Cons
Although the online learning platform can claim that they are the best among its competitors, it comes with some downsides. Let’s look at the advantages first.
Pros:
- Learning directly from legends in each field of expertise.
- Advantages of taking multiple courses in a single plan.
- Variety of niches and categories to choose from.
- Provision of additional workbooks.
- High-definition video quality.
- Ease of use.
Cons:
- Lack of practical knowledge in certain courses.
- No face-to-face interaction with instructors.
What makes MasterClass unique?
There are many reasons to say that MasterClass is unique. I mean, literally.
Starting with the instructors are professionally acclaimed legends who have mastered their skills with years of experience in work. So, you can blindly hop in with their courses.
The best part about MasterClass is the categorization of lessons in each of their courses. They tend to teach right from scratch so that you do not miss any of the details while learning.
You also get top-notch video quality, while competitors might be losing. Also, the audio used in MasterClass courses is crisp and clear. There is no doubt about that.
Since celebrities in different creative fields handle the courses, you get to see exclusive content off paparazzi shots where the celebrity shares life outside stardom and fame.
MasterClass constantly updates its platform with relevant courses and new celebrities. I often find myself on MasterClass’s homepage, where they religiously notify me if a new celebrity is coming soon to teach me a new skill.
MasterClass: Pricing plans (Updated)
Previously, MasterClass had a single course plan that allowed access to a single course, but that was not a very appealing and appropriate budget plan; hence MasterClass took it down.
Now, MasterClass has devised an exciting way to attract potential students with its new pricing system: it offers the benefit of accessing its entire course collection.
| MasterClass Plan | Price | Number of devices |
| Standard | $10/month | 1 (no offline mode) |
| Plus | $15/month | 2 |
| Premium | $20/month | 6 |
*The above table indicates the prices for every month. However, the plans are billed annually. This means, you will be paying a one-time fee to get the annual access.
You get the perk of paying for one and getting access to 100+ different courses on a single platform. Make sure to use the pass to your most significant advantage before the subscription runs out.
Note that MasterClass doesn’t offer any free trial. Instead, it comes with 30 days refund policy.
Is it worth taking MasterClass in 2024?
I don’t think you have to bring the year of a particular period into consideration because even MasterClass courses produced years ago are helping thousands of students gain knowledge and enhance their skills better now. As for me, I took another course early this year, which was great.
I did not find any changes according to the date and time, but of course, as I mentioned earlier, MasterClass is keen on updating and staying relevant to current trends, making it unique.
Also, if you are considering taking a MasterClass in 2024, you can blindly step ahead and take multiple in a month and learn as many skills as you need to boost your profile on your resume.
Related Read:
Final Verdict: Is MaterClass Worth It?
Finally, I have come to an end to signing off my review on MasterClass.
Frankly speaking, taking the MasterClass courses is one of the best decisions I have made in my life.
It enabled me to learn different skills, nurtured me in finding new fields of interest, and most importantly, I enjoyed taking courses that were neatly programmed for easy understanding.
Though certain courses seemed vast and different, the instructors made sure to start from the very beginner to be understandable for students of all experience levels, which I loved.
To conclude, MasterClass is worth every penny you invest, and I am a testimony to that.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is MasterClass available for free?
Unfortunately, MasterClass is not available for free, but there is a 30-day refund policy that can be used as a free trial.
Can you download MasterClass courses?
No, you cannot download MasterClass courses.
Do you recommend buying MasterClass courses?
If you are getting 100+ courses for free while paying for a course, go for it.
How much does MasterClass cost?
MasterClass comes with a subscription plan of $180/- per year (billed as $15/- per month).
Can I get a refund on MasterClass?
You can get 30 days of a refund policy on MasterClass, so you can try this platform for 30 days and cancel it before 30 days to avoid being charged.
I’m Ishan from Toronto, dedicated to simplifying online education choices. I explore and review eLearning platforms and courses. My insights are shared on “Enlightened Learning,” helping learners make informed decisions. Passionate about making education accessible and engaging for all.