I have had the same problem in the NYC school system. People that are deep into music, AND 'techies' LOOOOVE it and feel a personal challenge learn to use it. People that are not....have issues.

I have found the following spcecific little challenges - in isolation, or in group:

1.) The interface - is OUTSTANDING for a power user - everything is one click away. It's overwhelming for a beginner. There are 40+ ? buttons. Unless you walk them through it and show them EXACTLY which 3 to 5 buttons to hit in EXACTLY what order, and what to pick in the submenus.
--suggestion: Include "simple" interface options - hides ALL button toolbars, and allows a user to Pick from a list of custom SMALL toolbars designed for various uses of the program....e.g. the simplest would be "PLay Along" - only 5 or so buttons - 1.) SONG Open (via songpicker) - notice I intentionally did not put FILE open 2.) some voiceover instructions about selecting a song of interest (e.g. maybe highlight only titles and keys - don't confuse them with other columns)
3.) "What Next" button - explaining how to listen, mute the solo instrument, and then play along.



2.) When one opens the most important screens - songpicker or stylepicker - it is not intuitive to a beginner (someone who hasn't read the manual or about the program) what they are going to get or HOW they should use the loaded song...eg "Walk Me Through" button
--> suggestion: 1.) see above - 2.) to elaborate --> video tutorial MACROS with voiceovers that point to the buttons/menu items to press with pointers that the user has to actually execute (e.g. click) , and voiceovers and BIG MENU with buttons giving instruction 'options' about what to do next and why in terms of HOW to use the program productively. I've found that people don't read manuals or watch the YouTube videos unless they ALREADY have a high motivation to learn the program


3.) MANY of my highly skilled musician friends prefer iReal pro over BB - one factor is price - another is I believe simplicity - even though the backing arrangements are baby-sounding compared to BB.
suggestion: create a cheaper, phone-based BB that is equally simple as iReal pro, but includes the beautifully sophisticated arrangements as current BB. Remove all "generation" features - average users don't care - just want some good backing tracks to practice or jam with...in fact - remove EVERYTHING except the good sounding backing tracks....(of course - I'm not so sure that's so easy for PG to do - or I think they would have done it a long time ago)


Just my 26 cents worth : )