Whoa! Nelly!
From first glance, you can tell that this is a course that was meticulously prepared. The quality of the book itself is superb; the DVDs are also very professional productions. There's no doubt that the instructor(s) are qualified and experienced in teaching electric guitar. The instructional progression is very fast. In the first video lesson, you learn the names of the parts of the guitar. But, the instruction quickly glides through major and minor chords, chromatic and pentamatic chords, and power chords. Bear in mind, the video guides you through written lessons from the book - or - stands alone as an instructional source. Be prepared to hit "PAUSE" a lot. By the time you're learning various strumming styles, it was just 25 minutes ago that you were learning the difference between a bridge and a nut. Depending on the student, his/her guitar experience, and/or musical background, this course can seem overwhelming or easy.
I've played guitar for about 42 years, mostly rhythm and bass. I have been good enough to play in church or around bon fires while camping. I've also performed with a bluegrass band at a restaurant. Given my level of experience, I thought the introductory part of this course was overly elementary. But, by the third lesson, I was a bit overwhelmed myself and depending on the pause and rewind buttons quite a bit. If you're a fairly competent guitarist when it comes to playing rhythm and you've always wanted to use the rest of your guitar's neck, this is a perfect course for you. If you're ten years old and got a guitar for Christmas (unless you're a musical prodigy), this course will quickly overwhelm you. NOW, if you're ten, just got a guitar for Christmas AND your dad is a professional guitarist who's going to help you, this is a great course for YOU.
The format of video instruction is: Instructor demonstrates and explains, instructor demonstrates at slow speed, instructor demonstrate at normal speed, instructor says, "Now. Go practice." If you're looking for lessons where you play along with the instructor on every lesson, this probably isn't it. Because even with my experience, once we got past the chords, I really couldn't keep up with the guy. That doesn't make this course "bad" - it's just the format the developer chose. Besides, plenty of practice (jam) tracks are provided to help the student practice. However, the practice tracks don't follow the video instuction of each lesson. You have to switch to a CD. This isn't an unreasonable sequence, just not very streamlined. Fortunately, DVD players will play CDs. You just have to switch between the two discs as you progress.
Having said all that, no two students are identical when it comes to learning. This course is well laid out and takes the student through a practical progression of material and guitar skills. As I stated earlier, if you're a fairly experienced guitarist, this course is excellent for you, just skip the introductory lessons if they are too simplistic for you. From my experience in taking guitar lessons from an instructor, I'd say that this course is for the basic guitarist who has pretty much reached adult size (because your hands need to be adult sized and strong). A child would not be able to handle many of the chords. I think that's pretty much it. There's a lot of free guitar lessons online. Shop. Compare. Then buy.Read full review
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