10 Tips For Selecting A Guitar Lesson Program

When I began guitar lessons over forty years ago there were few choices for learning to play the guitar. You either bought a book and taught yourself or you called the local music store to set up lessons with a randomly selected live teacher.

I was only eight years old when I met my first guitar instructor and I remember it like it was yesterday. He was a part time lounge guitarist that always smelled like cigarette smoke and definitely didn’t enjoy teaching kids. He was impatient, grouchy and didn’t hesitate to yell at me when I nervously chewed on my guitar pick. I didn’t understand him, I didn’t enjoy the lessons and soon wanted to quit. Fortunately my mother understood the problem and talked me into continuing with a different teacher.

I was luckier with my second teacher, Miss Mosier. She was a twenty-something hippy that loved kids as much as she loved to teach. I actually began to look forward to my lessons. When she introduced a little finger picking exercise that lead to playing an old Bluegrass song called Buck Dancers Choice, I was hooked. Finally, I was actually learning to play guitar and having fun!

Today, due to inexpensive video technology, there are many options that take the guess work out of learning to play guitar. Now it is possible to bring world class instructors into your home to teach guitar for less money and often in less time then it takes to learn from a randomly selected local instructor.

Here are 10 tips for selecting a guitar lesson program:

1. The Medium: find a dvd based or online guitar lesson program that offers both video and audio lessons with a book as a reference guide. This combination should work well whether your primary learning style is reading, listening, watching or a combination of all three.

2. Good Production Values: the video lessons should be thoughtfully organized. There should be lots of close ups of both of the instructors hands as they demonstrate each lesson. The audio needs to be clear so that each note and chord can be distinctly heard.

3. Skill Level: If you are a rank beginner make sure that the guitar lesson program states that it is geared for beginners. A beginning guitar program should teach the parts of the guitar, re-stringing and tuning as well as the fundamentals of scales, chords, keys, reading tabs and playing songs. If you are interested in a specialized program like Blues Guitar Lessons check to see what level of skills are required before you begin.

4. The Instructor: ideally should have experience as recording studio musician as well as touring with a band. A college degree in education and lots of hands-on teaching experience are equally important.

5. Music Theory Instruction: should be peppered through out the guitar course. A basic understanding of how scales, keys and chords work can free you from the limitations of just memorizing songs. This can provide the musical tools necessary for writing songs and improvising solos over just about any kind of music.

6. Guided Practice Sessions: this means that the video instructor first teaches you a system for practicing the guitar then plays along with you to help establish good habits. Much enjoyment and progress can be lost due to poor practice routines. In fact, I would be willing to bet that a high percentage of the people that quit do so because of a poor understanding of good practice fundamentals. Only one guitar lesson course that I am aware of gets this exactly right.

7. Jam Tracks: these are usually short recorded songs or rhythm tracks that provide a way for a guitar student to practice playing with a band. Jam Tracks can be invaluable for learning to play rhythm guitar parts in synch with other musicians or while improvising solos.

8. Individual Pacing: a guitar lesson program should provide an environment where the student can learn at a pace that is ideal for their individual learning style.

9. Fun: that’s exactly right, a guitar lesson program should be fun. If it isn’t fun early in the program it will be hard to stay motivated long enough to develop even basic guitar skills.

10. Price: expect to pay about $130 to $200 for a top-notch, dvd based, guitar lesson program that is aimed at rank beginners through intermediate acoustic and electric guitar students. There are many lesson programs available in the $30 to $60 range that have some of the important benefits mentioned above but I have found most of them to be somewhat incomplete and inconvenient. For detailed guitar lesson reviews go to a website like CompareGuitarLessons.com.

While a great, organized, video guitar lesson program taught by a top instructor can be critical to learning to play the guitar there are also a few other essentials:

- Start out with the highest quality guitar you can afford. Too often cheap beginner guitars won’t stay in tune, are hard to play and just don’t sound very good. A guitar that is priced in the $200 to $500 range will be much more satisfying to play. Why make learning guitar harder than necessary?

- Expect that playing the guitar will feel awkward at first but that slowly it will become easier and smoother. Don’t quit. Practice frequently in short bursts of 10 to 20 minutes. When your hands are sore or you start to become frustrated take a break.

- Learn how to practice like a professional: this is a significant weakness of many, if not most, guitar lesson programs. Rarely is there enough emphasis on learning how to practice effectively. A good practice routine should have a definite structure and purpose with fun activities at the end as a motivator. Practice sessions that are generally short, frequent and fun usually stimulate rapid learning. For more information on this topic read an article called “Learn To Play Guitar Twice As Fast In Only Half The Time” at CompareGuitarLessons.com.


Recommended Guitar Lesson Program:

Learn & Master Guitar has earned CompareGuitarLessons.com's highest possible rating for beginner through intermediate players:
Rated 10 out of 10.

This is a complete 15 DVD guitar lessons course for beginners through advanced intermediate players. The skills and styles covered go way beyond what we can cover in our free lessons; Acoustic Guitar, Rock Guitar, Classic Finger Style, Blues Guitar, Jazz Guitar and Country.

This well produced program is authored by Steve Krenz, a 20+ year veteran guitar instructor, former player for "The Fifth Dimension" and current recording artist in Nashville, Tennessee, USA...

Click Here For My Video Review of Learn & Master Guitar.

OR... Go To The Learn & Master Guitar Company Site For More Information or to Buy.

REVIEW: Blues Guitar Secrets

Question: What do Muddy Waters, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen and John Mayer share in common?

Answer: besides having the distinction of being just a few of the many notable guitarists from the last 60 plus years, they also came from a Blues background or at least had a strong appreciation for the beauty of this mode of music.

Question: what do the musical styles of modern country, rock, metal and pop music share in common?

Answer: they represent some of the many musical genres that are often influenced by the Blues.
Blues Guitar Secrets

Besides the sheer fun of learning to play Blues Guitar it is also a highly recommended way to increase the musical tools that a student can use to write, accompany or solo with many types of music. Learning Blues Guitar can be a smart, educational progression for any guitar student with at least some proficiency with a few basic scales and barre chords.

The Purpose of the Blues Guitar Secrets DVD guitar lesson program is to quickly teach the student:

• 12-bar blues in multiple variations


• blues chords and progressions


• blues scales in all positions and keys


• improvising Blues Guitar Solos

What makes a great guitar lesson program?

1. A great instruction program will go beyond the limitations of just reading a book by offering clear audio and video demonstrations of each lesson.

2. The program’s author should ideally possess the following credentials:
- play well themselves
- have played in a band
- toured with a band
- recorded
- must be a gifted and preferably experienced, formally educated guitar teacher.

About The Author Dan Denley:

Dan Denley fits the above definition of the ideal guitar instructor well. He has been a member of 10 bands and has played in some large venue performances. Dan is a competitive music scholar, has a college degree in music and is a guitar instructor. He is also the author of the highly rated and successful beginner through intermediate guitar lesson program called “Amazing Guitar Secrets”, a Lead Guitar Soloing Program called "Lead Guitar Secrets" and a program called "Acoustic Guitar Secrets".

Dan has an easy to listen to voice coupled with a relaxed style of communicating. He wisely leaves in some playing mistakes while demonstrating the lessons. This is one of the reasons that makes Dan easy-to-relate-to and therefore effective in his teaching.

Who Will Benefit Most From This Guitar Lesson Program?:

Although learning to play basic blues guitar does not require advanced playing ability it does help if you are comfortable with at least one of the movable major or minor scale patterns and some barre chords. However, the Blues Guitar Secrets course will walk you through the Pentatonic and Blues Scales that are the fundamental building blocks of Blues music.

Is Blues Guitar Secrets For Acoustic Or Electric Guitar Players?

Both. Even though the author begins the course explaining the interesting details of his electric guitar set up, he demonstrates the lessons using a mix of both electric and acoustic guitars. One of the lesson sections is entitled “Acoustic Guitar Blues Riffs”.

The Contents of Blues Guitar Secrets:

(2) Blues Guitar lesson DVDs

(1) Jam Tracks* CD ( included in the Gold Edition only )

(1) Book - DVD Companion: Here’s All The Notation, Tab and Chord Symbols That’ll Have You Playing Like A Blues Master In No Time!”

(1) Book - “Mastering The Pentatonic and Blues Scales: Discover the Secrets To Creating Your Own Solos and Killer Blues Riffs”

(1) Book - Complete Step By Step Guide To The Jam Tracks* CD! - Includes tabs, chord symbols, fretboard diagrams and a complete theoretical analysis of each Jam Track* ( included in the Gold Edition only ).

(1) Progress Tracker

(1) Intro Letter

(1) Step by Step Guide: “How To Use Your Blues Guitar Secrets Course”

* Jam Tracks are comprised of short blues songs that create an opportunity to practice rhythm parts or improvising solos while playing with a recorded back up band.

A Partial List of The Lessons:

Intro To Blues Guitar

The Pentatonic Minor Movable Scale Patterns in 5 Positions

The Blues Pentatonic Movable Scale patterns

Blues Chord Progressions

Using Minor 7th, Dominant 7th, VI Major 7th, Dominant 9th and Minor 9th chords and scales as well as combination forms.

12-Bar Blues: Open Position Chords

Acoustical Guitar Blues Riffs

Classic Blues Solo Licks

Blues Runs

Solo Practicing Techniques

Adding Bends

Strumming Techniques

Using Syncopation

Bonus Videos

The Negatives:

Dan sometimes refers to a musical term before he defines it. A few of the author’s explanations of these terms are not crystal clear. This might occasionally frustrate the most inexperienced player but overall I didn’t find this to be a huge problem.

It would be nice if this course came with a protective case or organizer to keep all of the materials together. None of these issues are significant but rather are just minor annoyances.

The Positives:

• The author: Dan Denley is experienced at putting together effective guitar instruction courses like “Amazing Guitar Secrets”.


• The author: Dan Denley is an expert, experienced guitarist and a trained educator.


• The author: has a relaxed, organized and easy-to-relate-to style of communicating.


• This course takes the mystery out of how to improvise solos on the guitar.


• This course is easy to follow and understand


• Excellent use of close ups to clarify fingering chords and scales.


• Includes a Jam Track CD for developing essential skills for playing with a band.


• This course uses video, audio and the illustrated written word to appeal to all of the important senses when learning to play guitar. This is especially important if the student’s learning style requires more than reading a book alone can provide.


• This course is primarily a video course with written support materials and not the other way around. I have found that it is less effective and more difficult if you must first read an instruction manual then find a video snippet on your computer that supports the book lesson. I like the much richer experience of watching, listening then emulating a live instructor demonstrating an entire lesson. It is much more effective to use the instruction book only as a means to clarify the video lesson. Blues Guitar Secrets got this part exactly right.

The Price Analysis:

1. The Standard Edition is $127 USD, (as of this writing ), and includes all of the items mentioned above in the “Contents” section without the Jam Track CD or Book.
   
2. The Gold Edition is $159 USD (as of this writing ), and includes all of the items mentioned above in the “Contents” section including the Jam Track CD and Book.

Blues Guitar Secrets by Dan Denley contains the equivalent of 6 months to one years worth of guitar lessons if you were to space them out as if you were taking lessons from a local guitar instructor. A local instructor typically will charge anywhere from $20 to $50 per weekly lesson. Your minimum cost, ( not including materials ), at only $20 per lesson for 6 months would be at least $520.

The choice comes down to:
- the Blues Guitar Secrets DVD Program at $127 to $159 or
- a local instructor at $520 to $1040.

Guarantee:
Blues Guitar Secrets comes with a 90 day, unconditional, money-back guarantee.

The Bottom Line:
I can, without hesitation, recommend Blues Guitar Secrets for anyone that has basic guitar skills and a desire to learn the essential Blues Guitar basics including how to improvise solos. The course is organized, logical and priced right.

For More Information Or To Purchase Blues Guitar Secrets Click Here



About The Reviewer: John Mackinnon started taking guitar lessons over 40 years ago and still enjoys the learning process. His website, http://www.CompareGuitarLessons.com is dedicated to reviewing dvd based and online guitar lesson programs, offers guitar related articles, guitar resource links and a free newsletter.

Review: Learn And Master Guitar by Steve Krenz

"Learn & Master Guitar is serious guitar training. It is by far the world's most complete video instruction course for the guitar... it is the only instructional package you'll ever need for total mastery of the guitar. All you provide is the practice! "

About The Author: Steve Krenz, according to the Learn & Master Guitar web site, has a degree in music and has played professionally with a broad range of bands from symphony orchestras to the well known “Fifth Dimension”. Steve is currently an active guitarist playing and recording in Nashville, Tennessee. Besides having taught thousands of lessons to students of all ages and skill levels he has held guitar playing and music workshops all over the world.

I found Steve to be soft spoken and down to earth with out being boring. His matter-of-fact style of teaching made me feel like I could really succeed. His teaching was logical and thorough while moving along at a good pace. He cleverly offers short , fun and impressively inspiring performances as transitions between many lessons.

The Package: Includes 10 well produced DVDs that include 20 learning sessions, a 108 page companion book that follows the contents of each DVD and five Jam Along audio CDs that contain a full band playing all of the songs offered in the lessons. You can play along with the Guitar part or turn down the guitar by reducing the left stereo channel. The Jam along CDs were definitely the most fun of the entire course… a nice payoff to all the hard work. The package includes a well organized, convenient plastic case that completely encloses the DVDs, the audio CDs, and the work book.

The Lessons: Each Lesson is divided into three main parts; a play along video lesson demonstrated by Steve Krenz followed a video tips section that offers helpful information on useful auxiliary equipment, guitar maintenance and protection as well as how to pick out a guitar. The final section of each lesson is called the Workshop. This is a guided, play along practice session. I found the Workshops to be an ingenious way to learn exactly how to practice. This built in structure prevents wasting time. It’s almost like having your teacher helping you at every practice session without the additional cost. As far as I am aware, this is the only guitar lesson system with "guided practice sessions".


The Lesson Topics:

Starting Off Right
Reading Music
Notes on the 1st and 2nd Strings
Notes on the 3rd and 4th Strings
Notes on the 5th and 6th Strings
Basic Open Chords and Roll
Minor 7th Suspended Chords
Barre Chords on the 6th String
Barre Chords on the 5th String
The Secret to Great Strumming
Fingerstyle Guitar
Pentatonic Scales
Advanced Chords
Playing the Blues
Giving Your Playing Some Style
Electric Guitars - The Heart of Rock
Advanced Strumming
Going Beyond the 1st Position
Jazz
Soloing
All the Chords You Need to Know


Support: A members only website includes a discussion board for posting questions. Other resources, such as additional exercises are also available.

Children: The Learn & Master Guitar course is definitely appropriate for most children to learn independently from about 8 years old and over. Children under 8 years old may need some initial supervision at first in order to establish good habits and a good practice routine. They need lots of encouragement in the beginning which is often a time of hard work and the least fun. Once they get over the hump of learning to play a few notes and chords, the fun will follow. The author, Steve Krenz, states that it is possible to learn a few simple songs in just a few weeks. I found this to be a reasonable claim.

Beginners: This course is nearly perfect. It begins with the assumption that the student knows almost nothing about the guitar. First the parts of the guitar are named followed by a quick but smooth transition to the first two guitar strings and two chords. Simple songs are soon introduced to break up the tedious work of playing notes and chords smoothly. I found that I actually progressed much faster with the video lessons than when I had a conventional live teacher. The play along Workshop practice sessions are nicely designed to teach efficient and effective practice habits.

Intermediate Players: As an intermediate player I found new ( to me), material in about the 5th CD. I found that although I knew most of the beginner lessons I was glad they were there as a refresher. The early lessons are a good reference.

Advanced Players: Someone that has played many styles of music over a long period may have to travel quite a ways into this course before finding something new. Probably the biggest advantage to an advanced player is to pick up knowledge about guitar styles that you may not have tried yet. This course is also a good resource for review. However the $200-$250 price tag is not likely to bring nearly as much value to a seasoned pro as a beginner or intermediate player. A less expensive and more targeted “internet only” course would save a lot of money and might offer more in-depth coverage of an individual guitar style, ( Jazz, Funk, Blues etc. ).

Guitar Teachers: I believe Learn & Master Guitar would give a student a distinct advantage maximizing practice time between your live sessions. The video workshop sections of each lesson would teach efficient practice skills because each practice session is performed in unison with the video teacher. I can see this cutting off bad habits before they have a chance to become ingrained. This could should move students along much faster than if they are left to their own devices between Live lessons. Better practice time should help the student progress faster.

Minor Negatives: …and I do mean minor. The book doesn’t lay flat. A wire binding would solve this problem. The special style sections for Jazz, Blues, Funk and Country Chicken Picken were well done but too short. I really enjoyed these style sections and was able to pick up a few fun beginning skills. I was left feeling hungry for much more. Because this is a general guitar course that covers a very broad spectrum it is not reasonable to expect every thing under the sun to be covered in exhaustive detail.

Money Back Guarantee: If you are not satisfied with it for any reason, simply return it within sixty days for a full refund of the purchase price.

Payment Options: 1, 2 or 4 payment options

The Bottom Line:

Learn & Master Guitar easily earns my highest rating of 10 out of 10 points. It is one of the best general guitar courses I have ever seen. It has been designed to suit many different learning styles and is the only Guitar Lesson Program with "Guided Practice Sessions". It involves no set up. Just grab your guitar, pop in the first DVD and everything is on autopilot. It's simple, fun and jammed with tons of lessons, songs and tips..... but, best of all it really works.

For more information or to purchase Learn and Master Guitar click here.