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.
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