Customer Reviews

DVD-Easy Steps to Acoustic Blues Guitar #1- Starting From Scratch

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a wonderful product for folks like me who are just starting their exploraton of the blues. Happy does a great job with the basics and then piles on a lot of variations and tricks that make even the most basic 12-bar sound fun and interesting. I would certainly recommend it for novices. More advanced players might skip the beginning and move on to Disc 2 but this is a great foundation for beginners.

Great DVD for those who already know how to play basic guitar chords and want to learn the blues. From the first 15 minutes, Happy will have you playing 12 bar blues and begins to show little "secrets" that sound quite impressive, though not difficult to play. Happy's enthusiasm for acoustic blues is contagious and if you have already learned to play basic guitar chords, you are ready for this DVD. It is like having expensive lessons in your home. Play the DVD for 15 minutes; shut it off, and practice every day. After a few days, turn it on for the next segement, and repeat. Some of the DVDs are quite easy, where as others may require more practice between "lessons". If you do not know the basic guitar chords and wish to learn, Homespun has many other excellent products, including David Hamburger's Acoustic Guitar Method, vol 1 and 2. Homespun DVDs make it possible to have terrific lessons in your own home. Affordable, well directed (you get the split screen of the right hand and the left hand), and enjoyable, I have found no better instruction for the guitar or piano than Homespun.

There are many books and dvd's out there on acoustic blues. These 2 volumes by Happy Traum are the best I've found.
Easy to follow for beginners and intermediate players, and Happy's good-natured ways will win you over.
A feel-good experience every time, whether you just watch them or practice along!!!
10 stars.

This is a great instructional DVD for the beginner who alreay knows a few chords and would like to venture into the world of blues. Happy provides thorough instruction and is very patinet and encouraging. This is one of the better guitar lesson DVDs that i have bought and I am just staring DVD # 2.

As the title shows "Starting from the scratch"
Happy Traum is an excellent blues guitar teacher, he start his lesson by explaining the twelve bars variation for novice who haven't touched a guitar or know the blues before and by time his authentic explanation will lead u to be a fair blues guitar blues player.
I personally thank him for this instructional DVD; it helped me a lot to understand the basics of the blues chords variations and improve my guitar skills too.
The Main theme is Good Morning Blues he shows u how to get it all done including turn around and many other useful tips and tricks (Brownie Macghee style)
An Advise, if u are interested in the blues don't just buy it alone, try to purchase the second DVD with it "Easy Steps to Acoustic Blues Guitar -Essentials of fingerstyle blues" great instructional DVD also.

I have a very genuine like for this man; he's very warm hearted and very knowledgeable. I really had know idea how to play the blues, but have always wanted too. I can afford to go to a shop and get taught to play the guitar, but I much prefer the challenge of learning on my own. It can get really frustrating learning on your own, but I find that when you are self taught, you weave your way in and out of what your preferred method of teaching is much quicker. Because I can buy numerous DVD's online and get many different perspectives on how to play, but with a music teacher, your only learning their way and nothing else. Not to say all music teachers are bad, on the contrary, there are numerous music teachers that I know personally that are excellent. But I just wanted something a little different and Happy has provided that for me. If you've never touched a guitar in your life or at least played around a bit, I wouldn't recommend you get this video, because its not that type of beginner video.

I purchased EZ Steps to Acoustic Blues Guitar after I purchased Happy Traum's Brownie McGhee DVD. I am an intermediate player and I needed help with getting the Blues tempo, style and tone. My playing is steadily improving and practice makes perfect. I thoroughly enjoy Happy's style of teaching. He breaks it down into pieces and tells you when to stop and work on a bar of music. Most DVD's don't do that. He is a music instructor, not a musician showing you his stuff. He makes you feel like he is a friend and tutor. I really enjoy playing with him. Because I enjoy him as a tutor, I "USE" his DVD. I don't let it set up on a shelf. Nuff Said!!

I am extremely pleased with this DVD. Although I play a number of instruments and read music, I am a beginner on the guitar. On this DVD Happy Traum teaches basic finger picking, chords in the key of E, and short bass runs. He spends a lot of time on turnarounds and how they can be varied so the song doesn't get boring. I have purchased other instructional DVD's, and I found that a person can be a great musician but not be able to teach. This is not the case with Happy Traum. The man is a born teacher. I have been working on this DVD for about three weeks, and I'm not all the way through it. There is a lot of material packed into it. The quality of the DVD is quite good, and there are two screens for the student to look at...one that shows the right hand and the strings he's picking, and the other screen showing what the left hand is doing. I had no knowledge of finger picking prior to purchasing this DVD, and I think I sound pretty darn good! I would highly recommend this DVD.