Customer Reviews

DVD-A Guitarist's Guide To Better Practicing

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Pete Huttlinger is not only a fingerstyle award winning guitarist, he is also a studio musician, performer (his CDs are wonderful) and toured with John Denver. This DVD simply is his practice motif --something that unlocks doors to better playing. I cannot see how a guitarist could not improve if he takes Pete's methods to heart. He not only presents scales, but very specific and strict manners to play them in order to improve finger strength. He is methodical, dedicated, and simply assumes that you have purchased this DVD to improve. He is not entertaining, though his personality is engaging, but very serious. This DVD is for the dedicated guitarist who wishes to improve without short cuts so that later, there will be no "holes" in his playing. I love this DVD and use it about once per week, as if it were a private lesson. I practice all week what Pete has taught, and then go back to the DVD 7 days later. It is my routine (I also use his DVDs learning the songs of John Denver) where I use several Homespun DVDs as my "teachers" with Pete's being like an athlete training. When I learned ice hockey, I enjoyed playing more than anything else. But the drills I did, over and over, were, eventually, put to use in games where I noticed dramatic improvement in a few short years. Pete's DVD is athletic training for the hands. You will be a better guitarist, in just a few months, if you dedicate yourself to practicing with a purpose....this is not about just picking up a guitar and practicing without a plan.

Get everything Homespun has to offer from Huttlinger, and pick up his CDs to increase not only your appreciation of fingerstyle guitar, but to relax and enjoy his music.

Pete's "Practice" DVD gives many tips and practice concepts that have helped my playing greatly improve. He teaches scales and drills designed to help the student become more proficient with basics. The instruction is easy to follow and will help beginners and advanced students alike. Pete's style of teaching is relaxed and easy-going. It made me feel like Pete was in my living room with me giving me private lessons. I would highly recommend this DVD for all guitar players who want to improve their basic skills.

Well, I'm an absolut beginer, and this video helped me to improve my practice. I didn't know what to do and how long. It was confused for me how to combine fingering, chord progressions, practicing scales, and so, but Pete solved for me.

I received this DVD as a gift. The catchy tune found within the training caught the attention of giver.

Peter is an impressive guitarist and a very enthusiastic teacher. I had no doubt that he wanted to make me a better guitarist.

There are good practice recommendations in this DVD. However, they can be summarised by saying that you should practice scales and use a metronome. Scales increase dexterity. They can be practiced while sitting in front of the TV or watching the kids. The metronome forces you to play in tempo and as you increase the beat you will "train" yourself to get faster. These kinds of recommendations can be found in a lot of introductory guitar books. Indeed, after watching the first 30 minutes of the DVD, I would think it unlikely that I will go back to those sections.

The tune "The Monaghan Jig", which occupies a sizeable chunk of the DVD is an impressive one. Mastering it would impress all who listen to you. I did not think it too advanced or requiring more skill than the DVD advertised.

That being said, I did not think tune was well taught. The DVD I had did not include the full tablature or transcription. This can be remedied by contacting the publisher, assuming you wish a FAX of the tab (see http://www.homespuntapes.com/Tackboard/show.asp?ID=5154&tbID=49&tID=4840).

Personally, I do not believe the Tab should be necessary for an instructional video. IMO a good teacher would demonstrate a new piece at a pace a qualified student can learn from. A good DVD should allow you to understand what is going on without having to pause and go back excessively. What I mean is that there should be a real time "slow-motion" demonstration of the parts of the piece.

I believe students learn better when the can follow what is going on without having to fumble with the DVD remote every few seconds. With the pace used in this DVD, you will find yourself spending a lot of time with the remote in hand trying to pause at just the right places, and move slowly through the fingerings.

Overall, I believe this DVD does a disservice to Peter and the producers. I suspect he is a very different teacher in person. Nonetheless, this video does little to capture that spirit.

I have mixed feelings regarding this dvd. I love Pete's work and enjoy several of his themed programs, e.g., Jim Croce, Gospel Hymms, and I can't practice enough- they're fun. Here he gives us more of the nuts and bolts on how to become a good player. Not as much fun. At least in the beginning.

Basically he stresses lots of practice, especially go over the parts you don't know or perform well, start slow and advance, buy a metronome- very helpful, do scales and finger exercises- boring, and he only provides a couple songs to show off. They take a bit of work for they're geared toward workng your fingers but sure sound nice once conquered.

Pete's a born teacher, very down to earth and easy to watch, and a fab guitarist!
Here his emphasis on finger work/scales are not as exciting as learning a popular song, that's the nature of the beast, but they do improve your abilities immensely if you stick with it.

If you want to move up a level and develop your overall skills and are committed to it then this is a good dvd for you. Want more fun? Work on specific songs that you love from another program, and come back to this someday.