Customer Reviews

DVD-Learn To Play Autoharp

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

 

 

Ok, when this guy starts you think we are never going to get to play the harp here. He spends forever on tuning and talking up the harp. Then all of the sudden he is playing songs this way and that. You are supposed to play along, but there is no bouncing ball telling you what notes to play. Then he starts singing, which is not that great, so you are thinking what the heck is going on here.

John Sebastian gives a calm, relaxed instruction on how to use the autoharp. Using his techniques, I was able to astound my family - who thought I must have been practicing secretly for weeks! I wish he'd shown how to use the fine tuners as well as regular tuners, but other than that I have no quibbles. There's no substitute for actually seeing how the autoharp is to be played and tuned, and Sebastian's video fits the bill. (Note: I had trouble running this DVD on my Mac; it ran fine on my PC and DVD player.)

I did not think this DVD was helpful for a novice autoharp player. Yes, it was very detailed in showing how to tune the autoharp, but it did not explain well how to play. It also progressed much too rapidly. It needs to have more basic how-tos added. It also assumes that you know chords, chord progressions, etc. I must confess I was disappointed.

John is a great performer but this DVD will not help you play better unless you are already a decent player.
More chord changes then anything else. You csan follow that all right but good luck figuring out the strums he is using.
On top of that the autoharp is plugged into an amp and that does not help you hear the harps capabilities.You will get better instruction on some of the free stuff on You Tube. Really wanted this to be more then what it is .

John Sebastian does a fine job demonstrating several strumming and playing techniques. The DVD covers tuning the instrument, chord placement, playing a scale to find the notes you want. He encourages the student to pick out melodies as well as playing chords. Finally, he shows how to play the Autoharp as a "full-bodied" instrument, picking the melody while stumming chords. I'm very happy with my purchase of this DVD.