2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Especially For Liv Fans--With A Caveat, February 2, 2007
This review is from: DVD-Livingston Taylor's Excellent Guitar Lesson (DVD)
For fans of Liv Taylor like me, this tape is not only useful but delightful. Liv is definitely his own man and his engaging personal style--which can be a little out there, God bless our Liv--remains on this old tape, recently converted to DVD.
The main reason I bought this was to learn how to play a few of his songs. Liv actually has a lot of CDs out, going back to Vinyl LP days, but there is precious little TAB, songbooks, etc.; practically nothing. So the original compositions and arrangements he details on this DVD are a goldmine for us fanatics.
However, in at least two of the four--Going Round One More Time and Our Turn To Dance--he leaves out the bridges, at least on my copy. In Going Round one More time, it's just not there. In Our Turn To Dance, he's presenting the live as opposed to the produced CD version, which means he sings, without guitar accompaniament, the bridge. Not too many of us have the voice or the personality to carry that off--so it's disappointing. It's also worth noting that the version of Going Round One More Time, is the slower, more meditative one he does live, again, not the unequivocally upbeat version on CD. But it's a starkly beautiful version, without a doubt.
If I were really going to get picky I'd point out that in I Will Be In Love With You, he doesn't teach how to play the lower-key instrumental intro that's on the CD. However, absent that, which really isn't required for live performance, it's a complete song. I haven't yet gotten all the way through I Must Be Doing Something Right to comment.
He plays, but does not teach, the famed Olympic Guitar--but the booklet that comes with the DVD does have TAB and standard notation for it, along with the other songs.
With those caveats--and other considerations, including the fact that the brief, missing bridge in Going Round One More Time can probably be figured out pretty easily--I love love love it and I'm so grateful he converted it to DVD. The instruction he provides will bring to life many classic ringing Liv Taylor chords--it's a thrill to be able to play them, finally. On the practical side, it is MUCH easier to stop, "rewind" and replay the trickier fingerings on a DVD as compared to the VHS that was around when this product was first produced.
This is a poor review because I've left the best till last. Liv strongly, repeatedly, relentlessly emphasizes the importance of rhythm in guitar playing, and how everything depends on that. I've only been playing for about 28 years and I never fully appreciated this. He really drives the point home, and it's made "my" rendition of Going Round One More Time one of the best performances I've ever been capable of.
So hey Liv--thanks.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointed, October 28, 2010
This review is from: DVD-Livingston Taylor's Excellent Guitar Lesson (DVD)
I was very much looking forward to this Dvd lesson. I had already done two Pete Huttlinger Dvd's on Jim Croce and thought they were terrific. I must say,though, that I was very disappointed. I enjoy Livingston Taylor's music and enthusiasm, but I felt he really fell down on the nuts and bolts of playing his songs. He skips around songs and does not go into detail on how to play them. Some parts he seems to skip all together. It is alot of 'zen' teaching-feeling the music. This is improtant, but first give me the basics. You have to use the tab (which has many mistakes) and just watch him play to figure out alot of the songs. The last song he does not even teach at all, just plays it. This was done back originally in the 90's and maybe they have just learned how to do these better since then, but there is no comparison to the level of teaching you get on the Huttlinger Dvd's. I wish Pete would teach Livingston's songs (along with his brother's). I would be able to learn them much better.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well communicated, January 15, 2006
This review is from: DVD-Livingston Taylor's Excellent Guitar Lesson (DVD)
Livingston Taylor is nothing if not passionate. His enthusiasm can be a little over the top, but it holds your attention. This isn't a lesson on the most cutting edge techniques and fretboard pyrotechnics. It's mostly about putting the skills you have (or are about to acquire) into good use. It's about the act of performance and the soul of making music. He goes far beyond, "put this finger here..." and shares a great deal of wisdom that you probably won't get from a book. You'll definitely pick up several "Taylor-isms" to add to your own playing style as well.
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