Customer Reviews

Fretboard Logic Box Set (3 Volumes and 2 Videos Combined in Two Books and One DVD Disc)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

i have just started working with this book and dvd. so far i'm smitten. the only thing i'd like is if they blues, rock, and country riffs were written out for me to see. it's hard for me to put them all together by ear and from the DVD. i'm constantly rewinding. still, the way this guy has broken down the logical patternings inherent in the guitar make the whole process of figuring out what the hell's going on a lot easier! i've recommende this book to my guitar teacher so he can speed up my learning curve, but the great thing is that i could also get by without him just by studying the books. great stuff and fantastic musicianship!

I quit taking guitar lessons long ago because I was frustrated with the lack of system, despite my teacher being an excellent blues and rock player and a good man. He did his best to provide some systematic learning by combining rudimentary music theory with very dry, iterative practice passages. After I quit lessons, I then started playing by ear and began learning in that way, by mimic, with some minimal theoretical looks at the pieces that interested me most. I had viewed various teaching materials, never finding anything that could bring it all together and truly unlock the instrument for me. I was tooling through Amazon.com one day, and stumbled across these humble-looking books, finding virtually every bit of feedback complimentary. I was extremely skeptical, being a trained skeptic, but having purchased the boxed set with DVD and worked through all of the first book, plowing through the second and third volumes, I have new-found analytical and improvisational skills and ambitions with the guitar. I have some friends that have asked about learning to play, and the first thing out of my mouth is always "Bill Edwards, Fretboard Logic, Vol. I-III, and DVD." If only I was working this system from the beginning, there's no telling where I would be now. Thank goodness I found these books when I did. I simply won't let anyone else learn guitar without referring them to the Fretboard Logic Series. Thank you, and thank you again to Mr. Edwards. Not only has he created a great product that sells at a very reasonable price that reflects considerable time, understanding, and fine-tuning, but he has done a service to the instrument. Congratulations, and thanks once more.

I have this combo pack SE(=vol1+2) + vol3 and DVD. Volume 1 is want gets this book 5 stars. vol2 and vol3 don't give you this "aha erlebnis" that vol 1 is giving. Vol 2 and 3 are just good books (3 stars) on music and guitar. The DVD does not add much to the book, it is good to have a look at the DVD so you know in 1 hour what the book will try to teach you.

In vol1 you get a realy good (super) explanation of the fretboard and this book will teach you how the learn the secrets of fretboard and not ask you to memorize 100 scales and chords. This is indeed a must read for anyone starting on guitar.

This series is the "must read" for all guitarists, regardless of how long you've been playing. It's a "guided treasure map" to the logic of the fretboard (no pun intended). Once you understand the patterns, your playing and your versatility will improve immediately. I have over 50 guitar books, and this series is the one to buy, if you're buying only one.

Like a lot of other reviewers on here, I've been playing guitar for awhile; approximately 12 years. I've never had any training until recently, and I started playing 12 years ago when a friend taught me five chords: C, A, G, E, and D, but I didn't learn them in that order.

Little did I know (nor did my friend) that with those 5 chords I had everything already in hand to unlock the puzzle of the guitar fretboard. It just took me 12 years to figure it out, and not until stumbling on these books and DVD.

For very advanced guitarists who have tons of music theory background, this system might not be useful. I would suspect that low reviews of this product come from those who have already deconstructed the guitar with their own system and they think the Bill Edwards system is elementary. For the rest of us that can play most songs on the radio but stumble when it comes the solo, read on.

My biggest asset (and problem) when playing guitar is that I have a good ear. What this means is that I've never cared about structured instruction because I could always rely on my ear. As a result I've developed sloppy habits, such as never using my pinky, and resorting to bar chords when I couldn't decipher the nuances of a certain chord progression. I would say to myself "ahh, it sounds close enough" and most of the time nobody knew the difference anyway. I also make up my own things when I don't feel like playing someone else's music, but I tend to fall into the same patterns that I've picked up over time. And all of these years playing guitar, it has finally occurred to me that I was under some spell of self delusion, thinking that some day I would get more structure, some day I would find a way to unlock the mysteries behind difficult bends or finger tapping sequences, and I would stumble upon some very basic pattern or mathematical relationship that would reveal everything about the guitar. I just didn't know how or when, and I've been playing like that for years.

Well, here it is. Except I didn't discover it. Bill Edwards did (or someone before him). But I've never seen it so simply laid out. I have been in bands in the past and learned tricks from bandmates, or shared my own with others. Every trick I've learned I can now see is just a small piece of what Bill Edwards describes in a very simple series of patterns on the guitar. You don't have to know a drop of music theory to get it, and his methods aren't as mundane as learning scales. There is much more "why" in his method, whereas practicing scales feels a lot like "how" without much "why". He's just showing you common patterns and symmetries and how to use them in music. These patterns are inherent in the mechanical function of the guitar. The original craftsmen of the guitar most have known this, but it was lost in the years between now and then. How somebody saw these symmetries and decided to stretch 6 strings over a long bar with progressively smaller frets is beyond me, but somehow it happened, and now we have rock and roll because of it. How's that for evidence of technology guiding culture?

I recently started taking lessons because I wanted to rip myself out of my same old stuff. I wanted to feel more confident in solos, and learn more techniques so I could do more than Foo Fighters and Pink Floyd covers. After several months of picking up tidbits here and there, I finally asked my instructor "How does Dave Navarro walk up and down the neck? Or CC Deville? Or Hendrix? How do they know what scales go where?" My instructor said "Ahh. I've got just the thing for you. It's called the 'CAGED system'."

My instructor does not normally whip out the CAGED system with his students because it seems very structured, and he'd rather let his students lead the instruction because they have ownership in what they are learning. However, I have the misfortune of being a physicist, so this logical description of the guitar is perfect for me. I wish I would have found it sooner.

Here's the meat of it. You've got those five basic chords: C, A, G, E, and D, and they are usually played "open" at the far end of the neck. For the typical coffee house acoustic open stage night, this is all that is necessary. But as you probably know, "bar chords" as they are commonly called, can be played up and down the neck too, and you can mimic any of the 5 basic chords with a bar chord. Many rock stars have made millions from this simple technique, even if it only won them a single Top 10 hit. If you can follow me this far, we're in good shape.

If you would like to know more, or if you already know more, this is what Bill Edwards will tell you: The first step you have to make is to stop calling C, A, G, E, and D a "chord" and start calling it a "form". Learn some basic scale "forms" based on any of the C, A, G, E, or D "forms", and you can translate them anywhere on the neck. He's not talking about only chords, but the scales from which these chords are derived.

(Get the book to learn the specifics of what I'm going to say next, but...) Once you have the "forms" burned in your brain, you can play any key up and down the neck by starting the next "form" in the CAGED sequence. Once you see where all the forms are located with respect to one another, you are free from playing by fret and you are now playing by form. You can map the word "CAGED" anywhere on the neck. Did you get that? Pick a form, any form, in the CAGED sequence and start on any fret, and learn to solo by moving between forms.

Example: Play the G scale continuously all the way up the neck, starting at the 3rd fret

3rd: G form
6th: E form
8th: D form
10th: C form
13th: A form
15th: G form

If you play each of the forms at the frets designated above, you will stay in the key of G as you walk your way up the neck. I use the G form a lot because the first note of the pentatonic G scale is the key you are in. It helps me find a starting point. In this case I started the G form at G, so I stayed in G.

Example: Play the key of A all the way up the neck, starting in the open position

Open: C form
3rd: A form
5th: G form
8th: E form
10th: D form
12th: C form

See how the pattern spells "CAGED"? Thats the basis of the name. You'll be in the key of A in that sequence. When you get to the end, go back to the begining and continue.

Shift the last pattern up a fret and play the whole sequence. Shift it up again and keep doing it. It's a good way to practice.

Bill has a lot of other patterns and symmetries to show you, and as you learn them you will likely discover fractions of some of your favorite solos you've heard in your favorite songs. You can play with the CAGED system on any of your favorite scales - pentatonic, Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do, whatever... it's almost disappointing... players you thought were Gods are just dancing around the CAGED system all the time. There's no secret anymore. Bill has a few lead patterns laid out for you as well, and after trying them out I instantly recognized 102 solo bridges from countless rock songs.

Get the books and DVD, practice the forms, follow along in the book while Bill talks to you from your TV, and have a great time. Especially if you've already had some exposure to the guitar, this instruction set will be very beneficial to you. The books are very readable, as Bill knows that endless pages of text will bore most people, so he trys to put an even surface area of text and pictures on each page, which I find refreshing. The DVD is laid out to follow the books, and he'll say "I'm going to teach you the CAGED sequence, which starts on page 22" and you can studiously follow him as you read along, using your DVD remote to pause, stop, and rewind as you learn. Very useful. He also has jam loops on the DVD so you can practice rock, blues, and country jams.

One odd thing is that he teaches you pentatonic scales first, then teaches you the full scales. I think this is because of his rock/blues/country roots. This is great, but I now am very familiar with the pentatonic scales but I don't know the full scales very well.

I've struggled with the guitar for about 15 years. I've taken lessons and bought just about every book and DVD out there. Most teach you a few old folk songs to pick out on guitar. Even the teacher i had pretty much just said "heres a chord, heres another chord, now play the guitar" So much time wasted on learning to convert traditional notes to suit the fretboard. If only i could go back 15 years ago and hand myself a copy of this book. Simply amazing! You'll go through the book and wont believe how many times it will click and you will literally say "oh wow" This book teaches you not just how, but why, which after reading this book i realized is just as important as how. Once you learn why the guitar works the way it does you will instantly see how things go together. Don't wait! Buy this book yesterday! I would give it 11 stars if i could!

Maybe some of you can relate to this.

I played giutar in high school back in the early '70's then left it behind for decades. Recently, I decided to go back to playing, but wanted to avoid trial-and-error, tedious drawn out lessons, and find a sort of "unified field theory" for the giutar, if one existed. It does!

After some searching, and almost by accident, I came upon Fretboard Logic SE, Fretboard Logic III, and the DVDs. It almost sounded too good to be true at first, but as I've worked with this remarkable program over the last month or so, I find that everytime I pick it up, I'm amazed anew!

This was EXACTLY what I was looking for, and has organized my understanding of the guitar and its fretboard like nothing else I've seen! With a sense of humor, and clear writing, and logical organization, Bill Edwards explains the guitar in a way that, as stated correctly on the back cover of Fretboard Logic SE, "...will take years off the learning curve."

I gave this program - Fretboard Logic SE, Fretboard Logic III, and the DVDs five stars, but in truth it has been invaluable to me, and I don't think any rating system would do justice to this program.

Dang, I read all these reviews of guys in their 40s or 50s wishing they had this book 20 years ago. I'm 23, been screwing around on the guitar for 2 years trying to teach myself and pretty much going nowhere. I love this book! Ive learned more in 2 weeks from this set than in the 2 years before it.
I am not playin here, get this. Good luck

I've used alot of guitar instructional materials DVDs, books, computer programs and stuff but this really is a great set of books for improving your guitar playing. I suggest labeling the notes on your fretboard if your guitar is really cheap $100 or so.( I used a label maker to do mine)
The book is easy to read, gives great tips and presents information in a way that is easy to understand. Lot's of good stuff in there honestly. I am a real person and nobody put me up to writing this review, I usually suspect any good review that the person who did it doesn't have alot of other reviews and I have many.

this is absolutely the best learning tool i have ever seen or used. it answers all the "whys" you would ask. i have recommended it to friends & am a better player today because of this product!