Guitar Aerobics: A 52-Week, One-lick-per-day Workout Program for Developing, Improving and Maintaining Guitar Technique [Paperback]

Troy Nelson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: HAL LEONARD CORPORATION (December 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423414357
• ISBN-13: 978-1423414353
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #456 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Instruments & Performers
  • #1 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance
  • #71 in Books > Humor & Entertainment

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

166 of 168 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty nicely organized, February 15, 2008

By 

M. Howard (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Guitar Aerobics: A 52-Week, One-lick-per-day Workout Program for Developing, Improving and Maintaining Guitar Technique (Paperback)

The author spotlights 7 important techniques (alternate picking, arpeggios, sweep picking, string skipping, legato, string bending, and rhythm guitar) one for each day of the week, and builds on each every week. So every Monday is alternate picking day, and builds on the lesson of the Monday before. It's a great idea. The author says that an intermediate player can skip to around week 17 and an advanced player can probably go to week 36. I'd say I'm lower intermediate, after some 10 years of playing both steel-string acoustic and electric. I've worked my way through the first 10 weeks of lessons in 4 or 5 days. I find some of the skills like string bending, arpeggios, legato, and rhythm to be very easy, but I've never done sweep picking and found it to be a challenge. And the string skipping is something I've never done much concentrated work on, so it's great. I'm sure that when I get up to week 17 the other skills will get more challenging for me.

JR has a good point that there's not as much guidance on technique as I'd like on a couple of things. I think he was overly critical though. There are short notes on each day's lesson about technique. One was to keep the fretting pinky in place on the G while you shift from a G to an E chord - it helped me to stop fumbling around for the E shape. Another that I have not mastered, is in sweep arpeggios, to mute each note after you play it by slightly releasing the pressure on the fretting finger. That's one that I would like more details on, because I find it hard to do, especially if I'm barring the 1st and second string with my index finger on say the 3rd fret while catching the 3rd string with my middle finger. Do I roll them off, or do I ease up on all strings between each pick?

Anyhow, I like the breakdown into small bite-size daily chunks that I can spend 10 or 15 minutes on a day, as part of my regular practice.

133 of 136 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Counter to the lower ratings, November 25, 2009

By 

Jackstraw "jackstraw" (Indiana, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guitar Aerobics: A 52-Week, One-lick-per-day Workout Program for Developing, Improving and Maintaining Guitar Technique (Paperback)

Under normal circumstances I am not one to take the time to write book reviews. This is going to be short and to the point. Disregard the reviews that do not give this book a high rating. I am a beginner and dearly wish that I had purchased this book before spending hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars on worthless instruction books and lessons from mediocre guitar teachers.

The critics are correct in their statements that the book does not contain thorough instruction on each and every aspect, i.e. holding the pick, building speed, how to hold your mouth, etc., of playing the guitar. But, look at the price of it...... There are pages and pages of free material on the internet regarding the actual mechanics of playing. This book provides exactly what is advertised; useful exercises for "Developing, Improving, and Maintaining Guitar Technique"

If you are fortunate enough to have stumbled across this book before spending countless dollars on other worthless material and instruction, consider yourself blessed and buy this book.

63 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Seriously Great Guitar Technique Book For Growing Chops, January 5, 2008

By 

MarkLex "MarkLex" (KC, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guitar Aerobics: A 52-Week, One-lick-per-day Workout Program for Developing, Improving and Maintaining Guitar Technique (Paperback)

I've only had this book for a short time, but I really like this book and I'm a beginner. Then again I love a good challenge-when I really push myself is when I learn the most- and this is definitely packed full of lessons to keep you busy for more than a year. It's not a method book, so you already need some knowledge of the guitar. But as far as technique books go, this is top notch and well written by a guy who knows guitar (Troy Nelson was the former editor of Guitar One and now I think he's at Guitar Edge). It's a bummer when you pay good money for a book and you are bored with it in a few weeks. I think I'll be proud when I can see how I've grown as a player from the easy licks to the hard ones (when I finally get there!). No I'm not mastering one a day, but everyone has to go at their own pace. I mean, a year's worth (or more) of lessons and music for under $20?! Right on.