Product Details

• Actors: Adam Kadmon
• Directors: Carl Fischer
• Format: Dolby, NTSC
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: Carl Fischer Music
• DVD Release Date: October 1, 2002
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 082584908X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #336,844 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre material from a great author, August 10, 2005

By 

Eddie - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guitar Grimoire Progressions & Improvisation-DVD4 (Sheet music)

P. Molzen wrote: "...these DVDs are of very diminished value without the book. And that is what they do, augment the book and help the reader extract more from it."

I would say that without the books the DVDs are almost worthless, and the "added" value provided by the DVDs is negligible.

From the Grimoire website:

"How important are the Grimoire DVDs?

Grimoire DVDs are just as intense as the books. The guitar wizard, played by Adam Kadmon, gets to the meat of the matter, with non-stop instruction. From start to finish, he keeps you going. He is also to able to explain material in a visual format easier than in a book."

- Sure it is visual, but there are many written explanations from other authors that are clearer than this DVD.

"It's like attending a class in college or conservatory, but you have the luxury of repeating the lecture over and over, without going broke."

- If I ever attended a class like this, I would look for another teacher. This is a shame since the author is highly knowledgeable. That knowledge is not properly presented in the DVD in my opinion.

Let me briefly illustrate some of the reasons why I did not like the DVD.

1. The "wizard" gets in the way. It is a combination of annoying/distracting/disturbing. I'm all for making learning fun, but this is not fun. I don't mind the cheesey effects, but they add nothing to the learning experience. "Barney teaches guitar" or "learn chord progressions with Elmo" or "Guitar Styles of Darth Sidious" suddenly sound good in comparison to "the wizard."

2. The examples are too basic and fail to apply the concepts from this and other Grimoire books. For example, we are instructed to play in G minor for the One-chord jam. I think it would have been more beneficial to present students with alternative scales, and perhaps play some measures using the different scales so that the listener can compare them. For example, Song of the Wind (Santana) has 2 chords, Fmaj7 and Cmaj7 if I remember correctly, and it has Carlos Santana and Neil Schon trading solos throughout the song, and using different scales over the same 2 chords. Why not apply some of the ideas presented in the Scales and Modes book here?

3. Somewhat related to number 2 above. On page 144 of the book, readers are instructed to check out the video for a better demonstration of soloing with the minor pentatonic scale.
It is important to note that the author mentions the "bluesy" sound, yet does not present the reader with the typical Blues scale (minor pentatonic with the b5 added).
In addition, there is no mention of micro-tonal bending. These characteristics are essential for a "bluesy" sound.
Assuming the author did not want to use notes beyond the ones in a piano keyboard, there are still some issues to consider.
For instance, the author instructs students to emphasize the 4 tone when playing over the IV chord, and the 5 tone when playing over a V chord. While this sounds fine, it can also sound very boring. As they say, Blues is easy to play but hard to play well. I prefer authors (e.g., Dave Rubin, Barry Levenson, et. al.) who talk about using target notes such as the 3rd (or b3rd), b7th, 5th, 4th, or the root.

In summary, while I loved the Grimoire books, the DVDs have been a huge disappointment. If they were included with the books at no additional cost I would not mind.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Depends on your expectations..., August 20, 2004

By 

PM "Found in Vegas" (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guitar Grimoire Progressions & Improvisation-DVD4 (Sheet music)

I agree that the presentation of the information is dorky, with the goofy guitar wizard. And yes, I expected more depth from the DVD as did the other reviewers.

However, the value of this DVD is not in it's additional content, per se, but in it's ability to get you going on the massive amout of (awesome) info in the book. There are numerous features of the book's materials I had missed, but the DVD got me on track. All the "Grimoire" DVDs are like that, they really help you more fully understand the method of the book & the music theory presented in it.

If you haven't yet figured it out, these DVDs are of very diminished value without the book. And that is what they do, augment the book and help the reader extract more from it.

And lest you take the other reviewers comments too seriously, keep in mind these DVDs are very cheap compared other, hot instructional guitar videos. Get the DVD AND the book and you'll get lot out of them together.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not worth it!, April 27, 2003

By 

Mintbug, MN (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guitar Grimoire Progressions & Improvisation-DVD4 (Sheet music)

The books are fantastic. The DVDs, or at least the Chords and Progressions DVD, merely gloss over the material in the book, without fleshing the material out.

I was bummed, but really, when you think about it, how much information could he get on a dvd to augment a relatively comprehensive text.

I intend to continue to use the books with an instructor.