Customer Reviews

Hal Leonard Guitar Method DVD: For the Beginning Electric or Acoustic Guitarist

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

 

 

I bought this in order to supplement the method books I am currently studying. Its much more informative than the "Dummies" dvd and you will learn more. My only complaint is when using it to do chapter searches(get to a specific point) it is very confusing. It also would be better with a supplemental book that contains the songs you learn. Still buy it you will be glad you did.I would also recommend Hal Leonards Method books as well. Enjoy!!!!

This course (DVD + Books) may not be the most fun, but it does cover all the bases better than any other SINGLE course out there. To tell you my honest opinion if having fun while learning the guitar is what you want to do, then I would say go with "Guitar Basics" by Bruce Buckingham and work your way up through the Musicians Institue series of courses. The main difference between these series is that Guitar Method starts with reading music and picking out "lame" melodies, where as Guitar Basics starts you out with playing chords and chord progressions. So the decision is really in the hands of where you want to start. Chords or notes?

I bought this dvd because of the list of songs in Product Description. It says: "You'll learn to play the songs:...." but in most of the cases they are not the songs but small riffs. Also this dvd is difficult to navigate and you can not loop the exercises.
I learn some tricks from the dvd but the bottom line is that I was disappointed.

There isn't much on this DVD - perhaps its only 40 minutes at most. It's only 11 very short songs, and a few riffs and licks, less than most guitar books. Also, the poor editing of the DVD makes practicing along with the DVD much, much harder than it needs to be. Do not buy this DVD without the book, or you'll never be able to practice enough to really learn the songs before you thow your guitar thru your TV. The idea of a DVD to go with a book is genius, and the material and the featured teacher are great, but they need more material, and a better idea of how a student might actually use it.

As a professional musician (not guitar) and teacher, it is possible that I approach this with a higher expectation of what should happen in an educational setting than most; but I am hard pressed to find a "method" to this DVD, or really to identify where any actual teaching occurs. All this DVD contains are mediocre demonstrations with no explanations as to how to do things or why they work. If actually taught, the material in this DVD would be great, but its really nothing more than a play-along DVD that leaves figuring out the why and how to the student. Further, there is no technique taught past elementary tips on holding the guitar ("most people hold it kind of like this ...") and holding the picking ("grab it like this and then make fine adjustments"). I've encoutered guitar lessons with better content and clearer instruction on youtube and am very sad to have spent money to purchase this DVD. Look elsewhere!

I recently purchased the Hal Leonard Guitar Method book, packaged with a CD and this DVD. The DVD is good, because there is a brief explanation by Kolb before each song, but a beginner needs to work on the book alone before jumping in to the DVD. The DVD should probably only be sold together with the book. One other catch: the written music that scrolls along the bottom of the screen is sometimes too slow and often doesn't appear until Kolb begins to play. The viewer needs to see the music to begin the song. I had to get a quick look at the beginning of the song, then rewind before I could play many of the songs. Stll worth while, but get the book also.

I just set a goal for myself to teach myslef to play guitar. This book is really good. I am learning fast and easy on how to play the guitar. The only down side is that the chords in the back of the book are hard to finger then some other ways. I bought my book used so the previous person had crossed out the chords and put in the easier ones to finger. Otherwise this book is a great starter book. This book unfortunatly doesnt have tabs for some of you people who can't read music. I can read music I have been playing the Tenor Saxophone for about 4 years now, so reading music comes easy to me. But yeah this book lacks the usefulnes of tabs.

At the music center where my grandson, my grand-daughter and I took music lessons, this is the method they teach. Very easy to learn with Hal Leonard series.
Nancy

I got this DVD along with the Guitar Method book 1. They came in a pack with a price of 25 dollars. They said it was on sale too! WRONG.

This DVD is HORRIBLE. Basically, all you need to know is, do you know how to take care of your guitar? Hold your picks? Basic stuff. You know what? You can find these tips EASILY on internet. What else does the DVD offer? What the book, Guitar Method 1, has. You do not need to watch this DVD at all. It has repeating information that you'd see in books. Why would you spend money on this piece of... nothing?

Now you may be thinking, "maybe the DVD shows us how musics are played." No. The book gives you everything. You do not need this DVD at start.

For the Guitar Method books, buy the complete set. It is 15 dollars for the complete set while each book of this series is about 10 dollars each. Once you finish the book 1, you'll want the book 2 and 3 to finish the series of learning sequence.

Hal Leonard Guitar Method is a useful product who wants to begin to play acoustic or elecric guitar. It is more enjoyable than a guitar method book.