Customer Reviews

Phrase by Phrase Guitar Method: Classic Van Halen

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

 

 

This video is what it says it is a breakdown of the songs listed by Van Halen during the best (in my opinion) period of the band. It starts by showing you the settings (close enough) to what Eddie used on said song such as distortion, phase, tone, volume, mid's, etc..., then goes in to braking the song down into "phrases" or riffs if you will played super slow then at half speed. Most of the info could be obtained off youtube or some other fan site, the tabs could be bought and dissected personally - but to have it all in one place already done for you on a whopping 5hr dvd for 25 dollars isn't too bad really. It was worth the money for the time gained, Mark John Sternal (dude has serious hair not to be f'ed with!!) does a good job coping Eddie's tone just wish the tab's had been included. I mean their showed on screen in clear to read notation I just like hard copies (old fashioned). I'm really just holding out for a "hotlicks" type video with Eddie himself now that would be totally sweet!!

This is a phrase-by-phrase breakdown of some great Van Halen songs from the David Lee Roth Era. Mark John Sternal is a likeable teacher. View some samples on his website or on youtube to get a feel for his style and make up your own mind. To nail or get close to nailing these songs you will spend a lot of time watching and reviewing the material, so be sure you feel comfortable with his style. Some of the techniques, such as tapping and whammy bar dives will take a good deal of patience if you have not approached them before.

I almost didn't order this based on some negative reviews by some expert advanced players I would guess, anyways I ordered and I'm glad I did. I'm only a intermediate level player and I find this DVD very helpful I wouldn't otherwise learn as fast as I have. I have books and cds from Troy Stetina and DVDs from Lick library which are also good, the only thing about lick library is it has no tabs on the dvd. I think the best I like about Mark Sternal DVDs is his instructions on different techniques and especially the 75% slowed down versions of the phrases which I have looped and play along until I nail it and then move on. I've been playing eruption for the past few days and still haven't made through the first part at 75% but getting real close. I have a copy of the Eruption transcription from Guitar world May 1995 and compare transcriptions with Mark Sternals, sure there are some differences but nothing to make a stink about, close enough to me. I'm just a hobbyist copying other peoples stuff. I also have the phrase by phrase Led Zeppelin and Metallica's DVDs but haven't started on them yet. Van Halen is more the style I prefer so I started with that. I hope this review was helpful

I have spent way too much money on guitar instruction books, CDs, cassette tapes and Signature Licks over the past 30 years. Thank God for DVDs, I have tried other DVDs also, none of them have really done much for me until I tried one of these Phrase by Phrase DVDs, I now own 6 of them. The only DVD produced by them I do not like is the "Gamers to Players" which I reviewed on Amazon. These DVDs show step by step parts of songs along with chords and tablature on the bottom of the screen, they are paced just right and allow you to progress at your own rate. The video and sound are pristine, and Mr. Sternal is a true master at explaining what he is covering. Don't waste your money on boring books and CDs, these DVDs will get your confidence back and get you playing and practicing more. Take it from me, I have been playing guitar off and on for 40 years, but with these DVDs I get it, and I am enjoying my 14 guitars more now and am having a lot of FUN! Thanks Mark for making it fun to play again.

These are 3 stars at best, not trying to ding the author too badly.

I only listened through Eruption and parts of Panama so far. I'm not enticed right now to listend to anything else on the DVD. Here where the two star deduction comes from.

First of all, Mark's tone is pretty sucky. This does not sound like EVH at all. This DVD shamelessly pitches Carl Martin pedals, and unfortunately you would not want to buy any of those after hearing the DVD. First of all, you can't tell that there is any Phaser, Flanger or Chorus at all on the recording. Then, the distortion is totally tame and brittle, far from anything close to "brown" that EVH produced with his setup.

Second star deduction is from certain obvious inaccuracies in Mark's transcription (talking about Eruption now) and the lack of needed chops to pull off Eddie's stuff. I'm not saying I can do better, but c'mon, Mark, you are creating an instructional DVD, you better do some more woodshedding, man! If you (regular audience who is reading this) want to learn Eruption for example, buy the Guitar World March 2003 edition (no idea whether you can backorder), it has a fantastic transcription in which I only found a few "inaccuracies" (meaning my ears hear something slightly different than what's transcribed), and also buy the paramount Transcribe! slower-downer software by Seventh String (the best $25 I ever spent!). (I also have a Guitar One transcription of Eruption that is more of an approximation, don't recommend that one).

If you search on YouTube (most sucky video sharing web page you could ever nightmare of, with absolutely horrible streaming video technology and the most disgusting reader comments possible), you will find one guy who got an astoundingly close sound out of his Axe-Fx, and at least one guy who teaches you Eruption who sounds really close to the original.

Dude, that was a rant! Trying to kill off my back pain with beer ...

A previous review suggested taking a look on youtube before buying. Excellent suggestion!! There is a whole lot better videos showing you how to play EVH out there. This guy isn't even close. Save your money!

This is a decent attempt at getting the basics down. It'll give you some insight to help fill out what you probably already know, but WOW would it help a LOT if the guy teaching it could actually play somewhat like Eddie. His lack of skill was distracting and during the solos often made it very hard to figure where he was in the song.
Curt Mitchell does a much better job. The only problem is he doesn't cover enough of the individual songs.

I sure wish Eddie would put one of these DVDs out. How amazing (and worth some good money) would that be? But there's probably a better chance of spotting mermaids riding flying unicorns on Mars.