Customer Reviews

Easy Steps to Guitar Fingerpicking

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If your interested in fingerpicking and like blues/country/bluegrass music than this is a must have. Happy Traum is great at breaking the art of fingerpicking down and explains everything in a relaxed fun way. Before you know it, you'll be jamming some nice little tunes he has picked out. Excellent for those interested in getting into fingerpicking.

After learning and playing guitar with a pick for over 40 years, I wanted to learn how to play fingerstyle guitar. I wanted to start learning the basic fingerpicking styles and start with easy-to-learn songs that would encourage me to keep practicing. I definitely wanted a DVD so I could see a split screen showing me what the right hand and left hand was playing at the same time. Also, I could repeat the lesson over as many times as I needed. This DVD was exactly what I was looking for and Happy Traum is an excellent guitar teacher. The pace was just right and I am so glad I took my time to see what DVDs were out there and to pick this one. Once I learn all six songs on this DVD, I will be purchasing his other fingerstyle DVDs. I love the quality of the DVD and having my own personal guitar teacher available whenever I want. I wish this technology had been available back in the 1960s when I was first learning to play guitar.

America is blessed to have one of the most gifted guitar teachers (and performers) at the ready through the magic of DVD. These lessons (when you add in DVDs 2 and 3) represent months and months of a true fingerpicking education from a teacher who is passionate, personable, and gifted. He is not simply a great teacher, but is one who anticipates where the student will struggle; offers encouragment and a true full education on fingerpicking. The songs he picks move in an ascending manner, beginning with the basic "Skip to My Lou" and on to the beautiful "Hobo's Lullaby". Besides an excellent education in some beautiful American folk songs, you will be learning, week by week, how to keep a good alternate bass and pick out the melody.

Take your time. take notes and map your progress. Do NOT rush. By the time you are finished with DVD 3, you will have spent months and months of the best guitar lessons money can buy, and will be a guitarist unashamed to play in front of others.

With DVDs 1 through 3, it is like an entire college course on fingerpicking. Even after finishing the 3rd DVD, you will find yourself going back to DVD1 and having more fun playing "skip to my lou" than you thought imaginable. (Just listen to the introductory music and you'll know what I mean).

You can take the knowledge from this set and move on to acoustic blues, which Homespun offers as well. That set, along with Bag of Blues, and some of the Blues Jamming, are an important part of every guitarist's library.

Homespun is the premier music instruction in the country today. enjoy!

An impressive lesson. The audio is fine. In fact, I was amazed at how good it sounded when the DVD began. Happy Traum is a sincere and articulate teacher. There is a lot of material here. It's a good value. You really get a sense of Happy's talent at the end of the disk, when he lets loose and shows what he can really do, after patiently and slowly showing you the basics.