Customer Reviews

Guitar Method [OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Good Points
Animated fretboard, chord dictionary, electronic metronome, electronic tuner, recording/playback capability. It'll get your feet wet if nothing else.

Bad points
Lots of holes in the information that you will probably still seek through Google or other search engine to connect some of the dots when you realize the holes. Also, the pace of most of the songs are not for the beginner in my opinion (to play along at least). The chord transition is a difficult skill to master, and there weren't enough confidence boosters in the songs used. Of course you can play the chords and execute the chord transitions at a slower pace without the play along, but I ended up going to a music/book store and finding some good books with limited chord ranges per song and songs that interested me (motivation).

If you want to skip to skill sections that you want to learn, you will be at the disadvantage of having not learned chords presented in previous lessons, which every lesson builds upon. 75% of the program is the introduction of new chords in each successive lesson, working up to a song at the end of each lesson. When I finally got to power chords and reading notation for instance, it was months after purchase in my case. I was like, "gee I didn't know this was in here!" I had already gotten those tricks off of the web. There are many finger exercises, warm up exercises, scales, fretboard memorization techniques, etc. that never get mentioned in this program. I found these topics in other places and they seemed like essential tools to have as soon as possible. But, I guess maybe that is what they sell in volume 2 of this program.

General comments
Mostly covered above. I would still recommend to absolute beginners with this one qualifier: be prepared to supplement your learning through other sources. I've purchased many books and viewed many online resources; none of them have been all inclusive with information (maybe it wasn't very wise to expect such, but the packaging on these programs make some pretty grandiose claims). I need them all, and I know where the information is between them. If I don't have what I'm looking for, I hit the internet. When I'm ready to get back on some more structured path, I continue with the lessons in the program.

True story: when I started getting the music books and actually applying learned chords to familiar tunes, my family would come into my office one at a time and say "how did you get so good all of a sudden?" So, I guess everything played a role in my progress, including this program.

Conclusion:
I'm fairly immersed in learning guitar, having gotten a rather late start in music (by about a couple of decades!). So, I'm grabbing hold of as many avenues of learning that I can pursue. This is by no means a one-stop solution to learning guitar. But, if you can spare the cash though, it ranks as the best software available from any side-by-side feature comparison reviews that I've read. Learning guitar is a long process, don't expect miracles.

Apple iTunes uses the most recent version of Quicktime. eMedia's Guitar Method uses an older version of Quicktime: This compatability issue may be resolved in the new versions of Quicktime/iTunes. If not, you may have to uninstall iTunes and the most recent version of Quicktime in order for this software to run properly.

This program is by far the best guitar tutorial out there. You really don't need to know anything to get started, but it will steadily teach you everything you need to know about playing the guitar. The songs are a bit basic at first, but they teach you what you need to move on to more interesting songs, like "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" or "Ode to Joy". Other than a guitar, everything else you need is right there - a simple digital tuner, chord dictionary, metronome, and an animated fretboard that shows you what to play. I've had no problems with the program on Vista. If you want to learn how to play guitar, get this program.

After trying to learn guitar on my own off and on over the last twenty years, this product is actually teaching me how to play. Rather than starting with scales or other theory the program begins with a few simple chords and then shows you how to put those together for some basic songs. This actually had me sounding musical on the first day -- way cool.

I have been using this software for several months now and have learned a lot from it. It definitely builds up your chording skills and knowledge and starts you on the road to melodies. I have found it quite bland, however. The music selection is pretty boring and the program is slow to incorporate stuff other than just another chord and another chord. For example, I have yet to see any discussion of scales, which I have learned elsewhere are fundamental components of playing guitar. The strumming patterns are also very limited, and this too is a vital skill. When I learned a dozen chords or so and wanted to start playing from some other songbooks, I found that the strum patterns I'd learned would only allow me to play one or two songs in a typical beginner songbook.

My advice would be to consider this as one tool in your guitar learning arsenal. It will teach you the chords and how to play in time (the play along guitar is very useful for this purpose). Also, if you just want to learn to play chords around a campfire, this would be your program.

One last thing I have found irritating, that at least one other reviewer has commented on, is the fact that some of the songs seem way out of proportion difficult to what comes immediately before or immediately after. I was trying to play each song perfectly before moving on, but it actually helped to just move on and come back later.

This is better than going and spending hundreds of dollar in lessions you can learn in the comfort of your home and you go as fast as you want without the added expense.Great product

Quite good learning tool. Far better than anything you can get for free on the Internet. The only weak feature is that the automatic tuner isn't very accurate (though it might be my cheap microphone at fault). Overall, the pace, level, and method of instruction is perfect for a new guitar player.

Product installed great on OSX and the lessons are put together very well. My only suggestion would be, is to have two lessons for each lesson, one with singing, one with no singing. Definitely a great resource for the beginner that wants to do better then play guitar hero.

I have had this program for about 4 months and still find myself trying to master some of the most basic songs. The longer I have used the more it seems that it focuses on "campfire songs". There are a few licensed tracks like Knockin on Heavens Door by Dylan, but when you get to that point with the software it feels awfully difficult. It would have been nice if there was a little bit more tutorial and a few sections that described things to watch out for when playing. Instead we move from song to song with a new chord thrown in. No practice routines or finer exercises are present from what I have found.

I purchased this with a new guitar as a beginner. After a few weeks, I find myself disappointed that I have learned more from free advise on the internet then what this software has offered. Here are my biggest gripes:

1) Flashback to 1976. I don't know if the video instruction was filmed in the 1970's, or the instructor just refuses to update his wardrobe and hairstyle, but it feels like I am stuck in a bad re-run of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. Also, it almost feels like he filmed it himself. I can almost see him running back to the camera after a take to stop the camera.

2) Breezes over some very important fundamentals. Without realizing, I was picking up some bad habbits b/c the instruction does not emphasize some key tips on fingering chords, using the pick, etc. After browsing the net later on some guitar sites, I realized I had developed some bad habbits that could have been prevented with just more time and tips spent on some basics.

3) Unrelatable - the songs you practice to work on chords are absolutely horrible. Too much dumb folk music. I like a variety of music, including some Peter, Paul and Mary. But this is just too much folk and it's depressing. I find myself not learning b/c I don't want to hear myself play that aweful music. Some searching on the net revealed I could be practicing some Johnny Cash (who played a lot of 3 or 4 chord songs).

4) Not so user friendly. I found it difficult to move around in the software. The product doesn't have the user-friendly feel that should be expected this day and age. This software could have been written in early 90's for all I know. Not impressive.

I have some more gripes, but I think you get the point and I am tired of typing about a product I probably won't use much more. Basically, I am just DISAPPOINTED. I would recommend some on-line lessons which I have found much more modern and useful. This software costs about 4 months worth on unlimited online lessons. I found it's worth going that route instead.