Search - Guitar Lessons: Learning Guitar Step 1 - How to play guitar instructional video on DVD

Learning how to play guitar

Ray Abrams | Reno, NV USA | 07/24/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I just picked this dvd up for my son who wanted to learn how to play guitar

I liked this dvd better than another one we bought him because this one is geared for beginners who are just starting on the guitar and the last tape we got seemed to rush through the exercises to fast and would probably be better for an intermediate player

I also liked the on screen chord chart that he can sit and go through on his own pace until he understands the fingerings a little better.

I can also go to their site and download and print out every thing the instructor talked about in the lessons.

If you are someone or know someone looking to learn the guitar and have little or no previous training, I would recommend this dvd.
"

Practical and easy to understand

H. Fuller | 08/15/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"We found Learning Guitar, Step One to be very easy to follow as we learned the basics including strings, frets, cords and much more. For anyone who wants to learn how to play the guitar, or for the beginner who already plays but wants to know more about the basics of music, this is the DVD to get. The instructor is clear in his presentation while covering a great amount of material. We are looking forward to future DVDs in this series."

Great learning tool

W. Dunbar | 02/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I got the DVD for my kids. As other reviews stated, it is a very thorough review of the basics for guitar, easy to follow, logical, anyone can learn to play using this program."

Better than nothing, good basic value

Thomas G. Sopchak | Williston, Vermont United States | 10/02/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I have been learning guitar for 18 months now. I have taken 17 weeks of live lessons and have about 4 DVD videos including this one. The DVD is ok but slow and boaring. The DVD starts out with learning the basic cords. I can't imagine anyone getting through this. They assume you are going to practice strumming these cords for a few weeks before going on . . . hello? I would suggest learning a few of the cords, like G, C and D7. Then they show you a strumming exercise (after the last cord) to practice, that at least sounds like something. I would do that. They also don't show you any songs which really bites. There are many simple rock classics that most people will know that you can play with a knowledge of very few cords, Yellow Submarine, House of the Rising Sun, etc . . .

For me I couldn't just sit down and practice fingering cords for 3 weeks before hearing something or playing something.

After that point this video gets better than most . . they take you through 2 of the pentatonic scales which is huge and very helpful. Then they show you how to use these in conjunction with the strumming exercise. They get high points for this . . nicely done. One thing that would help greatly here is tabs for the pentatonic riffs.

They also present some music theory in that they cover the 1,4,5, cord progressions. Another very nice thing.

Anyway they cover a lot of ground but my biggest issue with this video is the lack of playing any songs early on to help you learn cord changes. One other big draw back is the lack of a split screen to sho you the strumming he is doing. He does a couple of nifty little strumming things that you really can't see what it is he is doing. They should have a split screen for this.

They do show you a little of a lot of things that should be a pretty good intro.

I bought this video when I first started to learn to play and I could not use it much. After about 12 months of practice and learning and some live guitar lessons this video is now more helpful than when I started.

I do recommend buying it because the cost of this video relative to lessons is NOTHING. You get several lessons that you can watch again and again. You can't beat that value."