adamcobra
February 11th, 2008, 03:49 AM
Backlog of my personal guitar experience-
One of the things about my guitar playing, is that I really don't have any friends who play guitar or are there to try and guide me on my path. I have taken lessons for about 8 months and they helped me to get started, but I was becoming more frustrated with the lessons b/c the guy teaching them is a spaz and isn't the best at concentrating on the task at hand. So basically the only time I sat with someone that was also playing guitar was with my instructor. But I do think I catch onto things quickly and that I have a good feel for music. I am good at open chord changes and intermediate at barre chords. In other words seeing a barre chord in a song won't turn me away from it. I am not a soloist, basically just a chord strummer for now. So hopefully that will tell you of my abilities.
On to the DVD -
Setup is great. Super clear picture, even on my 46" LCD, but really nice on my 27" CRT. Navigating the screens is easy to do. Others have mentioned the pop-up of www.nextlevelguitar.com as annoying, but IMHO it really doesn't get in the way or stay there for any amount of time. It will not detract from your experience.
You can easily hear both the guitar and David speaking with clarity. David's spoken english is clear and concise and he's very repetitive. So you aren't going to have to go "dang, what did he say? or I missed that - I have to rewind now..." He'll say it so many times that by the end of the DVD after you have it all down you'll be saying you must have heard it 1000 times, and that is b/c you did:p . But just remember - repetition leads to memory. I actually like that he said things multiple times.:D
Again, I consider myself a beginner, but I was easily able to play all the things that David was showing in the lesson, so maybe I am a little further along than I thought in my playing. This DVD seemed really cool to me in that it kind of backs you into playing this song through strumming/ chord changing/ arpeggiating/ and walking bass line lessons. Kind of like - here practice these things together and - guess what! it's actually this song called Last Kiss. I really liked that, and David never actually plays the whole song. But when you sit down afterwards and listen to the song you are totally able to jam with it.
It was helpful to me just to hear someone play the walking bass lines and arpeggiating for the chords. These are things that just never occurred to me to do in a song to flavor it up (so maybe I am still a beginner :)). I have been stuck just kind of playing it with strumming and everything sounded basic. With this song to practice arpeggiating with that is no longer that way. It was great to play along with David and have my playing sound the same as his. I plan to now add this to my "arsenal" and spice up the other songs that I have been playing.
I also now play Eminor like David does. I was using my middle 2 fingers to play this chord, but actually using the first 2 makes it easier to do the Em add2 chords, and I am sure there are other adds that will be easier now too.
Bottom line I got from it is this. The lessons on strumming/chord changing/ arpeggiating/and bass lines were worth the DVD to me as it showed me some areas where I can improve my playing, and Last Kiss applies all that teaching in song. So by playing this song the way David teaches I can tell that I am going to actually get better at a lot of other songs I am playing.
If those are things that you don't need work on, then this DVD isn't for you, you are beyond the teachings on this one already. If you are new to guitar and still working on open chord changes and if arpeggiating is a new word for you, go to NLG and purchase this DVD, your "arsenal" will grow b/c of it!
Thanks for the good work guys!
Santeria will be next!
One of the things about my guitar playing, is that I really don't have any friends who play guitar or are there to try and guide me on my path. I have taken lessons for about 8 months and they helped me to get started, but I was becoming more frustrated with the lessons b/c the guy teaching them is a spaz and isn't the best at concentrating on the task at hand. So basically the only time I sat with someone that was also playing guitar was with my instructor. But I do think I catch onto things quickly and that I have a good feel for music. I am good at open chord changes and intermediate at barre chords. In other words seeing a barre chord in a song won't turn me away from it. I am not a soloist, basically just a chord strummer for now. So hopefully that will tell you of my abilities.
On to the DVD -
Setup is great. Super clear picture, even on my 46" LCD, but really nice on my 27" CRT. Navigating the screens is easy to do. Others have mentioned the pop-up of www.nextlevelguitar.com as annoying, but IMHO it really doesn't get in the way or stay there for any amount of time. It will not detract from your experience.
You can easily hear both the guitar and David speaking with clarity. David's spoken english is clear and concise and he's very repetitive. So you aren't going to have to go "dang, what did he say? or I missed that - I have to rewind now..." He'll say it so many times that by the end of the DVD after you have it all down you'll be saying you must have heard it 1000 times, and that is b/c you did:p . But just remember - repetition leads to memory. I actually like that he said things multiple times.:D
Again, I consider myself a beginner, but I was easily able to play all the things that David was showing in the lesson, so maybe I am a little further along than I thought in my playing. This DVD seemed really cool to me in that it kind of backs you into playing this song through strumming/ chord changing/ arpeggiating/ and walking bass line lessons. Kind of like - here practice these things together and - guess what! it's actually this song called Last Kiss. I really liked that, and David never actually plays the whole song. But when you sit down afterwards and listen to the song you are totally able to jam with it.
It was helpful to me just to hear someone play the walking bass lines and arpeggiating for the chords. These are things that just never occurred to me to do in a song to flavor it up (so maybe I am still a beginner :)). I have been stuck just kind of playing it with strumming and everything sounded basic. With this song to practice arpeggiating with that is no longer that way. It was great to play along with David and have my playing sound the same as his. I plan to now add this to my "arsenal" and spice up the other songs that I have been playing.
I also now play Eminor like David does. I was using my middle 2 fingers to play this chord, but actually using the first 2 makes it easier to do the Em add2 chords, and I am sure there are other adds that will be easier now too.
Bottom line I got from it is this. The lessons on strumming/chord changing/ arpeggiating/and bass lines were worth the DVD to me as it showed me some areas where I can improve my playing, and Last Kiss applies all that teaching in song. So by playing this song the way David teaches I can tell that I am going to actually get better at a lot of other songs I am playing.
If those are things that you don't need work on, then this DVD isn't for you, you are beyond the teachings on this one already. If you are new to guitar and still working on open chord changes and if arpeggiating is a new word for you, go to NLG and purchase this DVD, your "arsenal" will grow b/c of it!
Thanks for the good work guys!
Santeria will be next!