Overview

This is a review of the Emedia Guitar Method 1 - version 1.2.

So, you've hit middle age (me) or you've decided that after watching your bazzilionth rock band jam together that you would like to be just as cool as your (insert guitar legend here:) here...

The problem now comes in three steps...

1) You have to buy yourself / get / steal yourself a guitar.
2) You have to get lessons / learn technique.
3) You have to practice.

I've tried multiple systems before from books (Fastrak guitar series); to internet lessons and the best I've found is this Emedia guitar series.

Program Details

The program is divided into 6 chapters with an appendix of information. The first 3 chapters cover chords and the last 3 start into fingerstyle and individual note-picking.

The lessons are narrated a professional guitar musician with a Ph.D in music (not your self-taught joe. In addition to audio commentary, sprinkled throughout relevant sections are actual video clips demonstrating methodology.

Finally, Emedia has thrown in a bunch of guitar software utilities into the package... This includes a metronome, a guitar dictionary, a guitar tuner and a "fretonome".

The fretonome is an interestig gimmick that you won't find elsewhere... As you play the song (following the cd audio), it will actually show you the fingering for each chord/note as you go along... This saves you the time of having to look up individual chords but I really found it unnecessary as the lessons are well spaced and you've usually managed to memorize the chords/notes by the time you use it in a song.

Number of Lessons

This is really the meat of the product. The lessons are incredibly well designed and they have really given you a good number of them.

I find that in guitar instruction books (Fastrack, Mel Bay, Hal Leonard); that they pretty much limit the number of pages per book to about 30-50. However, the advantage of throwing everything on a cd is that there is almost unlimited space for lessons... So, Emedia has been very generous in providing 155 lessons on the cd. This will really take you a few months to work through if you are a true beginner and practice/memorize the works.

The truth though is that there are really 60 main lessons; some of which have sub-parts to practice; which is how they come up with the 155 number.

Quality of Lessons

This is really a strong point of the program. Kevin Gary; the on-screen instructor is really excellent. Sometimes, when you are trying to learn on your own, it is difficult without a mentor demonstrating to know whether you are holding, fingering or performing a technique correctly.

Books usually lack specific tips. However, for each song and lesson, Kevin Gary has kindly provided a few interesting comments and more importantly, performance tips or tricks you wouldn't think of on your own...

The only other way to get this type of insider knowledge is to get tutored in lessons.

Songs

There is a wide variety of music on the cd. More importantly, if you choose to play along with the audio track, the program will cue you on screen. This makes it much more interesting and helps you to keep time.

Also, as a beginner; it is near impossible to sing and play at the same time... Having an audio track where someone is performing the vocals really makes it interesting. In the major songs included, there is even background drums and instrumentals which makes it feel like you are really jamming along.

Although there are a few interesting contemporary songs, much of the music for the lessons consists of folk and older tunes... This is usually a necessity since these older tunes are usually much easier to play... but are also less interesting to practice.

Of the really interesting contemporary songs, the following are included

Bob Dylan ("Knockin' on Heaven's Door"), Rolling Stones/Doors ("Little Red Rooster"), the Steve Miller Band ("Rock N' Me"), Heart ("Dreamboat Annie"), Rod Stewart/Tom Waits ("Downtown Train") and the Grateful Dead ("Uncle John's Band").

Cost and Value

With a suggested MSRP of $59.95, the program is more expensive that individual instruction books. HOwever, you get many more lessons - usually equivalent to 2-3 starter books and the on-screen instruction is really helpful.

I was stuck after using the Fasttrak Guitar instruction books, not knowing where to go from there. This program has really kicked me into a new level as I feel I am learning new things again.

AND even more exciting is that when you finish going through all the lessons on this cd... There is even more material and lessons available in Emedia Guitar level 2.

This is really good since you don't want to be stuck after completing the basics... You want to keep learning and it's improtant that there is a well structured continuation path level afterwards.

This program is about the same cost as 2 or 3 individual tutor lessons which was the alternative I was looking at when I got the program.

Critique

So, the review so far has been glowing; mainly because I really think this is a great way to learn guitar. However, there are some pitfalls to learning by this method.

The most improtant is that you are tied down to your computer. This may be inconvenient for some people or merely discouraging for others. Rather than having a book you can take around the house, you will be practicing whereever your computer is located.

The other thing is that about 60% or more of the music and songs in this beginner cd will be folk tunes and classical or variant. You, like many others, will be starting by playing Jingle Bells, Drunken Sailor, etc... you get the picture... Not exactly the coolest songs.

However, all the instruction books usually start that way as those are the only songs that a complete novice can play with a few chords or limited technique.

The audio tracks are exemplary. There is a track for every practice song or section presented. However, the video was only presented every few lessons. There could certainly be more tips or video demonstrations of good technique.

Finally, although this is a good way to cheat and cheap out on private tutorials, THERE IS NOTHING like a GOOD instructor. My background is RCM Piano and if you can find a good music teacher, they can really help hone your technique and give you feedback in a way that self-instruction cannot.

If you have the time and can afford it; I still believe private in-person instruction is the best.

However, if you want to learn at your own pace and are busy (like me), then Emedia Guitar is definitely for you.