Rating: 
Summary: WORKS EVEN BETTER IF YOU'RE NOT A DUMMY
Review: If you're thinking of taking up the guitar, and who hasn't, here's "GUITAR FOR DUMMIES" (Anchor Bay). A great disc that remains true to its title with the super easy to follow instructions of friendly, skilled, instructor Jon Chappell. You'll learn to form chords, fingerpick, strum and play songs in a variety of styles (rock, folk, blues, etc.) and, get this, all without having to bother with the nuisance of learning to read music.No kiddng, you will be the center of attention and if not the life of the party at least be able to hold court in a corner of the room. This disc works even better for non dummies!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent tape for the beginner
Review: Let me preface this review with this statement - I have been playing guitar for over 25 years. I wish this tape had been around then... Last summer, I helped my sister pick out a guitar for my brother-in-law as a birthday gift. While visting them last month, Suzanne (my sister) told me of a tape Fred (my bro-in-law) had picked up to help boost his floundering attempt at kick starting his Rock Star career at the tender age of 46. It was very good, she said; the guy mixed humour with very easy to understand instruction for the novice and even tone deaf. Cool, thought I. Perhaps I should check it out sometime... Well, as fate would have it, I woke up in advance of everyone else the next morning, and in leu of watching their broadcast selection of local television programming, I decicided to pop in "Guitar Playing for Dummies". Wow. Chapel's easy going manner without talking down to the guit-picking virgin is just what the doctor ordered. We walks you through the basic chords, simple strumming and picking patterns, all to some decent pop standards. You will come out of this believing...no...knowing that you can become at the very least, a pretty compitent player. If only this had been available back in 1976. My 18 year-old just got the bug after his best friend started playing the bass. So I ordered him a copy...
Rating:
Summary: The Best Video For A Beginner !
Review: My husband and I recently purchased this video to begin learning how to play the guitar. We have purchased several videos on playing the guitar but this one far surpasses all the other ones. Jon Chappell is very thurough with each topic. You learn to tune, understand sheet music and tablature, play chords and work yourself into several popular songs. It is very educational and worth the 5 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Good place to start
Review: Not having held a guitar in over 20 years, this DVD was a good place to start. There are lots of camera angles, and the instructor speaks clearly and explains well. The pop-up animation is entertaining but can also be distracting. I recommended this DVD for beginners, but wish the instructor would produce an follow up DVD. Possibly "Guitar for not so dummies"?
Rating:
Summary: Excelente para principiantes.
Review: Si sabes algo de inglés y eres verdaderamente un principiante ¡Este DVD es para ti! Te muestra paso a paso el rasgeo y los acordes, el arpegio, etc. Y empiezas a tocar una melodía básica desde los primeros minutos. Con un poco más de práctica estarás tocando "La casa del sol naciente". Así de fácil. Tan sólo dedícale unos minutos diarios a practicar. Es un curso básico pero indispensable para un principiante, además Jon lo hace muy ameno. Me gustaría que hubiera otro curso igual para intermedios y para avanzados.
Definitivamente debes tenerlo.
Rating:
Summary: Guitarists are strumthing special
Review: The fellow on this instruction video (Jon Chappell) lends the beginner guitar player his good attitude toward the lessons ahead. Just like the book by the same name, the sprinkle of good humor is also felt in the video. This helps the student to relax and get ready to practice, practice, practice... at your own pace.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect starting point
Review: This DVD does an amazing job of understanding the pace of a beginner. The presenter has balanced very well the task of teaching the basics and at the same time teaching how to play simple songs. It gave me the visible rewards that were necesary to keep me continuosly motivated to learn more. I totally recommend this DVD to every beginner.
Rating:
Summary: Great for beginners; little here for intermediate players
Review: This DVD is great for people who have little or no experience with playing guitar and want to begin without investing in private lessons (private lessons are a good idea if you can afford them). The DVD contains basics such as posture, hand position, a few basic chords, and strumming. It even has a very basic introduction to fingerstyle (playing with your fingers instead of a pick). I had taken a very basic class a few years ago, then taught myself barre chords and a few scales. I recently invested in a good mid-range guitar (Martin DC-16 GTE), so I picked up this dvd as a refresher. I found myself skipping to chapter 8 before I came to anything I hadn't learned yet. So the title "Learning Guitar for Dummies" is apt. It is great for beginners as a SUPPLEMENT to private lessons. For intermediate players who are looking to build such skills as fingerstyle, barre chords, scales and improvisation, etc, you'll need something a bit more advanced than this. I found myself more bored and drooling over the Taylor 814 CE he was playing than focusing on the really basic concepts he was presenting. Other drawbacks of the video: 1) his singing is terrible 2) he doesn't go over such basics as selecting and changing strings or some accessories that are helpful even for the novice (i.e. string winders, supplies for cleaning and maintaining the instrument- like a lint free cloth, a humidifier, etc). 3) in the video he does not always follow the suggested fingering shown in the chart on the screen (i.e. on a few of the songs he plays a G chord with the 1,2, and 4 fingers instead of the 1,2,3 as shown in the chart- I also prefer the 1,2,4 fingering, but this may be confusing to some beginners). Other than that it is a good introductory video for the beginner.
Rating:
Summary: Baby Steps... In the right direction
Review: This was the first DVD I ever bought on the subject. I ordered I even before I bought my first guitar, so I was a real beginner. The pace is very slow, but as a beginner, I liked it that way. It helped me to feel like I had the potential to keep up. This was very important to me so that I wouldn't give up. Some may feel the pace of this DVD is too slow, but if you are interested in starting slowly... this may be just the right pace for you. Eventually, I started collecting Guitar DVDs and I now have over 20, but this was the one that held my interest long enough to make it past the training wheel stages.
Rating:
Summary: Baby Steps... In the right direction
Review: This was the first DVD I ever bought on the subject. I ordered I even before I bought my first guitar, so I was a real beginner. The pace is very slow, but as a beginner, I liked it that way. It helped me to feel like I had the potential to keep up. This was very important to me so that I wouldn't give up. Some may feel the pace of this DVD is too slow, but if you are interested in starting slowly... this may be just the right pace for you. Eventually, I started collecting Guitar DVDs and I now have over 20, but this was the one that held my interest long enough to make it past the training wheel stages.
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