Learn To Play Rippin Lead Guitar with Paul Lidel

Rating:
Summary: Not slick, but does the trick.
Review: First things first. If you haven't bought "Fender Presents: Getting Started on Electric Guitar with Keith Wyatt" then go get that one. I bought a slew of these instructional DVDs, and if what you are looking for is a great first step to learning electric guitar, the Fender Keith Wyatt DVD is superior to every one I have seen. But that DVD, as good as it is, only takes you so far.

"Rippin Lead" is a great companion for the Fender DVD. It contains 10 solos of increasing difficulty that go far beyond the Fender DVD in sophistication. Paul explains the techniques well, and demonstrates each solo fast and slow. If you can play these, you're ready to rock.

These two DVDs are very different. The Fender DVD has a professional, positive tone, and the DVD navigation is easier. The lessons are more friendly and encouraging. This makes learning easy. I think the student's enthusiasm and attitude is directly related to the teacher's, and Wyatt is simply more inspiring. "Rippin" is a little bit of a diamond in the rough. Paul Lidel is not unfriendly, but his demeanor is serious, almost sullen. He has a "deer-in-the-headlights" stiffness, which makes the video slightly uncomfortable to watch. Paul only smiles once, when he says goodbye. I'm just saying that you should start with the friendly, encouraging Keith Wyatt, and when you're ready, move on to the serious, skilled Paul Lidel.

There are plenty of other refinements that would improve this DVD, such as getting rid of the constant amp hum while Paul talks, and using a real, live drummer instead of a drum machine, and looping the solos for easy practice. But even though it lacks the polish of the Fender DVD, this DVD will challenge you and improve your electric guitar soloing.

Five stars. The negatives that annoyed me might not annoy you. And they certainly don't negate the core content - 10 well-designed solos that teach you to play like a pro.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent DVD!!!
Review: I found this DVD to be the perfect start for playing lead guitar. It was exactly what I was looking for. It has clear step by step instructions on how to play 10 separate tabbed solos. Paul Lidel demonstrates each technique and how each solo should sound while you have a clear view of his hands, which is very helpful. This DVD was done very well. It would have been nice to also have a background track with no lead guitar track for each solo to practice to. I definitely recommend this DVD!!!

Rating:
Summary: Shows you the core ideas.
Review: I played by ear for years pretty well, but now I want more out of it. I got the Learn to Play Ripping Leads by Paul Liddel. I tell you this guy is a good teacher, he cuts to the chase and shows you all the elements and teaches the pentatonic minor, majors, blues and transplanting. His cut the chase teaching covers complex things very quickly and removes the mystery, and simplifies it for you. You can play the lesson over and over until you have it down.

He even explains tapping with your fingers to the pentatonic shapes which make it sound good.

There are ten solos to learn, the first one incorporates about five left hand elements (vibreto, bend, roll, climb and support) to soloing, and each solo bleeds into the next solo. I know by the time I memorize all 10 solos I will be a much better player than I am today in that I will know where to play when I am jumping around the neck while just thinking about my own grooves at that point.

I think his leads are good, but he is really trying to teach you where and how to play not just how to memorize his 10 lessons, but the lessons are designed to teach you a fret hand style and then where to go on the neck for a given key.

Rating:
Summary: Well done, Paul.
Review: Paul Lidel is one great guitar instructor. The material he presents in this DVD is perfect for anyone just starting out learning how to play lead guitar and is probably the next best thing to actually sitting down and learning from a live teacher.

Each solo piece is increasingly difficult and along the way, almost without even noticing it, the student picks up all the required "tricks of the trade" and even enough music theory to be a much better guitarist with sufficient practice. The production quality is excellent, frequently using split screens to show both hands in action, and contains enough repetition of each piece at different tempos to give the viewer a thorough introduction not just to how the solo selection is supposed to "sound" when played by the pros, but how it is supposed to be "played". And that's an important feature of Paul Lidel's style.

What often differentiates a good instructor from a bad one is the instructor's willingness to slow down as much as necessary until the student has mastered the skill being taught and is ready to speed up. Paul does this quite effectively, going one step at a time without ever bogging down. Every minute of this DVD is a learing experience and never boring, even if you've learned some of these techniques before.

If I had to give some constructive critical feedback I guess the only thing I would suggest to Paul is that the next edition include a couple more solo pieces. The selections included here are excellent, foundational pieces upon which anyone with an imagination can build later on, but the gradual increase in difficulty level isn't always seamless. The final two solos are quite a bit harder than the rest requiring the student to make a rather large leap in skill level, perhaps without adequate preparation. I would have enjoyed one or two more moderately difficult pieces in between to fill this gap and make the transition from "easy" to "hard" just a little more smooth.

That's my only suggestion, and it's a very minor one. With several weeks practice I finally did manage to master those final two solos, except for the tapping part in the last piece. But I'll get that part down too eventually. Even my kids have been impressed that their dad could make sounds like that with his guitar. And if I can do it, it's a pretty sure bet most others out there can do it as well. So, my minor critique in no way distracts from the fact that this is a top-notch A+ guitar instruction DVD, and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to get an edge up on becoming a better soloist.

Rating:
Summary: i loved this dvd
Review: this dvd is perfect for the guitar player who's only played rhythem or basically needs the basics of guitar playing. paul shows many neccesary scales as well as octive changes. right away youll be playing somewhat basic lead guitar on the first day, after watching this dvd. you might not be great but with practice youll be good. he gives you the basic scales to improvise your leads if you stay in key with the rhythem youll sound decent. this is a good dvd for the player who doesnt know the basics of scales and octive changes.