Rating: 
Summary: Great Stuff
Review: I'm a person returning to the guitar after a 10 year break. Remembered some stuff but really wanted to start from the beginning again. I've been working with this book for a few weeks now and have to report that the book in combination with the on-line stuff is fantastic. The Publisher's Website contains multiple videos covering the information in the book and many other topics. For instance there are videos on how to memorizing chords and substitute chord progressions for the progressions found in the book. The Hendrix one is killer. There are videos on such things as the CAGED system and other common misconceptions which I found very informative and made me see some of my misconceptions about the best way to learn. Overall I think this is a very easy method to learn from. I found the videos in particular to be very quick study and something I could play over and over until I mastered the information. I find Mr. Arnold's teaching style to be quite thorough and it's obvious from the videos that he enjoys teaching. Oh yeh, the videos of every chord showing alternate fingers and all the problems that students have was a real eye opener. OK so I could go on and on but you get the picture this is a cool book so check it out!
Rating:
Summary: what more could you want?
Review: I'm a total beginner and bought 1st steps along with 2 other popular
beginning guitar books. I found that I ended up working out of 1st steps
the most, and here's why. All the books had diagrams that explain the
basics of the guitar but 1st steps has more diagrams, and pictures and also
lots of helpful files on the publishers website. As a matter of fact the
website works really well with the book. I also felt like the guy who
wrote the book seemed to sense what my next question or problem might be and
then he'd provide the answer right when I needed it. This was particularly
true with the chord diagrams where he gives really great pro hints on how to
make these chords sound better quicker which was something I really
appreciated, but which neither of the other books had. Of course they all
have diagrams of notes on the guitar, positioning for both hands,tuning and
diagrams of the chords. But I knew I was doing things right when I was able
to look at the pictures in Ist steps and the videos that are on the website.
I could see in a minute with the videos and pictures what I needed to do.the book also has a whole section of chord progressions with suggested
rhythms for playing the chords along with audio files to hear them. This
made learning the progressions a lot more fun. You would think all
beginning books would include some real music to play that sounded cool! Finally from checking out the 1st steps website you could see from all the
FAQs how different all we beginners are. It was also great to be able to
contact the author Mr.Arnold via email and get his take on what direction I
should go to reach my goals. Books are great but having someone give you
personal direction was a real bonus with 1st steps. So I think that this is
a really excellent book to start out with, it seems to have everything you
could want, and more.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, a guitar lesson book that does the job!
Review: I've been using this book with my students for about six months and I would like to say that Mr. Arnold's method makes my job so much easier. You can tell that this guy is an experienced teacher. Any guitar teacher knows that for beginners, changing from one chord to another in time is a big problem . Mr. Arnold's 3-step etude process is clever and great for students with coordination hassles. I used to have to record my own progressions for students to play along with between lessons, but "1st Steps" already has them on-line.. These are not boring "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore" tunes - when we play them, you should see my students' faces light up..... they really want to learn them! The website also has midifiles which are great for people who need to take their chords more slowly. The progressions get a little bit harder for right and left hand playing each time so students can gradually get more coordinated on their own. the "music theory" and "how to read rhythm" sections really helped my students learn basic theory and how to read music. I appreciated the pro tips section too. I recommend this book for other teachers but its also perfect for people who just got a guitar and are not sure what to do next.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book To Start With
Review: Packed with info for beginners. I'd expect this to keep me busy for a long time. I know playing guitar gets pretty tough but work at it and with this book, you'll get some help.
Rating:
Summary: It's all here!
Review: The other day my 9-year-old comes to me and says, "dad, I know what I want to be when I grow up. I want to be a rock star and live in a castle in England." Then he slides across the floor on his knees and plays some "air guitar" for me. So while he's busy getting the gel in his hair (hey, ya gotta look right) picking the color of the guitar and asking me how to get distortion and feedback out of an amp, I figure I'd better get him a tuner and a good guitar method. Being a drummer/percussionist and an author and educator myself, I feel confident in my abilities to select quality learning materials and this book--and Bruce Arnold's entire series--is definitely the right stuff. In learning an instrument there is nothing worse than spending your time with materials that are incomplete, or worse yet, downright wrong in the information they impart. This method covers all the bases with well-written, well-explained, clearly illustrated and thorough examples. And you can be confident that the material is correct as the author's educational and performing credentials are quite impressive. Finally, though most students know the importance of having a great teacher, and most will find one in their local area, it is not uncommon as one progresses to want to study with the authors of the books one is learning from and from the artisits you hear on recordings. Bruce helps out here by providing extensive and dynamic on-line materials that not only supplement the book's content, but the pictures, video clips, audio clips and other resources are about as close as you can get to studying with Bruce outside of actually having a lesson with him. So for us, this is a winner. I hope he gets that castle in England. Happy strumming!
Rating:
Summary: great!!
Review: This book is esential for players who need to know the 'why' and 'how' of what to do on guitar. Not only are essential theory and tips included, but most importantly(for the beginner) correct technique is covered. A must have!!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Book
Review: This book is like getting a book and a DVD. Amazing amount of information for a beginning guitarist to explore. The book is well organized and the on-line video etc... is well laid out. I found the videos showing the pitfalls of each chord type to be very informative. The strumming help files also help me coordinate both my hands. Highly recommended as a First Step for those of us just getting started on this cool instrument.
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