Maybe you have thought about computer guitar lessons. If you could order your own tailor-made guitar lesson course for your computer, what would you request? It might help to think about the basic requirements of computer guitar lessons. Basically your lessons need to show you how to hold and play the guitar, how to read guitar tabs, sheet music or both, and some way of checking your progress. So let us look at some of the computer guitar lessons out there and see how they fulfill our requirements.
Learn And Master Guitar has a one-hundred page book, twenty DVDs, five CDs featuring backing tracks plus they offer free support. The structure of this course follows the basic principles of all computer guitar lessons: you have your learning material that you get from the book and from the DVDs, and you practice what you have learned using the backing tracks as a guide and reality check on your emerging guitar skills.
Another computer guitar course is called Amazing Guitar Secrets. Once again you have a book and DVDs containing your guitar lessons and backing tracks to play along with. You can track how you are progressing using a section of the book which allows you to have a visual record of what you have learnt.
If you have been looking around for computer guitar lessons you have probably come across Jamorama. Jamorama is for the guy who does not take music particularly seriously but thinks it might be cool to be able to play some songs and riffs on the guitar. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. To be fair, Jamorama does give you plenty of substantial material in the books, audio and video which you download to make you a “real” guitar player should you so desire.
The three guitar lesson courses I have mentioned are meant to be shipped to you in printed form and on discs or downloaded and kept on your computer. There is another alternative: the membership site. The most comprehensive and so far the most successful is Jamplay. With Jamplay you get access to a number of guitar teachers who are experts in their own style of music. These teachers are videoed giving lessons illustrating techniques and how to play particular songs. The lessons cover all stages of guitar learning. So with Amazing Guitar Secrets, Jamorama and Learn And Master Guitar you get to keep all the guitar lessons at your house, your Jamplay membership gets you access to any improvements, revisions and updates that occur. Jamplay also has progress reports, a forum and support through video answers to your questions. Jamplay is probably the most economical option as you can pay by the month, and your fees drop drastically if you pay by the quarter or annually.
I should mention that none of the above computer guitar lesson courses lack for quality. The printed material, downloadable audio and video, CDs and DVDs are all first class. The difference between the methods is the varying approaches to the guitar.
Ricky Sharples
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Guitar lessons where you plug your guitar into your computer and it tells you if you are doing it right?
Is there some kind of computer guitar lessons where you plug your guitar into your computer and it tells you if you are doing it right?
You’d probably have fun with some of the newer software like "Band In a Box," or "Garage Band."
These aren’t neccesarily computer lessons, but ways you can plug your guitar into the computer and record your playing, and create songs.
Hearing yourself play back parts is important to improving areas that may need work, plus, who knows? You may write the next great hit?
If you do, you owe me a backstage pass!
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