Question To Administration from potential new member

I have been reading lots of guitar message boards, and guitartricks.com has come up quite often and highly recommended.

I was all set to join as a full member, but I'm holding off, as I have a couple of questions.

The main one is the following: I notice in sampling "some" other online guitar instruction sites, the lessons are presented in the following manner:

(a) the teacher tells you what to do (as far as how to play something) AND

(b) he or she SHOWS you the fingering up close, displaying HOW to play something slowly and in a in a step-by-step fashion, AND

(c) there is online notation somewhere on the screen, usually at the bottom, that accompanies the other two aspects discussed above.

Now I went to a few YouTube videos and saw sample lessons by Neal Walter. The first thing that troubled me was the rather fast pace of the lesson. The (a) telling part of what to do seemed somewhat rushed. The (b) displaying part -- showing the fingering -- was not always easy to make out, and often done hastily at times; often there was no close-up of the fingering and it was not done in the slow step-by-step manner. And (c) MOST OF ALL I was disappointed by the lack of any accompanying TAB on the screen.

After having read such great reviews, I am now holding off joining as a full-time member. Could someone address the issues I've raised. And to me, the thing that I REALLY expected to see was the tab included. And I'm surprised to see that in the DVD sales section, there is onscreen notation. Why doesn't onscreen notation exist on the video lessons for those who become FULL members.

I hope you can address these issues, and provide clear answers to the above questions.

I really would like to join, but I know the issues I raise are important. I know my learning process, and without those three points I raised -- a, b, an especially c -- online notation/tab -- I would have to look elsewhere for instruction.

Thank you.

These are all great questions. Addressing your main criticism about the Guitar Tricks Channel videos, those are free lessons that we post every week and are meant to be more relaxed and fun. Perhaps this why they seem a little rushed? Our lessons on the site are designed to be comprehensive and more methodical, and almost every one has a slower section within the lesson to let you see the fingering better.

Our video quality has improved greatly over the years, though a few of the older videos from several years ago may not look as polished as our newer ones (featuring more close-ups, etc.) Many of these newer videos also feature tabs that change in tandem with the lesson at the bottom of the screen!

And ALL of our non-song based lessons are available for print and download, and the files available for print feature both the tabs and notation for the lesson.

Hope this answers your questions! And don't forget, you can always try us for free with our 14-day Trial: http://www.guitartricks.com/trial/

As a paying member here for a couple of months, I concur with the admin's comment. Both the song lessons and skill (technique) lessons are much slower paced and get into much more detail. Tab is shown and each lick or phrase is demonstrated at a slower pace before being demonstrated at the performance pace. You also have the opportunity to perform the lick or phrase at both a slow and performance pace with the instructor backing you up playing rythm. Some of the videos even have a fretboard diagram in the bottom corner with a particular scale shape shown and the particlar notes change color as they are being played. This gives you even more visual cues as to what is going on.

The weekly free lessons are not representative of the "real" lessons at all. They are very brief and fun.

Hi Enquiring,

Just wanted to add a little thing though I concur with GT-admin and maggior. Tab is provided with (almost) every lesson here on GT. There are some lessons that purely focus on theory that don't need tab for that reason.

If you are looking for tab from the Guitartricks Channel episodes with Neal you can visit http://www.guitartricks.com/channel/. When you fully view a lesson here on this website rather than Youtube you will see the tab provided in the lesson. Take a look!

Also it never hurts to try the free 14-day full access trial.

JJ

I have been on the GT site since january and had the same concerns that you voice before joining, but I bit at the $99.00 per year special and I can say that the teaching style is almost as good as a one on one lesson. I have spent many $20 per half hour lessons and this site offers so much more than a one on one can.

The breadth of the songs presented is way better than I had thought possible and most of the instruction is well thought out and planned for all types of guitarists.

Hi enquiring..
I've been here with GT off and on from the middle of "09". They continue to improve constantly.
Until "2012" I had not had the opportunity to be a full member. I don't regret signing up it one bit.
Hope this helps you make your decision..