Fender Presents: Getting Started on Acoustic Guitar -- A Guide for Beginners (2002)

Fender Presents: Getting Started on Acoustic Guitar -- A Guide for Beginners (2002)
FENDER ACOUSTIC GUITAR
Best Sellers in Acoustic Guitars - Best Sellers in Acoustic-Electric Guitars

By far the most comprehensive DVD ever offered for the beginner guitarist---well over 3 hours long! Over 50 Interactive Lessons!
Step-by-step lessons incorporating clear, easy-to-follow 3-D graphics and unique play-along tracks teach the viewer the essential chords, scales, and techniques used by acoustic guitar players in every popular style, including rock, blues and country. This DVD is separated into two major sections:

1)The First Step: tuning up · string names · essential chords and scales used by all players · music reference section (notes, rhythms, chords and scales) · practice tips · fretting-hand technique · picking-hand technique · backing tracks for play-along · animated 3-D fretboard graphics.

2)Play Acoustic!: rhythm technique (bare finger/thumb, bass/chord, fingerstyle, etc.) · soloing technique (chord embellishment, open-string chords, using a capo) · electrified acoustic · rock, blues and country styles · rhythm and solo technique in each style · backing tracks in each style for play-along · tips on caring for your instrument from the Fender Custom Shop.

Special DVD Features include: Bonus footage, including a Fender Factory Tour! Also: Web links, including a web site specifically designed for beginning guitarists · Multi-language feature so you can hear the DVD in English, Spanish, German, French, or Japanese.



Excellent resource for the new guitar player, May 10, 2010

This review is for "Fender Presents: Getting Started on Acoustic Guitar -- A Guide for Beginners." I also bought the Fender "Getting Started on Electric Guitar" DVD. Do not bother buying both DVD courses; they are essentially the same. In fact, one half of the content is exactly the same.

This course is excellent. Obviously a great deal of thought went into the production of this DVD at-home guitar course. If you just got your guitar and do not even know how to tune it, this DVD is a great place to start. In fact, it will probably be best for you to start with this DVD (for about three months) before you start taking guitar lessons from a live instructor. This course probably works best with teenagers and adults. Children will probably need help from a parent (it should not matter whether or not the parent plays guitar).

This course will teach you how to tune your guitar and how to play basic open-string chords. With this knowledge, you will be able to play rhythm guitar for simple songs fairly quickly. Song chords may be found in numerous places online, as well as in guitar fake books sold here on Amazon. Being able to quickly have fun playing one's guitar helps motive one to continue learning how to play. The Fender course also teaches barre chords, notes on the sixth and fifth strings (to enable you to locate the root notes and placement of barre chords), three-string power chords (for easy rock 'n' roll), and the A minor pentatonic scale (so you can play simple leads).

In short, the Fender course is an excellent resource for the new guitar player. It will not teach you how to read music, and it will not teach you any music theory, but it will teach you everything most new guitar players need to learn to play chord progressions. For example, with this course alone (and songs you get from the internet), you will be able to play rhythm guitar while you sing.

"Learn and Master Guitar" by Steve Krenz is (by far) a better and more comprehensive course. If you are serious about learning guitar (it is a 20 DVD course, so you better be serious), then try that course in addition to the Fender course. That course is equivalent to two years of guitar instruction (there is even a home-school version.). Another great DVD set for the new guitar player is the Rock House "Learn Electric Guitar" course. A good book on music theory is Hal Leonard's "Music Theory for Guitarists" (by Tom Kolb). If you wish to learn how to sight-read music, a good course is the Berklee "A Modern Method for Guitar - Volume 1: Book/DVD-ROM Pack." Most are available here on Amazon.
By SeekingTraveler "SeekingTraveler"