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Who Will Benefit Most From This Program:
This instructional course is designed for anyone interested in learning to improvising lead solos on the electric guitar. While the emphasis is on Heavy Metal music, the fundamental techniques and theory are common and essential to Hard Rock, Classic Rock and Blues Rock.
About The Author
Doug Marks has been playing in bands, recording and teaching for over 23 years. (Hawk is the name of his current band.) His Metal Method Video Guitar Lesson Program was born in 1982 as a result of meeting the needs of his guitar students.
The author freely admits that he was never one of these naturally talented guitarists that could hear a song and instantly play it by ear. In his own learning process he required lots of detailed explanations which eventually turned into the lessons that formed this instructional course.
The Quality Of The Videos
The quality of the video production on each DVD is excellent. The lighting is well done which is absolutely necessary to view the details. The close up shots, which often make or break guitar lesson DVDs are especially well done. They show very clear video of the left hand and the right hand super imposed in the same frame.
The Physical Parts
Plastic DVD Organizer Case,
6 Lesson DVDs ( up to 12 available for more advanced learning ).
Animated, Play along tabs that give you timing information and play back speed control.
Printable Reference Files
A Partial List of The Lessons:
DVD 1 - Stage One
Advice To Parents With Young Students, Buying a guitar, How To Tune A Guitar, String Names And Numbers, Identifying The Parts Of The Guitar, The Meaning Of Sharp And Flat, 4/4 time, Learning To Fret Notes All Over The Neck Comfortably, Reading Tabs, 3 Different Picking Techniques
DVD 2 - Stage Two
Common Chord Shapes, How To Play Smooth Chord Transitions, Dropping D Tuning, Major Scale Intervals, 5th Intervals, Power Chords, The Notes On The Fretboard, The Chromatic Scale, The Minor Pentatonic Scale, How To Use The Minor Pentatonic Scale To Play Lead, Reading Combo Tabs That Contain Both Rhythm And Lead Parts, Playing 5th Intervals, Rhythmic Strumming, Copying Rhythmic Patterns From Your Favorite Songs
DVD 3 - Stage Three
The 5 Minor Pentatonic Scale Patterns, Dominant 7th Chords, Techniques: Hammer-Ons, Pull-Offs, Bends, Learning Licks With The 5 Minor Pentatonic Shapes and These New Techniques, Combining Licks To Form Solos, Determining The Key Of A Song By Ear
DVD4 - Stage Four
Major Pentatonic Scale Patterns, Techniques: Vibrato, Vibrato Bends, Slides, Tapping, String Muting, Chime Harmonics and Pick Harmonics, 4 New Barre Chord Shapes: Major, Minor, Minor 7th, Dominant 7th, Natural Minor Scale: The Most Popular Scale In Hard Rock And Metal Music, Learning A Solo That Incorporates These Techniques
DVD5 - Stage Five
Blues Chords And How To Use Them, Improvising, Chords and Licks, Your Own Style, Pick Raking, Chromatic Runs, Tremelo Picking, Applying Harmony To Solos, Monster Solo, Practice Tips
DVD6 - Stage Six: Music Theory
The Negatives:
The written support materials are located on the DVDs and need to be printed for convenience sake. When I printed them from my home computer, (it took about 15 minutes), I discovered that they were not labeled with the stage, chapter and disc with which they belonged. Doug did mention on the phone that he is currently working to improve the support materials.
Also, the course would benefit from more topical details on the video titles. It can be a little confusing if you wish to return to a specific lesson.
Fortunately, none of these things effect the quality of the lessons. They are just minor irritations.
The Positives: What Makes Metal Method Unique?
The Author: does an excellent job of breaking complicated tasks down into learnable bits.
Animated Tabs: add timing information and audio which makes the lessons so much more understandable. As a result this speeds the learning process. Also, as a direct result of student feedback, Doug Marks has added special tab files that allow you to control how fast the tabs play.
Continually Improved and updated lessons for over 20 years.
The free internet guitar forum has a high rate of participation with well over 1000 entries. This means that you have a much greater chance at connecting with someone that can answer your questions.
Price and Payment: This has got to be one of the most affordable complete guitar lesson programs I have ever seen. Not only is the price much lower than the competition but you can buy just one DVD at a time.
Guided Practice Sessions: The built in structure of the animated practice sessions prevents wasting time. It is almost like having your teacher helping you at every practice session without the additional cost. This will greatly speed up your learning time by improving the effectiveness of your practice time. This can also eliminate some bad habits before they have a chance to form.
The Price options:
Buy only one DVD at a time for $14.95 each plus $8.95 shipping
Buy 2 of the 6 DVDs at the same time for a total of $24.95 + Shipping (save $4.95)
Buy all 6 of the DVDs at the same time for a total of $69.70 + shipping (Save $20)
The Cost analysis:
Metal Method Video Guitar Lessons contains the equivalent of about 6 months worth of guitar lessons if you were to space them out as if you were taking weekly lessons from a local guitar instructor. A local instructor typically will charge anywhere from $20 to $50 per lesson. Your minimum cost at only $20 per lesson for 6 months would be at least $520.
The choice comes down to:
- The Complete Metal Method DVD Program at $69.70 to $89.70 (depending on how many lesson you purchase at a time).
- or... a local instructor at $520.
Support:
Metal method offers email, phone, mail and a student forum to answer questions. They also offer a fairly exhaustive frequently asked questions (FAQ) section at their website for quick reference.
Shipping:
Metal Method DVDs are shipped world wide. The DVDs are also compatible for playback in all countries. The set I ordered had to travel across the United States and I received it in about 4 or 5 days.
Guarantee:
Metal Method Video Guitar Lessons comes with a 60 day, unconditional, money-back guarantee.
The Bottom Line:
I have reviewed so many guitar lesson programs that show some good potential but they always have one or two fatal flaws. Metal Method Video Guitar Lessons is solid all the way through. It is one of the most thorough, polished and well thought out programs I have ever seen. It is obvious that Doug Marks has actually been listening to his students for over 23 years and using that feedback to continually refine each element of his lessons.
If you are serious about learning the electric guitar this DVD series is a must have. According to the Metal Method website they were picked by Guitar World Magazine for being essential guitar DVDs and I could not agree more.
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