Rating:

Having experienced both high quality and poor quality guitar instruction in my 10 plus years as a guitarist, I jumped at the opportunity to review this course and the others you will find at Learn2PlayGuitars.com. If you are ready to learn to play guitar on your own, and you want to learn more than just a few chords and a few songs then read on. This might be the course for you. The goal of these reviews will be to help you find the guitar learning resources that are the best for you and your needs as a beginning or intermediate guitarist.

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What is Learn and Master Guitar?

Learn and Master Guitar includes all that you would expect to find in a typical guitar course. However, it doesn't just stop there. The goal of Learn and Master Guitar is to take you from guitar basics, through intermediate concepts, and place you well on your way to guitar mastery. Included with your purchase of the course are:

I found the course to be well organized and very easy to use. The first thing you will notice is that the course is broken down into twenty "Sessions." Each Session builds upon the previous one, so they are meant to be completed in order. Each concept is introduced in a simple and logical sequence. You can of course begin at any point you feel comfortable with but I found that it was best to complete each session in order before continuing to the next. Among the topics covered are:

•    Strumming Techniques
•    Reading Both Music and Tab
•    Major, Minor, and Pentatonic Scales
•    Music Theory
•    Basic and Advanced Chords
•    and More...

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About the Instructor

The instructor for this course, Steve Krenz, is by far the most qualified professional instructor out of all of the courses reviewed here. He is not only a trained musician with a degree in music but he also has a passion for teaching and training other guitarists to develop their talents. He has a ton of playing experience and is actively playing and recording professionally in Nashville, Tennessee. His playing experience includes everything from playing with jazz big bands to symphony orchestras. He has played alongside artists like Israel Houghton, Tommy Sims, The Fifth Dimension, and Donna Summer. His recorded work has been used in promotional campaigns for Coldwell Banker, Prudential, and the World Cyber Games.

Even with all this experience, you can easily tell that his passion is teaching and helping guitarists. He conducts many guitar-playing workshops and events in venues all over the United States. He has taught thousands of guitar lessons to people of all ages and his skill level definitely shows in the quality of his instruction in Learn and Master Guitar.

What's on the DVDs?

The DVDs are the most important part of the course because this is where Steve Krenz himself sits down and shows you step-by-step even the most complicated of concepts. Each Session on the DVDs have an instruction time followed by a workshop time. Each concept is explained during the instruction portion and then practiced in the workshop. The workshop time is great because this is where you get the specific exercises to practice in order to properly learn each technique.

Screenshots From Learn and Master Guitar:

The workshop time can be used each day during your daily practice time and typically runs about 10-15 minutes in length. When you are ready to practice you can simply turn on the workshop and Steve Krenz will go through each exercise right there with you. Also, if you purchase the "Expanded Edition" of the course including all 20 DVDs then you will have the Bonus Workshops. Each Bonus Workshop will include additional instruction and exercises for each of the twenty sessions. These extra Workshops are not completely necessary in order for someone to begin learning guitar. However, I found the extra practice for each session extremely helpful, especially in some of the more advanced sessions.

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What's a Jam Along CD?

A Jam Along CD is exactly what it sounds like. Steve has taken recordings of all of the songs that you learn during the lessons and included them on 5 CDs. What is special about these tracks though is that the referenced guitar part from the lesson is recorded in the left channel of the recording and the rest is in the right channel. This means you can remove the recorded guitar part by simply adjusting the balance on your stereo. You can also play along with the guitar part and the band by leaving the balance in the middle.

I think that no complete course should be without Jam Along tracks such as these. Listening to and playing along with a band can considerably shorten the amount of time it takes to learn a song or technique. Playing along with a band also builds confidence, helps to develop rhythm, and is much more fun and relaxing than using a metronome for tempo. A lot of guitarists, including the pros, will tell you that they still play along with CDs when learning to play a new song.

The Book

The book is what ties the whole Learn and Master Guitar course together. It contains over a hundred pages of all of the songs, exercises, and examples that are on the DVDs. It contains worksheets that help to learn the music theory concepts as well as chord charts, tablature, and the actual music written out. If you want to practice with the Jam Along tracks or just without the TV then you will need this book. Steve Krenz also took it a step further and created a bonus resources book that has additional exercises, songs, and worksheets for each of the sessions. It is primarily meant to go along with the Bonus Workshops in the "Expanded Edition."

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What Happens if I Get Stuck?

Soon after getting the course I was playing through one of the intermediate exercises when I got stuck. No matter what I did, I just could not get my fingers to cooperate. That is when I was looking at the back inside cover of the course and discovered a link to the community website. I checked it out and what I found was a community site that includes a forum with a TON of resources including other students who were going through the same session and running into the same problems as I was. I quickly introduced myself and was given some pointers on how to practice the technique. Steve Krenz even chimed in on the conversation with some great advice. I now frequently check in on the forum even offering my own advice and can say that it is one of the better guitar forums that I have participated in.

Video Review

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PROS

I think the best part of any video course is the ability to pause and rewind and relearn the concepts over and over again at your own pace. This course is no exception and is particularly well organized for this purpose. The completeness of the course is also a strongpoint with up to 20 DVDs, a lesson book, and Jam Along CDs. The quality of the instructor and the materials is outstanding. This course is as good if not better than having a private instructor in your own living room teaching you. It also costs far less than private instruction would cost for a year. If you get stuck, the support on the community site is excellent. I noticed that they even have a gathering once a year.

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CONS

You may have noticed by now that I have really enjoyed this course. However, it may not be for everyone. Some people learn better in a classroom setting or prefer one on one interaction with an instructor. Also, many prefer to learn more by ear. And others have a hard time getting motivated to practice on their own (which actually becomes a roadblock with a private instructor as well). However, for the majority of beginner and intermediate players wanting to learn or sharpen their guitar skills this course is great.

Should You Buy Learn and Master Guitar?

Well, if you are serious about learning guitar the right way and want to work towards complete guitar mastery, then of course you should buy it! This is hands down the most complete, best organized, and even the most fun guitar course I have had the opportunity to review. Are you ready to be playing the songs you hear on the radio within a few weeks? If so, then you shouldn't waste another minute. This just might be the chance you have been waiting for.