I can't deside. Need help

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MichaelRobinson
Posts: 2172
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 10:20 pm

I can't deside. Need help

Post by MichaelRobinson »

Hi all in this forum, and guests.

The truth is: I'm stuck in one place. I need a bit of guidens. I have signd up for an newsletter and it's very tempting to bay this stuff to get further with my gitarrplaying.
What I don't know if it is something to have in the "must box". So I ask if someone have any experiance of this cource and what you think of it. Is it worth the
money ?
Take a look att this site:http://bluesguitarunleashed.com/bluesguitar.php and pleas respond, if you can.
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Pena
Posts: 201
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2010 5:37 pm

Re: I can't deside. Need help

Post by Pena »

Hi, tjänare MB.
Haven't bought any of Griff Hamlins DVD's, but have really enjoyed of his free newletter videos.
Imo, he has a very good touch in teaching the blues playing.
So, with that point, I would give a go.
I've had my "finger on the trigger" several times in ordering the DVD's... I'll do it some day.
When I have the time to REALLY take my blueplaying seriously.
"The blues is a low down achein' chill" Robert Johnson
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VikingBlues
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Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 7:44 pm

Re: I can't deside. Need help

Post by VikingBlues »

I haven't seen this particular course before, but I did get the same teachers 'Playing Through the Blues' (PTTB) series at the beginning of 2009.

Now - different people react in different ways to different methods and presentations of teaching, but to be honest as far as my own experience goes I found that lessons on a pay site called JamPlay engaged my interest and enthusiasm better than 'Playing through the Blues' and were of more use to me. I can agree with what Griff Hamlin says about the unstructured aspect of some lessons sites - but that problem doesn't necessarily apply to them all.

I have had several goes at working at the PTTB course but I just didn't manage to get into it. I only know one other person who tried it and they didn't really get much from it either.

The pay site I have tried and have had a lot of success with and am still using is JamPlay.com. It has the advantage of a monthly payment if you want to check it out at $19.99. If you like it a years worth can be currently bought for $139.95. There is also a 7 day money back guarantee if you don't like what you find when you sign up.

I wish I had been aware of JamPlay before I forked out a fair bit of cash for the PTTB course as it would have just taken me $19.99 to know that JamPlay was a good place for me to learn. As far as structure to lessons goes - currently JamPlay has 6 teachers on blues which gives you a variety of styles, thoughts, acoustic based, electric based etc. You also have access to a whole variety of guitar genre lessons if you fancy a change or a nibble at something else.

I think it is unfair of Griff Hamlin to suggest that all pay sites have no structure to their lessons - though obviously he needs to find selling points for his material. The blues lessons on JamPlay by Hawkeye Herman for example are done in a sequence that he has decided on as a teacher and are designed to build up skills and not to be looked at in any old order - currently Hawkeye has 142 lessons (usually around 15 to 20 minutes).

With Hawkeye this is my access to the teachings of a guy who learned directly one to one from the likes of Son House, Brownie McGhee, Bukka White, Mance Lipscomb, Furry Lewis, Lightin' Hopkins, John Jackson, K.C. Douglas, and Sam Chatmon. In 1998 he was the recipient of the Blues Foundation's "Keeping The Blues Alive" award for achievement in education. He served on the Board of Directors of the Blues Foundation for six years and was inducted into the Iowa Blues Hall of fame in 2004, so you do have teachers on JamPlay with some very good credentials. You are able to have a dialogue by text with the teachers on queries - you can if you want post a video of what you are doing to find answers to a problem - there are also live question and answer sessions run by some of the teachers (though I haven't tried them).

I have found the on-line teaching method works well for me, but I know it's not for everyone. I don't see it as being an inferior choice to a DVD course though. I have in the past done one to one lessons in guitar locally, but I prefer the wider view you can get from a variety of teachers, and I would be hard pressed to find a blues teacher in this part of the world with the same knowledge and experience I can find on JamPlay.
An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
MichaelRobinson
Posts: 2172
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 10:20 pm

Re: I can't deside. Need help

Post by MichaelRobinson »

Thanks.
I will defenitly take a look at JamPlay and check if I'm able to learn the stuff they teatch.

So no rekommendation for Griff att this poin. I'm very close to buy the stuff. I Just NEEEEEEEEED a progress in my playing. It's a must habbit.
But I'l wait and see what comes out off JamPlay and the good word and good experiance Viking Blues have.
MichaelRobinson
Posts: 2172
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 10:20 pm

Re: I can't deside. Need help

Post by MichaelRobinson »

Viking Blues.

I'm very very close to sign up at JamPlay. I wish I know what I'm doing in advance, but I don't.
Shit. Money is money and I'm a poor retired guy. But...................If It's possible to watch a video over and over agin for one price.............Then.....This is hard.
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VikingBlues
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Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 7:44 pm

Re: I can't deside. Need help

Post by VikingBlues »

MichaelRobinson wrote:Viking Blues.

I'm very very close to sign up at JamPlay. I wish I know what I'm doing in advance, but I don't.
Shit. Money is money and I'm a poor retired guy. But...................If It's possible to watch a video over and over agin for one price.............Then.....This is hard.
Hi Michael - I can understand your worries.

To try to help I'll give a bit more background on how the system works - the lesson videos you can watch as many times and whenever you want, but you can't download them. So if your broadband agreement is for a high enough usage figure you could be on 24 hours a day watching any of the videos, or indeed watching the same one over and over - no limits as far as JamPlay are concerned - your fee covers everything on their site. As well as the video there is usually supplementary material to go with the video lesson - usually tabs and musical notation of what was covered in the lesson - the supplementary material can be downloaded & can be printed. There is also the facilty to leave comments on a particular lesson and to raise questions with the teacher. Most of the instructors also have a forum section too, where your queries can be addressed by both the teacher and other JamPlay members.

Lessons are split - Phase 1 beginners, Phase 2 Genres (including Blues), Phase 3 Songs. There's also an Artists series section, though I find trying to play Kaki Kings work for example is way too much of a stretch for me! There's also a huge library of backing tracks that you can download and practice with - most of these have detail of the backing too and advice on scales to use etc - currentlyy 44 blues backing tracks and over 600 in total if you fancy branching out a bit.

Samples on YouTube of some of the JamPlay teachers lessons (you don't see the supplemental content etc of course):-
1) Hawkeye - my favourite teacher - full of enthusiasm, doesn't get bogged down in too much technique and learned his trade from real old blues guitarists! He ALWAYS replies to questions, often in great depth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n4GW-C8sAU
2) Eric Madis (I'm currently trying to get to grips with slide lessons) - the man with a nice semi-acoustic - nearly 100 lessons including his slide series
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NN5YVCIkh4
3) Kenny "Blue" Ray - only fairly recently arrived on JamPlay though already over 50 lessons. I've not done much of his lessons yet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D17OkTvckC0

Hope this is of some help. :thumbsup:
An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
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Golfxzq
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Re: I can't deside. Need help

Post by Golfxzq »

Hi Michael,

There are certainly lots of lessons to choose from out there on the internet. Griff Hamlin is very good and so is Jam Play but before you decide I recommend that you also check out these three sites. They are some of my favorites.

Guitar Jamz with Marty Schwartz... Marty is very patient and breaks down everything in detail. His site has everything from very beginner to advanced lessons. A while back I purchased a set of Blues CD's and have been very pleased.

http://www.guitarjamz.com/members/

Dolphin Street Blues is also a good source. Robert Redman, in my opinion, is also a very patient instructor (just what I need). I have recently purchased a download lesson based on what I have seen in his free lessons but haven't gone through them just yet. This site also has loads of free information that you might like.

http://www.dolphinstreet.com/

Another good instructor is John Tuggle from Learning Guitar Now. This site is indorsed by Gibson so it can't bee all bad. I haven't purchased anything from this site but I have watched several of the free lessons and they are very good.

http://www.learningguitarnow.com/

What I do is check out several of the free lessons on the sites or on YouTube before I decide where I want to spend my money. I don't think you would be disappointed with any of these five instruction sites.

Let us know what you decide...
"Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right."
- Henry Ford
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VikingBlues
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Re: I can't deside. Need help

Post by VikingBlues »

Thanks for those links - always good to know about good free lessons sites.
Golfxzq wrote:Dolphin Street Blues is also a good source. Robert Redman, in my opinion, is also a very patient instructor (just what I need). I have recently purchased a download lesson based on what I have seen in his free lessons but haven't gone through them just yet. This site also has loads of free information that you might like.

http://www.dolphinstreet.com/
Seconded on the Dolphin Street, which is one I have used. Robert Redman does good easy to understand lessons.

Incidentally through Dolphin Street on the same page as a rather nice slow blues lick lesson there is also currently a 7 day free JamPlay trial offer:-
http://www.dolphinstreet.com/guitar_vid ... on-152.php
An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
MichaelRobinson
Posts: 2172
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 10:20 pm

Re: I can't deside. Need help

Post by MichaelRobinson »

Thank you, guys. I have to think and watch what you talk about. I will take my time to do so. At the moment my inspiration for guitar playing is low. I'v lost the blues feeling and think I need a litle rest from my guitar.
MichaelRobinson
Posts: 2172
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 10:20 pm

Re: I can't deside. Need help

Post by MichaelRobinson »

As Golfxzq wishes me to do. I have purchased Griff Hamlin's course. I'v done it but I'm a sceptical person so the future will answer the question if I done the right thing. :fingerscrossed:
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