Learn and
Master Blues Guitar Spotlight with Steve Krenz is designed to be an
“in depth, step by step, course in Blues Guitar Playing - the real nuts
and bolts and not just a couple of Blues licks. You’ll get what you
need; the musical understanding, the concepts, chords, techniques and
riffs that allow you to enter the world of serious blues guitar
playing.”
About The Author:
Steve Krenz , according to the
Learn & Master
Guitar web site, has a degree in music and has played professionally
with a broad range of bands from symphony orchestras to the well known
“Fifth Dimension”. Steve is currently an active guitarist playing and
recording in Nashville, Tennessee. Besides having taught thousands of
lessons to students of all ages and skill levels he has held guitar
playing and music workshops all over the world.
Steve is soft spoken and down to earth with out being boring. His
teaching was logical and thorough while moving along at a good pace. He
cleverly offers short , fun and impressively inspiring performances as
transitions between many lessons.
Who Will Benefit Most From Learn and Master Blues Guitar Lessons?
This blues guitar course is not for absolute beginners that
have never touched a guitar. However, you don’t need a lot of experience
either. An experienced beginner that has not necessarily mastered the
following skills but, has at least been introduced to them should
succeed: barre chords, the notes of at least one Major scale, hammer-ons,
pull-offs, bending strings, sliding and understand the music staff, tabs
and chord diagrams.
Are These Lessons Designed For Electric or Acoustic Guitar Players?
While you need to learn and understand many of the same techniques
for acoustic and electric blues this course has a focus on the electric
blues.
What Is Included With This Blues Course
- 6 DVDs of over 8 hours of practical instruction
- Jam Along DVD & CD with over 20 songs in various styles for
practice
- In-depth interviews with legendary blues guitarists Jack Pearson
& Johnny Hiland
- Downloadable book
- Easy to follow on-screen music and key ideas
- Essential blues guitar techniques explained thoroughly and
simply
The Lesson Topics
DVD 1: Blues Basics, The form of the blues, 7th chords,
hearing the I, IV, V chords, pulling riffs out of the chords
DVD 2: Paying your dues, the blues notes, hearing the blues notes,
bends, Boogie-Woogie 5th pattern
DVD 3: Blues Building Blocks, the Major scale, Major scale exercise,
the blues scale, the pentatonic scale, the pentatonic scale bends, blues
picking techniques, making the most of simple ideas, SUS to hammer-on
blues pattern
DVD 4: Advanced blues chords, hand position and vibrato, major 6th
vs. dominant 7th, finger patterns and positions, sliding 6th
riff
DVD 5: Using intervals in blues, expression techniques, choosing the
right notes, blues finger patterns
DVD 6: Blues chord variations, playing with a band, playing what you
hear, up-stroke pull-off technique
DVD 7: Jam Along Songs; Around the World Blues, Jazz Blues, Minor
Blues, Shuffle in “A”, Really Slow 12/8 Blues, Up Shuffle, 50s Boogie-Woogie.
The Negatives
DVDs cannot be reversed in small increments. Instead you must go all
the way back to the beginning of the lesson for review.
The companion lesson manual has to be downloaded from the internet
then read from your computer. Another option is to print it out on your
printer or take it to kinkos to print and bind. All of these options are
inconvenient but this download method does greatly reduce the cost of
the overall course.
The Positives
The all video format means that you can see everything being taught
by the instructor instead of reading a book and guessing. The close ups
are well presented. The lighting and camera angles reveal the fingerings
well. Also,
Steve Krenz does a good job of exaggerating his finger positions for
extra clarity.
Guided Practice Sessions: since the real learning takes place while
you practice, the fact that Steve Krenz leads this is significant.
The Instructor is precise and relaxed in his speech for easy
listening.
This is a complete course and not just a list of blues licks to be
memorized.
The lessons progress in a logical fashion.
There are lots of shots of the instructor playing in a real band
which is as entertaining and motivational as it is educational.
Support and Guarantee
An Online Support Community is available to each student. A 60 Day
Money Back Guarantee is standard on all purchases from Legacy Learning
Systems.
Price
Option 1: The stand-alone Blues Guitar Course is $99 USD plus
shipping (ships world wide)
Learn And
Master Blues Guitar Spotlight
Option 2: Pre-Order Special - The Blues Guitar Course bundled with
the 3 disc set called “Guitar Set-up with Greg Voros” for $124 USD. The
guitar set-up discs are half off in this deal.
The Bottom Line
This was one of the most difficult guitar lesson reviews I have ever
written. I was having so much fun playing along with the lessons that I
had a hard time disciplining myself to actually write. Even simple
concepts were a blast. For example, Steve Krenz was demonstrating how to
build interesting but incredibly simple blues solos. He began using just
one note, then embellishing it with a few hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides
and bends. Next he added just one or two more notes. I was amazed how
great these 2 and 3 note riffs sounded. The best thing, however, was
that the logical way it was presented gave me the courage to try it
myself and it worked!
What
Learn
and Master Blues Guitar Spotlight offers that so many others miss is
a complete, detailed and thorough presentation that teaches the “why” of
blues guitar. In fact Steve often warns the student to not just memorize
a series of licks but instead learn to understand and actually hear
the music. This is essential for developing your own unique brand of
blues guitar soloing.
The bottom line is that if you work through the course in a
determined manner you will definitely learn to create your own blues
guitar solos and rhythm parts in any key. In fact you might eventually
be able to sit in with an unfamiliar band and instantly play a song you
have never heard. The only instructions the band leader may tell you is
to play the blues in “A” and you’ll know exactly how to proceed.
The bottom line is that this course offers an award winning guitarist
and gifted instructor, a logical progression of the lessons, excellent
video production values and a fair price. For these reasons, I have
absolutely no problem recommending the
Learn and
Master Blues Guitar Spotlight with Steve Krenz.
For more
information, testimonials, sample lessons or to buy Learn and Master
Blues Guitar Lessons click here
