This online guitar lessons program
Guitar Tutor Pro
contains the following:
Five ebooks for downloading and printing;
1. The Guitarists Guide to Reading Music Notation
2. The Guitarists Guide to Tuning and Stringing
3. Mastering the Guitar Volume One - Notes on the guitar, Open Major Chords, Minor Chords, Barre Chords, Strumming, Picking
and Finger picking.
4. Mastering the Guitar Volume Two - Hammer Ons and Pull
Offs, Sliding, Vibrato, String Bending, Harmonics, Major 7 Chords, Minor 7 Chords, Suspended Chords, Understanding Modes and Intervals.
5. Mastering the Guitar Volume Three - Dominant 7Chords, Minor (
Major 7 ) Chords, Augmented Chords, Diminished 7 Chords, Advanced
Fingerstyle, Comping, Advanced Rhythms and Open Tunings.
Click Track Pro - is a metronome software program designed to
provide a steady practice beat ranging from 70 beats per minute
(bpm) to 140 bpm. The program offers the following options:
-
beats per measure ( 2, 3 or 4 )
-
type of beat sound, ( boom, tap or click )
-
tempo given in beats per minute ( 70 to 140 bpm )
The first beat of each measure begins not on the beginning of the
beat but, half way between the first and second beats. This feature
is innovative and possibly good for some students but, I found this
to be distracting. I would like to be able to switch to a steady
beat pattern that does not try to identify the beginning of each
measure. All in all, this is still one of the better software based
metronome programs.
Guitar Chords Pro - The Ultimate Guitar Chord Simulator
The purpose of this software program is to enable guitarists of
all levels to learn chord shapes from a large list of possibilities.
The program also gives guitarists the tools needed to create their
own chord shapes, by way of a fretboard diagram.
This is an interesting, useful and innovative program. I like the
fact that the program will actually slowly strum the chord of your
choice which allows you to hear each string. The only negative is
that the chord sound more like a harpsichord, ( an old fashion piano
), than a guitar. However, this is not a major problem.
eTuner Pro 1.0
is a simple software program that provides the
correct pitch of each guitar string. You select a string in the
program, listen, then pluck and tune the same string on your guitar
until it matches. Seven different tunings are included: Standard,
Drop D, Standard E flat, D Suspended, D Major, G Major and G Minor.
This program definitely gets the job done but it would be even
easier to use with some feedback that visually demonstrates whether
your note is flat or sharp. I would also like to choose the length
of time the computer generated note lasts. It’s a little too short
for my taste.
Negatives
The
Guitar Tutor Pro
photos could be sharper, have better lighting
and offer clearer alternative angles of the guitar. The fret numbers
for many of the TAB illustrations are often too fuzzy to read,
appear on the wrong lines and sometimes represent the wrong octaves.
The absence of video illustrations makes learning guitar,
especially for beginners, much more difficult. Seeing and hearing
how the guitar is played is a much more powerful way to learn than
with just a book and audio illustrations.
I wish the course was available with pre-printed books and audio
CD’s. This would save a tremendous amount of set up time and would
be worth paying a little extra.
Tips
After down loading the electronic files for the books
it is a good idea to print out all of the pages and put them into a
3 ring binder or have them printed and spiral bound at Kinkos, (
only one set please ). This makes practice possible with out having
to be tied to the computer. Reading the books directly from the
computer is possible but annoying , especially if your computer’s
monitor is smaller than one 8.5”x11” page.
I found that having all of the audio files together on my
computer in an open window next to the printed lesson books is the
most convenient way to use this course.
If you are a rank beginner it is a good idea to read “ The
Guitarists’ Guide to Reading Music Notation!” and “ The Guitarists
Guide to Tuning and Stringing! “ before starting with the book
“Mastering Guitar Volume 1”. Volume 1 uses concepts and terminology
from these books.
The Bottom Line
It is obvious that Ryan Cameron has put a
lot of effort and enthusiasm in his
Guitar Tutor Pro
course. Despite
some flaws, it provides a solid educational foundation for any
guitar enthusiast. The low price makes this a good value.
