Learning Guitar for Dummies

I had taken a very basic class a few years ago, then taught myself barre chords and a few scales. I recently invested in a good mid-range guitar (Martin DC-16 GTE), so I picked up this dvd as a refresher. I found myself skipping to chapter 8 before I came to anything I hadn't learned yet. So the title "Learning Guitar for Dummies" is apt. It is great for beginners as a SUPPLEMENT to private lessons. For intermediate players who are looking to build such skills as fingerstyle, barre chords, scales and improvisation, etc, you'll need something a bit more advanced than this. I found myself more bored and drooling over the Taylor 814 CE he was playing than focusing on the really basic concepts he was presenting.

Other drawbacks of the video: 1) his singing is terrible 2) he doesn't go over such basics as selecting and changing strings or some accessories that are helpful even for the novice (i.e. string winders, supplies for cleaning and maintaining the instrument- like a lint free cloth, a humidifier, etc). 3) in the video he does not always follow the suggested fingering shown in the chart on the screen (i.e. on a few of the songs he plays a G chord with the 1,2, and 4 fingers instead of the 1,2,3 as shown in the chart- I also prefer the 1,2,4 fingering, but this may be confusing to some beginners). Other than that it is a good introductory video for the beginner.


Baby Steps... In the right direction   December 17, 2003
Joe Crescenzi (Staten Island, NY USA)
107 out of 107 found this review helpful

This was the first DVD I ever bought on the subject. I ordered I even before I bought my first guitar, so I was a real beginner.

The pace is very slow, but as a beginner, I liked it that way. It helped me to feel like I had the potential to keep up. This was very important to me so that I wouldn't give up.

Some may feel the pace of this DVD is too slow, but if you are interested in starting slowly... this may be just the right pace for you.

Eventually, I started collecting Guitar DVDs and I now have over 20, but this was the one that held my interest long enough to make it past the training wheel stages.


A shallow treatment with a misleading cover.   October 4, 2003
Randall Brown (Tucson, AZ)
54 out of 78 found this review helpful

I am glad to see that some people have found this DVD useful. If you barely know what a guitar is, this is an inexpensive introduction to guitar playing. However I truly feel like a dummy (more like a sucker) for having purchased and watched this DVD. This is a shallow treatment, which would be OK if the cover were not so misleading.

The back cover includes the phrase "Play in a variety of syles, including folk, blues, rock, and jazz." (Yes play these styles, but this DVD won't help you.) And it includes the phrase "Play open-position chords and jazz chords." This is the one that suckered me. Most musicians consider a "jazz chord" to be something more complex than a seventh chord - a ninth, eleventh, or thirteenth, perhaps with a flatted or augmented member. This presentation includes three or four major triads, three or four minor triads, and one or two seventh chords. This goes at least one step beyond the usual truth-stretching ubiquitous in advertising.

Jon Chappell does an adequate job of demonstrating a handful of basic chords and changing between them. He uses the same "Row, row, row your boat" kind of songs found in hundreds of other introductory music books. This is understandable, and the new musician should take pride and pleasure in playing simple things. But there is nothing fresh or thoughtful about the approach of this presentation. It is a rehash of the simplest things common in so many of these run-of-the-mill introductions.

If you have never picked up a guitar before, go ahead and get this DVD. It's cheap enough. Listen to Jon and take what he says to heart. I would like to think there is something better for the beginner, but this will work. If you already know a couple of chords, and can strum along with any song already, there is little for you here.


Excellent tape for the beginner   March 10, 2002
Steven G. Croxton (Springfield, MO)
49 out of 52 found this review helpful

Let me preface this review with this statement - I have been playing guitar for over 25 years. I wish this tape had been around then...

Last summer, I helped my sister pick out a guitar for my brother-in-law as a birthday gift. While visting them last month, Suzanne (my sister) told me of a tape Fred (my bro-in-law) had picked up to help boost his floundering attempt at kick starting his Rock Star career at the tender age of 46. It was very good, she said; the guy mixed humour with very easy to understand instruction for the novice and even tone deaf. Cool, thought I. Perhaps I should check it out sometime...

Well, as fate would have it, I woke up in advance of everyone else the next morning, and in leu of watching their broadcast selection of local television programming, I decicided to pop in "Guitar Playing for Dummies". Wow. Chapel's easy going manner without talking down to the guit-picking virgin is just what the doctor ordered. We walks you through the basic chords, simple strumming and picking patterns, all to some decent pop standards. You will come out of this believing...no...knowing that you can become at the very least, a pretty compitent player. If only this had been available back in 1976.

My 18 year-old just got the bug after his best friend started playing the bass. So I ordered him a copy...


Perfect for beginers   August 9, 2004
S. Maguire (PA, USA)
45 out of 46 found this review helpful

I used to take guitar lessons when I was about 15 years old. Learned some basic cords and could play a few songs. I had not picked up the guitar in many years. My 12 year old Daughter decided to learn to play the guitar so I got my old guitars out and started playing again. I ordered this DVD Learning Guitar for Dummies, by Jon Chappell and found it to be an excellent first lesson for the beginner guitar player. Not only did I learn some thing's I did not know but my daughter sat through the whole DVD with her guitar. Jon has a great way of explaining things slowly and easily. I would recommend this DVD for any beginner guitar player. Even if you know nothing about the guitar, you will by the end of this DVD. I had also ordered another Guitar learning DVD and found it to be not nearly as good as this one. Two Thumbs up to this DVD! The only thing I was disappointed about was I could not find any other DVD's put out by Jon Chappell.