Learn and Master Guitar: A Comprehensive Review

Learn and Master Guitar is a comprehensive DVD course aimed at beginner guitarists, designed to take them from the moment they pick up the guitar to playing at an intermediate level. Developed by Steve Krenz and Legacy Learning Systems in Nashville, Tennessee, the course is structured to be easy to follow, with DVD tutorials broken down into manageable pieces for gradual learning.

Course Overview and Components

Learn and Master Guitar is a 20 DVD guitar course, which is very thorough. The full program includes 20 professionally produced DVDs with 20 learning sessions, a printed book of 108 pages, which follows the material of the DVDs and five audio CDs containing jam tracks. The 5 CDs are 100 jam along tracks so you can play some of the lessons and songs to a full backing track. A neat feature of the jam tracks is that the guitar part is on the left stereo channel, so you can easily turn the guitar track volume down and just play along with your virtual band. The course also offers online support, where you can post questions and discuss your progress on the Student Support Discussion Board.

The book contains 104 pages of guitar instruction to go along with the 10 main DVDs. While Learn and Master Guitar focuses on shipping all the tools with their package, rather than placing them online.

Curriculum and Styles Covered

Learn and Master Guitar teaches acoustic guitar playing, electric and rock guitar styles, classical and fingerstyle guitar, blues, jazz, country, R&B and funk, but most importantly, let you develop your own style of playing. Apart from a section on blues guitar, there's a good few other guitar lessons on fingerstyle guitar, Jazz, classical and certain playing techniques used by guitar players like Merle Travis and a few others. The lessons on various styles aren't that in depth as to become a guitar course on their own, however they do give you enough info and practice to become capable of playing in that style. You may want to get more in depth instruction on a particular style later when you've finished the Learn and master guitar course. For the most part, I would say if you want to learn how to play electric guitar while investigating a few other classical and acoustic styles of playing as well, this guitar course seems a good fit. Steel string acoustic guitar players may find it beneficial as well, although not as useful as an electric guitarist will. If you're looking to learn classical guitar I would suggest something specifically written for the classical guitar student. This course has a more rounded approach to learning the guitar.

Teaching Methodology and Approach

The instructor, Steve Krenz, is a great teacher with a very warm and friendly teaching style. As you watch the course and learn the guitar, you really feel like you have your own personal guitar instructor (at a fraction of the price). Steve focuses on learning to read music from the start, though he does include TAB for the lessons. There is a mixture of chords as well as single note picking in just about every lesson as you progress.

Target Audience and Skill Level

Learn and Master Guitar is aimed at beginner guitarists, who are just starting out. This guitar course will get you to a level of playing where you can freely start exploring the styles of other guitarists, or alternately explore further the styles already included in the course.

Lead Guitar Instruction

Will you learn to play lead guitar? Yes, and with a good understanding of what you're actually doing. That being said, the first real lesson on playing lead guitar is based on the pentatonic scale, which is easier to use for soloing and great for starting out lead guitar with.

Production Quality and User Experience

Video and course material production quality is the highest that we’ve ever seen for guitar learning DVDs. The DVD tutorials are broken split into manageable pieces, so you learn gradually.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Comprehensive: Learn and Master Guitar is a very thorough DVD course, most likely the most comprehensive DVD course that has been introduced onto the market to date.
High-Quality Production: NEW! Video and course material production quality is the highest that we’ve ever seen for guitar learning DVDs.
Versatile Curriculum: We were pleased to see during our review of the Learn and Master Guitar course, that it teaches you acoustic guitar playing, electric and rock guitar styles, classical and fingerstyle guitar, blues, jazz, country, RB and funk, but most importantly, let you develop your own style of playing.
Supportive Community: Online support, where you can post questions and discuss your progress on the Student Support Discussion Board.
Effective Teaching: He's a very good teacher in my opinion, everything is well presented and clear in the videos and in the workbooks.
Focus on music reading: While he does include TAB for the lessons, from the start he focuses on learning to read music.

Cons:

Price: The most expensive guitar course, which beginners might find intimidating. The price may seem steep, but it’s not.
Limited Online Aids: Low level of online aids, since Learn and Master Guitar focuses on shipping all the tools with their package, rather than placing them online.
Not In-Depth for Specific Styles: I think a 20 DVD guitar course like this one deserves at least some forgiveness for not covering every guitar style in depth.

Pricing and Guarantee

Learn and Master Guitar has a risk-free 60 day money back guarantee.

20 DVD set: $199 or $49/month - Sale alert!
10 DVD set: $149 or $39/month - Sale alert!

After conducting our review, we would recommend the 20 DVD set, since its much better value for your money.

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Personal Experiences and Testimonials

Many users have shared positive experiences with Learn and Master Guitar, praising its comprehensive approach and effective teaching methods.

Michael's Story: "I thought I was an intermediate player but I wasn't."
Stefan from Krakow, Poland: "This is by far the best guitar learning program I have ever encountered. I have tried quite a few "learn guitar" programs that also give you a progressive and varied learning format. However, they never ever had the same kind of depth and structure; let alone the community support, as Gibson's Learn & Master Guitar. If you put in the effort to learn what has been taught, the 20 sessions will make you a pretty decent guitarist."
One user shared: "I must thank you Steve. You have changed my life. If it weren't for L&M Guitar and now the Blues Spotlight Series, I would never played guitar. I started last Mar 13th and followed the program religiously. Then in November, bought the spotlight series for Blues guitar. I love to play. In my wildest dreams I never believed I could play, much less get up in front of someone. Now I can and I am having a great deal of fun with life again."
Another user mentioned: "I bought the Learn and Master Guitar Course in 2009. I especially enjoy playing over one of the backing tracks in the course that is called “Suspended Smooth” which is on CD 3, track 21. Thank you Steve for putting out such a wonderful course. It is really helpful."
A songwriter shared: "As a songwriter for many years, I have discovered the importance of knowing how to play an instrument. When I sit down to write, I have my guitar with me and begin to brainstorm. After viewing the videos and reading the book that’s included in the Learn & Master Guitar course, I quickly learned that this is a must for any artists or songwriter. I would highly recommend this product."
Brian's Story: "I went ahead and bought the system and I love it. It's very comprehensive. I like Steve's method because it teaches you the theory and when you get done…you'll be able to play with any band."
Leland O.: "Thank you for a wonderful guitar course! I purchased it approximately 2 years ago after returning from a tour in Kuwait/Iraq. I had to retire because of depression. Learning the guitar helped lift me from that depression! I am now playing gospel music in a nursing home weekly."
Rob Marcus, one of our attorneys and an avid guitar player worked the Learn & Master Guitar program with his young daughter. He said “as instructive programs go, this gets the gold ribbon! This is as good, no, better than being face to face with a live teacher because it’s 24/7.
A music teacher shared: "As a music teacher, I really like this program! Steve seems very comfortable and there are times I feel like I'm getting a private lesson. He has a knack for answering questions at the right time… it's like he's reading my mind. The materials are fantastic because they teach so many aspects of music (notation, rhythm, tab, etc.) while teaching guitar. Nothing is assumed or taken for granted. The first lessons provide a solid musical foundation which is steadily built on. Some more advanced students may be tempted to skip ahead to where they feel challenged, but they will soon head back to lesson 1 and 2 to develop that stable foundation."

A Personal Journey with Learn and Master Guitar

One individual's experience highlights the dedication and persistence required to complete the course. Initially purchased before 2010, the course was started and restarted several times due to various life interruptions. In October 2014, an original copy of the Homeschool Edition was ordered, but further delays ensued. Eventually, a revised approach was adopted, incorporating the Song Hits complementary course and the Fingerstyle Course to address perceived weaknesses in fundamental skills. The revised plan involved revisiting earlier sessions, integrating fingerstyle lessons, and strategically incorporating the Blues Guitar Spotlight course. This comprehensive approach reflects a commitment to mastering the material and achieving a solid foundation in guitar playing. After years I am pleased to announce that I have completed Learn and Master Guitar! I took a lesson with Steve in Nashville last August on session 17. And then I completed it shortly after that when I got back home.

Course Structure and Content in Detail

The course is organized in a very easy to follow manner. The DVDs have an accompaniment lesson book, which contains all the examples, exercises, and songs you will be playing. The course consists of 20 DVDs and 5 CDs as well as a book. The book contains 104 pages of guitar instruction to go along with the 10 main DVDs. The edition I had was designed to cover lessons for a full year as I recall (most lessons are designed for you to practice them around 1-4 weeks, usually 2 weeks in most cases, before moving on to the next section). It may be even longer now that he's added more to it.

Addressing Common Concerns

Some beginners may be turned off by the 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' stuff in the beginning as they want to jump straight into 'Stairway to Heaven' but I think anyone serious about learning realizes you have to start with a good foundation first. If anything, I would say it is a very good -foundation- for learning guitar, at least in my limited knowledge.

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