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Guitar Soloing 101: An Easy Guide to the Fingerboard Review by Carissa Ruiz

Marcy Marxer
Homespun Video
PO Box 340
Woodstock, NY 12498
800-33-TAPES
http://www.homespuntapes.com/

Guitar Soloing 101: An Easy Guide to the Fingerboard is a "how-to" DVD. It teaches you some fingerings on the acoustic guitar so that you can improvise a solo as the lead guitar. The instructor is Marcy Marxer. She explains and demonstrates how to do scales, some chords, and soloing across the neck of the guitar.

Pros:
It's on a DVD, so you can easily rewind or skip through lessons. The teacher's voice and mannerisms are pleasant, and she seems to know music theory and the guitar very well.

Cons:
It moves too quickly if you are a beginner in music or guitar. It doesn't include enough music theory or guitar instructions. For example, the instructor talks about root notes, but after watching the whole DVD several times, I could not figure out how she could tell what the root note in a chord was. She would just play a chord and say, "Do you hear the root note?"

In my opinion, this is a good DVD for someone in their teens or older. It is useful in teaching you how to do scales and how to get your fingers moving comfortably across the neck of the guitar. However, if you are a beginner or if you need instruction in music theory, you might want to consider using this DVD in conjunction with one that focuses more on beginning guitar lessons and theory.

Also, I found the DVD hard to follow at times, even though it came with a small booklet that was moderately helpful. However, the more you watch the DVD the more it makes sense. If you've had some guitar instruction and are ready to move to lead soloing, this product would probably make a lot of sense to you and you would most likely benefit from the instructor's knowledge of the guitar.

Product review by Carissa Ruiz, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, March 2007

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