eMedia Intermediate Guitar Method Win/Mac

List Price: $59.99 Discount Price: $42.95

Features:

• Over 175 Step-by-Step Lessons: You?ll learn to play solos like the ones Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix made famous, using newly acquired skills such as hammer-ons, pull-offs, bends, vibrato and slides
• Barre chords and different strumming styles are covered in the rhythm chapters, and there?s a fingerstyle chapter as well
• Intervals, scales and the basics of improvisation are also covered in this comprehensive volume

Accessories:
Monster Cable P500-M-20 Performer 500 Microphone Cable 20 ft. (Gold-Contact XLRs)	eMedia Blues Guitar Legends	eMedia Guitar Songs 1 version 2.0

Customer Reviews:

Teacher-in-a-box [Posted on 2003-06-06]
I wasn't sure how this would work out, but at the price, the eMedia Guitar method offered a lot more than the books and CD's or DVD's in the local music store.

Features I really like:

Animated Fretboard diagram: How to place your fingers for chords and notes.

Chord Dictionary: Important for playing music--chords are the basis.

Metronome: Nice to have, I find metronomes annoying but they do bring your speed up as you practice.

Guitars and Their Parts: and what might be wrong with your.

Reading Chord Charts, Tablature, Notation: It's important to know how to read a chord chart, but musical notation, the backbone of all music, is not ignored. I think one should read music, so if you don't, you are encouraged to learn here.

The lessons for chords start small--one finger (like a G7), two fingers, three, and up to the tough ones with four or barred. This is rather how I learned because I learned guitar by first playing a ukelele! (The tuning of the last four strings is the same on a guitar and uke.) You are a lot less likely to suffer frustration and sore fingers if you can play a tune or two with a two-finger chord. You just don't strum the entire set of strings at first.

The strumming techniques include good video of the up and down method of the blues, and there is a section on blues guitar style, of which I was most interested.

For the money, hardly a risk. Find a good starter guitar and give it a try.

awesome way to learn more advanced guitaring [Posted on 2004-11-26]
After completing the first volume, I was nothing but impressed with the emedia material. I'd conquered campfire chords! Now is where the cool stuff starts, Volume 2, and it too is excellent. The great thing about Emedia's approach is how it breaks down the teaching of a new technique. After explaining and demoing the technique a short, usually interesting (but not always), song is presented that exactly covers that technique being taught. It avoids the pitfall of other guitar teaching material, which is use some ultra-mind-numbing, hardly melodic bit to practice the execution of the technique. The well paced introduction and progression of technique building really suits me well. My only concern is that I'm potentially developing bad habits, this is where a good teacher is a must. The chord and scale directories are great, but it would've been nice if the scale directory took better advantage of the guitar's range. I find I use the metronome quite often too. Good stuff!

you will be able to play some great stuff [Posted on 2005-05-17]
eMedia intermediate guitar method is an excellent system to expand on your beginner skills. I have now been playing guitar for four months and have gotten better than some of my friends that have been playing for over a year. I finished the CD so I am lending it out now to these same friends.

I started out with the eMedia beginner guitar method and soon after bought this CD. I had attempted to play guitar for perhaps two days before this present time. From this series, I am now comfortable with chords, barre chords, bass walks, finger picking (arpeggios and travis style), hammer-ons, pull-offs, trills, and reading notes. The method has gotten me excited to buy my first electric guitar, practice bends, and learn more about lead guitar playing.

The stuff you learn to play on this CD simply sounds cool. There is a sweet Grateful Dead tune, All Along the Watch Tower, several classic rock pieces, an excellent 12-bar blues solo, there is some country/bluegrass, a few classic guitar pieces (Bach, Pachelbel), and an amazing Jimi Hendrix solo for All Along the Watch Tower. All the songs are recorded from a live guitar player so you will know how each song will sound. When I first browsed through the CD, I thought to myself "There is no way I will be able to sound like that". And yet after much practicing, I got through the CD, can play all the pieces well, and am so happy that I am now a decent guitar player.

I continue to be excited to learn. I think the Fretboard Logic series will help me develop a better understanding of the fretboard and build up my lead guitaring skills.

I wanted to add this review to show that this system is still a great way to learn. I am thankful to eMedia for putting out a product that is showing me that it is never to late to learn to play guitar. To add to the pluses as detailed elsewhere: many great pieces that you will be excited to learn, both standard and tablature notation so that you can learn both methods of reading, etc. The minuses: does not cover fretboard/CAGED organization.

I Love This Program [Posted on 2005-10-17]
I have read a gazzillion books, visited as many web sites and the guitar has always been a damn mystery to me. Sure I can bang out a few chords and play House of the Rising Sun, but that's about it. This program has clicked with me more than anything else I've ever tried. After about a month, I really feel like I can play the silly thing! Now I can go back and understand what all the other books were trying to tell me! Get this: I went into a guitar store and plugged in an expensive Strat and played it without feeling stupid!
The approach appeals to my nonlinear thinking. You can work through the lessons, skip ahead and then go back. I won't say I've mastered anything yet, but I'm playing and enjoying! I'm recommending this to everyone! I if you can read tabs and understand basic open chords START with this program! Mostly I've been working on Crying and screaming lead techniques (bends, hammer-ons, pull offs slides, etc.) and barre chords.
I'm going to get the advanced programs when I'm done with these!

more challenging than looks [Posted on 2007-05-23]
I found the software more challenging than I expected. I have also been studying with another kind of software which has a totally different approach to the study of the electric guitar. At this point I haven't made enough progress to be more thorough in my remarks.

Click here for more details and discount information...