DVD-A Guitarist's Guide To Better Practicing

Description

Peter Huttlinger's amazing guitar technique didn't just happen. He developed it over the years, enhanced by good practice and exercise regimens. As a guitar teacher with more than sixteen years experience, Pete knows that the most important thing that players need is guidance in their practicing routine. He has seen guitarists playing a piece for years, making the same mistakes over and over without knowing how to fix the problem.

Now, with this powerful lesson filled with invaluable advice and insider's tips, you can increase your guitar skills and perfect your playing style through proper practice routines. You'll learn how to isolate the problem phrases in a piece of music, use a metronome to build solid rhythm, increase your picking speed (flatpick or finger style), train your "muscle memory," and, perhaps most importantly, learn how to manage your practice time for sure results. Pete provides numerous scales and exercises to help you gain fingerboard knowledge, strengthen your fingers and develop right and left hand coordination. Finally, you'll put it all to practical use by learning to conquer a dazzling instrumental, "The Monaghan Jig," taking it apart phrase by phrase using Pete's practice method.

This is a lesson that will benefit all guitarists. Whatever level you are starting from, you'll see the quality of your playing grow by leaps and bounds, and you'll get more pleasure from your music making.

Customer Reviews:

a must for all acoustic guitarists..........2007-04-23

Pete Huttlinger is not only a fingerstyle award winning guitarist, he is also a studio musician, performer (his CDs are wonderful) and toured with John Denver. This DVD simply is his practice motif --something that unlocks doors to better playing. I cannot see how a guitarist could not improve if he takes Pete's methods to heart. He not only presents scales, but very specific and strict manners to play them in order to improve finger strength. He is methodical, dedicated, and simply assumes that you have purchased this DVD to improve. He is not entertaining, though his personality is engaging, but very serious. This DVD is for the dedicated guitarist who wishes to improve without short cuts so that later, there will be no "holes" in his playing. I love this DVD and use it about once per week, as if it were a private lesson. I practice all week what Pete has taught, and then go back to the DVD 7 days later. It is my routine (I also use his DVDs learning the songs of John Denver) where I use several Homespun DVDs as my "teachers" with Pete's being like an athlete training. When I learned ice hockey, I enjoyed playing more than anything else. But the drills I did, over and over, were, eventually, put to use in games where I noticed dramatic improvement in a few short years. Pete's DVD is athletic training for the hands. You will be a better guitarist, in just a few months, if you dedicate yourself to practicing with a purpose....this is not about just picking up a guitar and practicing without a plan.

Get everything Homespun has to offer from Huttlinger, and pick up his CDs to increase not only your appreciation of fingerstyle guitar, but to relax and enjoy his music.

Highly Recommended.......2006-03-23

Pete's "Practice" DVD gives many tips and practice concepts that have helped my playing greatly improve. He teaches scales and drills designed to help the student become more proficient with basics. The instruction is easy to follow and will help beginners and advanced students alike. Pete's style of teaching is relaxed and easy-going. It made me feel like Pete was in my living room with me giving me private lessons. I would highly recommend this DVD for all guitar players who want to improve their basic skills.

Could be much better.......2005-02-19

I received this DVD as a gift. The catchy tune found within the training caught the attention of giver.

Peter is an impressive guitarist and a very enthusiastic teacher. I had no doubt that he wanted to make me a better guitarist.

There are good practice recommendations in this DVD. However, they can be summarised by saying that you should practice scales and use a metronome. Scales increase dexterity. They can be practiced while sitting in front of the TV or watching the kids. The metronome forces you to play in tempo and as you increase the beat you will "train" yourself to get faster. These kinds of recommendations can be found in a lot of introductory guitar books. Indeed, after watching the first 30 minutes of the DVD, I would think it unlikely that I will go back to those sections.

The tune "The Monaghan Jig", which occupies a sizeable chunk of the DVD is an impressive one. Mastering it would impress all who listen to you. I did not think it too advanced or requiring more skill than the DVD advertised.

That being said, I did not think tune was well taught. The DVD I had did not include the full tablature or transcription. This can be remedied by contacting the publisher, assuming you wish a FAX of the tab (see http://www.homespuntapes.com/Tackboard/show.asp?ID=5154&tbID=49&tID=4840).

Personally, I do not believe the Tab should be necessary for an instructional video. IMO a good teacher would demonstrate a new piece at a pace a qualified student can learn from. A good DVD should allow you to understand what is going on without having to pause and go back excessively. What I mean is that there should be a real time "slow-motion" demonstration of the parts of the piece.

I believe students learn better when the can follow what is going on without having to fumble with the DVD remote every few seconds. With the pace used in this DVD, you will find yourself spending a lot of time with the remote in hand trying to pause at just the right places, and move slowly through the fingerings.

Overall, I believe this DVD does a disservice to Peter and the producers. I suspect he is a very different teacher in person. Nonetheless, this video does little to capture that spirit.

DVD:

DVD

DVD