( 4 reviews )
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Posted: Aug 20 2007
This book has inspired me to play in a way that no other guitar book, DVD, or website has. I played guitar in middle school and was never any good at it, and it was never fun. (Band was a required class, and guitar substituted for band. I took it because my dad bought me a guitar.) Now, at age 39, I'm finding singing to and with my seven-year-old son a cappella difficult. Since my son is trying to learn the guitar, I decided to give it another try myself. Now, with How and Tao, I'm having fun with the guitar. A previous reviewer complained about the book teaching in an open tuning instead of the standard tuning. This is very much on purpose. It lets the student focus on learning right-hand technique and developing rhythm without worrying about left-hand chord changes. It was those chord changes that just drove me crazy in middle school and made learning not-fun. If you know a few chords in standard tuning, don't let that discourage you from buying this book. It's not a step "backwards"... it's a focus on learning a different, but essential, skill. This book isn't about teaching chords, it's about teaching you how to play. Play, as in "have fun." So tune down to open G and dive in. (It gets into standard tuning about three-quarters of the way through the book.) The approach is realistic. It moves slowly and he encourages you to really work at each step until you have it down, and not move on until you're really comfortable. In this book, and in his free materials online, he over and over encourages learning the fundamentals, because a solid core is what allows you the freedom to really play. And the open tuning makes practicing alternating bass more interesting, because you don't have to fumble for complex chords yet. The writing is motivational. Reading this book will make you want to play and make you believe that you can play. He doesn't promise overnight success... again, he's realistic and makes it clear that mastery of the guitar is a lifetime process. But playing the guitar is about the journey, not the destination, and he stresses that you should enjoy the journey. The stories are inspirational. While you're in the early chapters, practicing your thumb-strum, jump to the end and read all the stories. This book has me picking up my guitar every day, often several times a day. Within a couple days, I was playing and singing a simple folk song for my son. I'm making definite progress and I'm having fun, and that's what's important.
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( 0 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jun 2 2007
I liked this book, and think that I will learn a lot from it, but not being an "absolute" beginner, although I am by most people's standards, I am resistant to going to an different tuning. So, I was dissapointed to see all of the advice aimed toward someone who has tuned their guitar to the "Open G" tuning. Unfortunatly I didn't see the recent review before I placed my order. It seems like there could at least be alternate instructions for folks who aren't going to switch over.
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( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: May 30 2007
I was looking for something to get me started in on the banjo and ran across Pat's videos on YouTube. From there I found his books (How and Tao and 5 Strings) and found both of them very well written and thought out. Pat's teaching/writing style is very laid back and well suited to encouraging a starting banjoist to practice practice practice. After only about half of the book and the dvd he put together, I started with a local teacher who was very surprised that I'd only been playing for a short time. I think Pat got me going on the very right foot, and I'm continuing working through the books and videos along with my local teacher. I can't recommend these enough to folks starting out.
