Questions from a new site member:
I have been playing for approx. 4 years and have gotten where I am through a variety of online, book method and in-person lessons. Have hit a wall that has me frustrated and you seem to be one of the first people presenting something that seems to me to be a coherent, step by step process to getting better at this instrument. I am starting with the 5 free lessons tonight and while simple I do see the logic behind starting there. Questions:
Do you need the book if you purchase the PDF download lessons?
In general, is it better to have the book along w/ the PDFs?
Is the costs of the PDF lessons $100? Book $12.95?
Are the blues lessons Unit #2?
Look forward to hearing from you.
- Frank
Hi Frank,
I know all about the wall you've hit - I hit it myself in 1976. You are right, my method is a coherent, step-by-step process. It is the result of over 50 years of playing, learning and thinking about the guitar and music full-time. I've made a living with the guitar and spent most of my life dealing with it. To answer your questions:
Do you need the book if you purchase the PDF download lessons?
No. The downloads and the free lessons in the Members Only section of the website are meant to replace the books. The books were never designed to be "self-teaching" - which is an oxymoronic concept. They require a knowledgeable instructor to apply them to each student. They're more like outlines - "guidelines more than actual rules" as it were.
Conversely, the free lessons and the downloads are designed to be as self-contained as possible - thus the material is presented 3 different ways:
Explanatory text
Fretboard diagrams and other graphics
Demonstration videos.
This is an attempt on my part to present the material conducive to different learning styles/personality types. The issue of learning style is something I would ascertain and accommodate automatically in a personal lesson but is difficult to deal with remotely.
I am not a proponent of tab and I argue it's counterproductive - it actually sabotages knowledge of the neck. Go here for my position.
In general, is it better to have the book along w/ the PDFs?
In general, no. The PDFs are designed to be self-contained. The problem right now is that I'm nowhere close to having my entire method redesigned and formatted for the online environment. You mentioned Unit 2, The Blues in your 4th question. The only stuff posted is "Concepts for Basic Improvising," which is material - a ton of material - extrapolated from about 6 pages out of 19. That's all I've got done from Unit 2. The same kind of situation exists with Unit 1. The 5-Lesson Foundational Series is mostly from Unit 1 but there's all kinds of stuff I haven't posted from Unit 1. My thinking is; basic 1st position chords, bar chords, major and minor scales - all that stuff can be found on a gazillion web pages - if you want to know how to finger a major scale just google it. I take that back; I do have a lesson on major scales. The point is, you can get almost all of the Unit 1 material elsewhere - though not necessarily organized in a manner that's optimized for my method. Ditto for the Blues - the 12-bar blues form, turnarounds, Minor Pentatonic scales etc...google it, it's everywhere.
For that reason, getting the first 2 Units done is low on my priority list right now. I'm systematically producing my book, one unit at a time, starting with Unit 3: Triads. Next was Unit 3: Open Position Triads and Concepts for Basic Improvising. I just released Unit 4: 7th Chords in December 2017. Unit 5: 7th Inversions and Unit 6: 7th Voicing are done as far as the PDFs are concerned but none of the demonstration videos have been shot yet. All that in addition to producing a free lesson for the newsletter each month, teaching 45 students a week and playing 2-4 gigs a week. I'm running a marathon here - but I love everything I'm doing!
Is the costs of the PDF lessons $100? Book $12.95?
Well...pricing is in a state of flux at the moment. I'm still trying to get a handle on what it should be. As of now, all downloads except the 5-Lesson Foundational Series retail at $100.00. However, I'm working on a 2-tiered pricing structure - sign up as a site member and get roughly half off. I just haven't got the website updated to reflect that. Plus, for limited times - during launches of new products and special events - certain products are discounted even more than that. I noticed you signed up a few days ago - if you want any of the products let me know and I'll send you a code that will get you any products you want for $49.00 each. The 5-Lesson Foundational Series retails for $39.00 but can actually be accessed by site members for free as web page-based lessons. I try to structure things so that everyone who signs up as a site member gets funneled to those 5 lessons first.
Book pricing: each unit is priced differently based on my manufacturing cost. The entire method bound together in one book is called the Teacher's Edition and is priced at $52.50.
My agenda is to replace the books with PDF downloads. At this time the main reason I would push buying a book would be:
Material you're interested in hasn't been posted as a free lesson or download, and then only if,
You already have a concept of the neck, can spell and have at least a rudimentary ability to read music notation or,
You can take personal lessons from me or one of my qualified instructors. Skype or FaceTime lessons, though suboptimal, are also a possibility.
As I said, the book was not designed to be self-contained but requires a knowledgeable instructor. Plus, what I'm doing with the PDFs will cause me to eventually phase out the books completely, including the qualified instructors who have been buying books from me to sell to their students. Hard copy sales of all kinds - books, CDs, DVDs etc. are dying, and have been decreasing since the early 2,000s. The same thing (the internet) that is killing the old paradigm also births a new paradigm and opportunity for growth and success - if you can figure it out and jump on it.
The Jukebox Parallel
Kind of like the jukebox in the 1940's. The same thing that killed off an entire industry of performing musicians - every corner bar in America that previously hired musicians bought a jukebox and put countless players out of work - created a whole new music industry that hadn't existed before - the recording industry. At the time, if you saw the potential for being a recording artist and didn't waste time and energy complaining and lamenting the death of the status quo, you could secure a gig as a recording musician of some kind; otherwise you had to find a day job.
I'm a little late to the internet party - but I trust not TOO late.
Also, know that no matter what you do, buy books, downloads or just go through the free lessons posted for members, I am available to site members for questions, ideas, criticisms and personal oversight concerning all things guitar!
I am interested in students/clients/customers (whatever you want to call them) who perceive the value and uniqueness in my step-by-step approach and understand that I can lead them through a process that results in gaining a complete understanding of music and how to apply it to the guitar. To that end, I am available to those people.
Appreciate ya!
Jay
P.S. A Little Story will give you the history of my method and some of my personal history in the process.
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