Learn and Master Guitar Review

Learn and Master Guitar

When it comes to DVD guitar programs that teach guitar visually, Learn and Master Guitar has no competition. For years, this incredibly popular guitar course has been successfully teaching thousands upon thousands of people how to play (and master) the guitar from the comfort of their own home. The Learn and Master Guitar course is available exclusively from Legacy Learning System’s website.

This learn-at-home guitar course package includes 20 wonderfully-produced DVDs with 2 sessions per DVD, 5 Jam-Along CDs, a 107-page lesson book, and a ring binder/carrying case.  You will also get access to a membership community site and forum where there's lots of extra learning material, exercises and other goodies. You can ask for help with guitar-related issues and get feedback from fellow guitarist and guitar instructors, including the program's instructor.

Learn and Master Guitar makes a suitable choice for a wide audience, from beginners to intermediates. Though it works best for those who are new or just beginning to play guitar, even a more experienced guitarist can learn a lot from going through this course when used as a refresher. Learn and Master Guitar is great for the kids too. In fact, a student version of Learn and Master Guitar was just recently released. It contains all the same material as the regular course but also adds a 68-page teacher's guide with a 2-year curriculum outline, as well as a 2 DVDs of teacher's material. This is perfect for for homeschoolers as it gives more structure to the guitar-learning process and enables the kids's parents to assist their child in the learning process. The Learn and Master Guitar course wasn't designed with very young children (under 8 years old) in mind however, so keep that in mind.

Learn and Master Guitar’s lessons build upon each other in a linear and logical way so that you never feel lost or “over your head”. Unlike many other music courses, you aren't required to have any previous musical knowledge or experience, which makes learning process much easier and more intuitive. You are free to learn at your own pace and go as slow or as fast as you wish.

An essential ingredient to any “live” video guitar training is who's doing the teaching. This is an area where Learn and Master Guitar really shines. The course is taught by master guitarist Steve Krenz. Steve is a highly trained musician with a natural gift of teaching. He has a friendly and personable manner which makes for very enjoyable lessons. Steve Krenz also possesses a remarkable résumé. He holds a degree in music and has an enormous amount of experience playing professionally, from performing alongside platinum-selling artists, to playing in orchestras, to teaching guitar in workshops in the USA and around the world.

Features

Unlike a lot of the guitar-learning products reviewed on this site, Learn and Master Guitar is not a downloadable product, but is actually shipped to your door.

The Jam-Along CDs:

One of the most enjoyable tools included with Learn and Master Guitar is the 5 Jam-Along CDs. These audio tracks aren’t just some cheap computer-generated MIDI files or generic sound bites, but professional, studio-recorded soundtracks for you to play along with. The producers at Legacy Learning Systems spared no expense to make these Jam-Along CDs the best they could. Some of the talent hired to accompany on the CDs are Dino Pastin (Keyboard player for Alabama and Barbara Mandrell), Javier Solis (Drummer and percussionist for Usher, Kenny Loggins, Faith Hill Jaci Velasquez…), Abel Orta (Bass player for Jaci Velasquez and Promise Keepers, and a major Nashville session player.), as well as Steve Krenz who is the instructor for the course. The beginner jam-along tracks come in different speeds (slow, medium, and fast) so that you can still play even when you’re just starting to take your first slow strums on your guitar. Another neat feature is that when you’re ready to go solo with the band you can do so just by adjusting the balance in the speakers. (So you don’t need separate tracks with and without the guitar) They have some audio samples of some of the jam-along tracks up on their site, so we encourage you to check them out!

The DVDs:

Each session is divided into different segments. Usually, the sessions follow a general format of: Instruction, Guitar Tips and Tricks, Student Assignment, and a Workshop to put everything together.

The technical aspects of Learn and Master Guitar are well done. The DVDs are not region encoded, and therefore play on any DVD player worldwide. The DVD menus are easy to navigate, and let you jump to the different sections on the DVDs.

The camera-work is very good, as they show lots of hand close-ups and occassionally switch to dual-camera view so that you can see exactly what Steve is doing. Other on-screen features that are helpful are the music notation and tablature that helps you follow along.

The Lesson Book:

The same on-screen notation is also shown in the companion lesson book that is included with this course. This is great as it allows you to work through the lessons and exercises independent of the DVDs, when you don’t feel like sitting in front of a computer or TV. Printing quality is excellent and the book is well organized and laid out.

Genres Covered:

Some of the genres that Learn and Master Guitar covers are acoustic guitar, electric guitar, rock guitar, finger-style, blues, country, jazz, funk and more… Be aware that Learn and Master Guitar doesn’t cover all these styles exhaustively, but does give you a good feeling for those genres so that you can hone in on your preferred styles later on.

Update: A few months ago, Legacy Learning Systems released a mini guitar in their Spotlight Series of courses that is dedicated to teaching Blues Guitar. We haven't had the opportunity to review this course yet, but it is also taught by Steve Krenz, so we're pretty certain it's a good one!

Other Spotlight Series Courses:

• Guitar Setup by Greg Vorus
• Learn and Master Bass Guitar (review coming soon)

Support

When we placed our order for Learn and Master Guitar, we found the ordering process simple and straightforward, and our order shipped promptly and arrived at our location within a matter of days.

If you ever have to contact Legacy Learning Systems, they have their phone number and contact information available on their website. When we called them, we were easily able to get a live person on the other end of the phone line to help us with our questions.

Their membership community is also an incredible support option. You can ask any questions that you have about the guitar course, or explain different problems you’re having and someone will respond with an answer as soon as possible. Steve Krenz himself might answer your question!

Ordering Information

Learn and Master Guitar is available from Legacy Learning System’s website. Placing an order is straightforward. They accept all major credit cards, though they would do well to add some of the other popular payment options such as PayPal or Google Checkout.

If you prefer to pay a little at a time or are the type that wants to “try before you buy”, Learn and Master Guitar has payment plans available as well. Check their site for more details.

All purchases made from Legacy Learning System’s website is backed by their 60-Day “Total Satisfaction Guarantee”, which means that if you buy the course, and aren’t satisfied for any reason you can return the course for a no-questions-asked, no hassle refund.

If you are an international student, don’t worry - Learn and Master Guitar can ship internationally.  You will get the same support and money-back guarantee as their North American Customers. The DVDs can be played on any DVD player in the world thanks to the disks not being region-encoded.

Video

Learn and Master Guitar video showcasing several customer tutorials.

Conclusion

Of all the guitar lessons reviewed on this site, Learn and Master Guitar is simply the most effective, comprehensive and well-produced guitar course we've seen. All of this combines to make Learn and Master Guitar our #1 choice for DVD guitar lessons.

Official Learn & Master Guitar Website