[david henman]

....and why?

personally, i'm looking for one or two that focus primarily on exercises.

-dh

 

[david henman]

Is the 20 minute workout on DVD yet? I miss that early morning wake up call.

...too funny!

i used to start my day with those exercises (and eye candy), too!

On a more serious note...what kind of exercises? Chord melody, scales, general finger dexterity?

...finger dexterity.

while i wouldn't mind picking up a few tricks occasionally, i have strived hard in my forty odd years of playing to carefully avoid any kind of "learning" or musical knowledge.

-dh

 

[iaresee]

...finger dexterity.

I really enjoyed Petrucci's Rock Discipline book. Not sure about the DVD but that book is specifically aimed at increasing your right/left hand co-ordination, picking and fretting accuracy, dexterity and speed.

For general dexterity Holdsworth's Reaching For The Uncommon Chord is fantastic. I've always found it a bit frustrating as I have smaller hands than most so some of the stuff in this book is just physically beyond me. But still good for stretching and new voicing approaches.

 

[david henman]

...thanks, you guys!!!

these are the kind of mind-expanding suggestions i was hoping for.

-dh

 

[Renvas]

Learn To Play Your Guitar - A Method For Beginners

I started off playing from this video. it teaches all the basics and how to do various exercises like bending, vibrato, etc. i found this video pretty helpful even though i think this isn't what you were actually looking for.. just thaught id point it out.

 

[Devon8822]

John Petrucci's is excellent and so are Paul Gilbert's. I literally have a ton (around 50) vids, so if you want any reviews PM me.

 

[david henman]

Learn To Play Your Guitar - A Method For Beginners
I started off playing from this video. it teaches all the basics and how to do various exercises like bending, vibrato, etc. i found this video pretty helpful even though i think this isn't what you were actually looking for.. just thaught id point it out.

...you never know - this might be exactly what i need.

i do feel i need to go back to the basics.

-dh

 

[rockinbluesfan]

"Lick Library" has some excellent stuff!

 

[violation]

John Petrucci's "Rock Discipline" is pretty decent. He's a very intelligent player, some say he over thinks everything but I disagree. His stretches at the very start of the video alone have made developing technique and speed easier... and that's just 5 minutes into the video.

When I decided to get serious about playing I lived by Rock Discipline (video) and Steve Vai's 10 and 30 hour guitar work out books. If you've got a high speed connection I could upload all 3 for you, just let me know.

 

[guitarman2]

I guess it depends on the style you want to play to determine what is best for you. I have Instructional DVD's by Tony Rice, Brent Mason, Danny Gatton and Ray Flacke. they aren't great instructional to teach fundamentals. Their aim is just to show you how to play their licks. Good for increasing your guitar lick vocabulary I guess. I usually don't play their licks exactly the same way, putting my own spin on them. I don't want to sound exactly like any of these players.

 

[Warren]

There's Steve Vai's 12 hour workout from Guitar Player Mag from a while back, which covers a lot of left hand dexterity style basics for soloing. I think it's now turned into the 30 hour workout.

 

[Vintage_Groove]

I just picked up Learn & Master Guitar (with Steve Krenz). It's a 20 DVD set (with some CDs) and 100 page booklet.

My son is playing drums and I figured I'd utilize the times I can't play on the drums by getting my dad's barely used 1970's el Degas electric guitar and Lidovox amp and teach myself guitar.

The DVDs follow the booklet closely and it starts from the basics and moves up into different styles (Rock, Blues, etc). So far I seem to get what's being taught. It may be what you're looking for if you're a beginner like me.