Guitar 101 The Fender Method
So you want to learn to play electric guitar? Fender, the world’s leading electric guitar manufacturer, has teamed up with G-VOX to create Guitar 101, an easy-to-use CD-ROM tutorial that covers the basics of electric guitar playing. The program consists of 30 sequenced lessons, which are divided into six categories: mechanics of the guitar, the right hand, the left hand, combining hands, music basics, and music theory. Each of the lessons has six parts to it: introduction, textbook, movie, styles, exercises, and a quiz. The movie, a demonstration by a guitar teacher, and the textbook form the crux of the lesson. The exercises allow you to practice the techniques of the lesson, and the quiz is a multiple choice review of the concepts covered.
Guitar 101 is specifically targeted for beginners who want to play rock or pop styles on the electric guitar with a pick. The lessons are logically ordered and are easy to understand. Each lesson analyzes only one concept, and you might find it easy to master several early lessons in one sitting. Moving through the lessons is as simple as point and click.
In addition to the lessons, Guitar 101 also has a feature called Hot Spots, which includes tuning the guitar, playing along with prerecorded beats and classic rock songs, and an extensive glossary. There is also a short history of the Fender Stratocaster. Though Guitar 101 is designed for use as a stand-alone product, it can also be used in conjunction with G-VOX’s Guitar software, which converts a regular electric guitar signal into a MIDI instrument. This makes it possible to play along with various lesson exercises as well as with the prerecorded Hot Spots music. –Matthew Kohut
