Jimmy Bruno No Nonsense Jazz Guitar
Jimmy Bruno No Nonsense Jazz Guitar
Jimmy Bruno has played guitar with some of the all time greats, including Frank Sinatra, Barbara Streisand and Elvis Presley. He makes even the most daunting techniques accessible to anyone who wants to learn. Jimmy covers ii/V/I progressions, changing chord colors, training hands and ears to work together, natural picking techniques, adding bass lines to chords and much more. No nonsense-just great jazz guitar!
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars There is so much more than this DVD Jimmy can offer you
This DVD is a tremendous help. I found my guitar playing got better after watching it just half way though and going in the other room to play before it even finish.
Jimmy Bruno does not teach conventional music theory like what you would get from a university, college or music theory book. He has a much simpler approach to guitar than all the teaching things out there that I have found personally. In this DVD you will have exposure to the 5 shapes. Once you know these 5 shapes you will find yourself playing better because you will see guitar differently.
The audio on this DVD is great. The voice speech is not way lower than the guitar playing like a lot of teaching DVD’s are.
If you made it this far in the review I am going to tell you to save your money and not bother getting this DVD. Jimmy Bruno has opened an online private lesson website. [...] if you are not sure about signing up then get this DVD and set your mind at ease.
I have personally been playing in bands for over 7 years and my playing only broke through to the next level after taking a few lessons from this man, Jimmy Bruno.
5 Stars Practical, Not Too Much Theory Advice
I love this DVD for two reasons: 1)Jimmy gives you practical, down-to-earth instructions without using ‘academician’-type words; and 2)he shows you exactly what he means! In doing so, he really removes some of the mystery of jazz playing.
I would recommend this DVD if you already know the fretboard somewhat, and want to get started with basic jazz improving. It’s not really for beginners, unless you are extremely motivated to get up to speed with the scale/chord patterns.
To elaborate on what I mean by Jimmy being more down to earth, he points out that while knowing exactly what a ‘G7 Flat 5, Flat 9′ chord is and its notes can be somewhat important on an intellectual level, what’s most important is that you can HEAR those notes. Being able to label a scale as this or that is not as important as HEARING how it might be different from a major scale, for example.
In the beginning of the DVD, Jimmy emphasizes the fact that first, you need to know the basic chord patterns of the fretboard. There’s no way around that fact. But he helps you by overcome this hurdle by going through each scale/chord pattern simply and thoroughly, thereby laying it all out for you.
As the title of this DVD states (’No Nonsense’), Jimmy isn’t promising you that you’ll play the most awesome licks in 3 days. He’s realistic. You do have to practice. But armed with his tips and samples, you can’t help but improve if you practice his ideas for yourself.
5 Stars Outstanding
One word Outstanding! Jimmy makes this plain and simple no modes I repeat no modes, nothing but melody within the scale simple and practical shapes in all positions. Im buying his second dvd, and also joining his on line school. Finally a teacher that speaks my language “Easy” and not to undermind jazz in anyway. Jimmy makes it easy and fun to learn almost like a guitar coach at your side saying this is easy and yes you cant do this!!The video gives close up shots booklet with all the scale patterns and runs jimmy performs. A must have for any serious guitarist wanting to learn jazz at any level!!
5 Stars Just as the title implies
I’ve been playing a long time and I wish I’d had this years ago. Jimmy makes a very compelling case for his method and it works. Trusting your ear first and then explaining it with theory is a good thing. Exploring Jimmy’s ideas will help you inject life into your soloing and comping. It’s helped me increase my enjoyment of the instrument substantially.
There are several things that I like about his approach on this video.
1. His recommendations at the end on how to practice and what he’d have you do if you were a student are great. If you work them, you’ll get benefit. Of course, you need to consider your goals and how much time you can invest, but the ideas are sound.
2. His lessons on shaping chords and comping are great! Again, if you work the method, you’ll see connections on the fretboard and feel comfortable enough to toss away that book of chords that’s been gathering dust on your shelf and has kept you locked into the old way of doing things.
3. Following his method will help you learn the fretboard. That’s the biggest thing that it helped me do. I knew a lot of theory before, but he helped me unlock the thinking that had me feeling a bit wrapped up, constrained and my playing a bit stale and unimaginative.
4. Regardless of whether you get one DVD or both, even though much of what he plays is transcribed, don’t think that you need to learn all his licks or memorize the passages. Follow his advice and follow your ear. Learn the best bits from the passages and use it to up your technique.
With this and his follow on DVD, you’ll get some great ideas on how to develop your chops and become a serious player. Additionally, his Mel Bay book on his scales is good. It’s thin and to the point. Well documented and a nice companion to the DVDs.
5 Stars Worth it just for the work on scales
If scales is something you’ve escaped from practicing, then this DVD will do it for you. It’s not a beginners video but if you’ve been playing a couple of years and still don’t get how scales, harmony and improv goes together, maybe the answer is in this DVD. Jimmy teaches 6 scales that you can use for majors, minors and all the modes. Certainly smartened up my understanding of what to do (and I teach guitar!). It’s a great teaching resource and the booklet explains it all in TAB and notation. If you get Jimmy’s downloadable PDF ($9 from his site) you’ll have even more info to get these scales down pat.
Jimmy’s a very good communicator and this is one of those DVDs that really works well (as a teacher I’ve seen loads; there are plenty out there that are either bad or just a promo for the artist). This is neither – he really wants to get these ideas over to you and does it just like he was running a master class for you alone. A very good example of what a guitar tuition DVD should be.
