Ralph Paul - "Guitar Made Easy"

[p90jr]

you GOTTA see the infomercial...you. just. gotta.

It appeals to a talentless and uncoordinated person such as myself...

 

I started this thread because I did watch the infomercial. I'm going to offer you some advice. I've been playing for 50 years and have studied with 4 very fine teachers. Over the years, people have sometimes been kind enough to compliment my playing. I always responded "I had good teachers." Find a good teacher. Don't be afraid to ask for an introductory lesson or interview.

 

Talent has very little to do with it. I strongly believe that success on a stringed instrument is based upon acquiring two things: Motor Skills and Muscle Memory. There is only one way to develop these attributes - REPETITION !! The more you practice, the better a player you're going to be. PERIOD! END OF SENTENCE. It's not a matter of learning in "Minutes Not Months" as our learned colleague, Mr. Paul would have us believe. It is a genuine commitment in time and effort! The great Chet Atkins once said, "You have to practice. If there were another way to do it, I think I would have heard about it by now."

 

I'm going to send you a PM with a very good basic finger exercise that will build strength and improve coordination in your fingers.

 

The guitar is a real musical instrument. It's not a toy. It takes the same amount of effort as the sax or violin or trumpet. It's a long and often difficult process. But the rewards are absolutely worth it.

 

I had never seen this infomercial and read this thread... then a week ago when I was at my in-laws, playing guitar, they came across it while going through TV channels and left it on.

 

No, I don't think this guy would really teach much.

 

People have been asking me to teach their kids, I've only given lessons to people who'd been playing a while.

 

So, I've had to figure out to start with a beginner... and like you, Fred, I believe there's two areas that have to be developed simultaneously: physical and mental. If you play a sport you split the training/practice between drills and exercises that develop the body for the sport and then practicing plays and the choreography of the actual game and putting the reflexive moments honed by the drills into improvised use.

 

Playing a musical instrument is the same thing. There's the muscle memory and dexterity that goes into physically playing the instrument, and then there's the understanding of musical theory and how songs are constructed and the development of relative pitch and a musical ear, and then honing the ability to put it all together in improvisation.

 

If someone marketed a dvd that promised to teach someone to play golf or tennis or basketball proficiently in just one 30 minute lesson it would be laughed off the air and the pitchman would probably be hunted down and beaten.

 

I kind of take it as an insult that the general public finds it reasonable that no more effort is required to do what we do.

[Fred_C]

you GOTTA see the infomercial...you. just. gotta.

It appeals to a talentless and uncoordinated person such as myself...

 

I started this thread because I did watch the infomercial. I'm going to offer you some advice. I've been playing for 50 years and have studied with 4 very fine teachers. Over the years, people have sometimes been kind enough to compliment my playing. I always responded "I had good teachers." Find a good teacher. Don't be afraid to ask for an introductory lesson or interview.

 

Talent has very little to do with it. I strongly believe that success on a stringed instrument is based upon acquiring two things: Motor Skills and Muscle Memory. There is only one way to develop these attributes - REPETITION !! The more you practice, the better a player you're going to be. PERIOD! END OF SENTENCE. It's not a matter of learning in "Minutes Not Months" as our learned colleague, Mr. Paul would have us believe. It is a genuine commitment in time and effort! The great Chet Atkins once said, "You have to practice. If there were another way to do it, I think I would have heard about it by now."

 

I'm going to send you a PM with a very good basic finger exercise that will build strength and improve coordination in your fingers.

 

The guitar is a real musical instrument. It's not a toy. It takes the same amount of effort as the sax or violin or trumpet. It's a long and often difficult process. But the rewards are absolutely worth it.

 

I had never seen this infomercial and read this thread... then a week ago when I was at my in-laws, playing guitar, they came across it while going through TV channels and left it on.

 

No, I don't think this guy would really teach much.

 

People have been asking me to teach their kids, I've only given lessons to people who'd been playing a while.

 

So, I've had to figure out to start with a beginner... and like you, Fred, I believe there's two areas that have to be developed simultaneously: physical and mental. If you play a sport you split the training/practice between drills and exercises that develop the body for the sport and then practicing plays and the choreography of the actual game and putting the reflexive moments honed by the drills into improvised use.

 

Playing a musical instrument is the same thing. There's the muscle memory and dexterity that goes into physically playing the instrument, and then there's the understanding of musical theory and how songs are constructed and the development of relative pitch and a musical ear, and then honing the ability to put it all together in improvisation.

 

If someone marketed a dvd that promised to teach someone to play golf or tennis or basketball proficiently in just one 30 minute lesson it would be laughed off the air and the pitchman would probably be hunted down and beaten.

 

I kind of take it as an insult that the general public finds it reasonable that no more effort is required to do what we do.

 

+1. Well said.

[Old Novice]

I am an over 50 novice on the guitar but it had always been something I wanted to do so I purchased the video set. I figured it was a semi cheap way to determine desire and aptitude. The first two disks were useful and planted the desire. It is still unknown on aptitude. I clearly would not recommend this for acoustic players as 90percent of the video was with an electric guitar. I also would not recommend the purchase of additional DVDs. I made that mistake as well. I have an acoustic guitar so this was marginally useful to give me some exercises to build callouses and sound Ok doing it. . It also will give the boost to take lessons.

[Larryz]

Welcome aboard Old Novice! Thank you so much for posting your review! Positive or Negative, beginner or pro, it's great to hear from someone who actually has purchased the product. I know infomercial crap is mostly crap and the return policy is a lot of fun to deal with. For the price, do you feel that you got at least one useful lesson out of the whole package? Thanks...

[Old Novice]

The short answer is yes.

[Larryz]

Thanks for the quick answer Old Novice, I'm guessing the electric guitar players would get at least two useful lessons out of the program...If you got one good lesson out of it, you can deduct at least $20 bucks off of the cost...

[trushack]

One of the channels on Dish Network at my in-laws house had this thing on a loop. It was very entertaining (so bad it's good) to watch!

 

I get the sense that the whole Ralph Paul thing is geared mainly towards people who want to be able to play guitar as a parlor trick. Maybe someone has an old guitar lying around and they figure, "Eh, might as well learn a few chords or something." For people only interested in messing around on a guitar every once in a while, it's probably all they'll need.

 

Based on my own playing experience and the types of things they previewed on the infomercial, anyone with a serious interest will outgrow those videos pretty quickly and move on. Think about it: if you're seriously interested in playing and improving, putting in the time to do that is fun!

[Winston Psmith]

I get the sense that the whole Ralph Paul thing is geared mainly towards people who want to be able to play guitar as a parlor trick.

 

Good insight. Reminds me of the old print ad that said "They laughed when I sat down to play the piano!", the idea being that with a few simple tricks, you could become a decent fake.

 

BTW, greetings from inside the 495 Beltway!