New songs and remove lo-fi lessons

Hi team.

Please, let's have more new lessons and a clean out of some of the older poor quality video lessons. Some of the surf lessons are embarrassing. I'd like to see an emphasis on new songs with a section on the guitarists technique as part of the lesson. More so, lessons where the instructor gets straight to the point with full speed and mandatory slow speed versions.

More acoustic songs in the style of Muriel Anderson, James Taylor, , some modern day artists and more country, rockabilly and 60's Brit hits. How about some tutorials on specific Beatles songs. George Harrison is a tough guitarist to work out. While we're at it, please include some Keith (Keef..) Richards lessons. His open G riffs are essential fodder for the learning guitarist.

Cheers, Jackson. :cool:

Hey go take a look at Anders Mouridsen videos. He made a series of artist study videos about Keith Richards ;)

Yes, Anders makes an excellent intro into Keith. I really like his video's and his teaching technique. I'd like to see more songs, the riffs and the solo's.

Originally Posted by: jacksonmoon How about some tutorials on specific Beatles songs. George Harrison is a tough guitarist to work out.

I'd actually vote for not doing the Beatles... they have been covered to death, resurrected, cloned, and then covered to death 1000x over again. If you're really into the Beatles there are warehouses full of books, tapes, videos etc that you could dig into out there, not to mention YouTube.

I thought Christopher's "70's Arena Rock" tutorial was awesome... a practical example of how to use riff's and inversions but also emphasizing the idea of experimentation.

Originally Posted by: Slipin LizardI'd actually vote for not doing the Beatles... they have been covered to death, resurrected, cloned, and then covered to death 1000x over again. If you're really into the Beatles there are warehouses full of books, tapes, videos etc that you could dig into out there, not to mention YouTube.

I would agree with this. Second most over rated band in the world next to the Stones. Yeah, I said it!

Oh come on, you folks are far too restrained. ;)

How you can call two of the bands responsible for how rock came to be developed as it did. The Beatles (and I agree covered by way too many sources) and the Stones were both major influences on many artists today. I can understand you not liking them, but, at the same time, I would think that since you are working at being a musician, you'd have more appreciation for what they've accomplished and how much they've influenced the music world. Overrated? Never. Overdone? Yes.
That would be like saying Randy Rhodes was overrated. Angus Young was overrated. Hell even Pink Floyd was overrated. But, each has contributed TONS to the music world.
As a musician, you should never see anyone as ever being overrated. Especially if they've made it big and have gone Platinum time and time again. That takes talent. A talent that I myself wish I had just one 100th of. Hell even Ringo Starr contributed to the rock world, and I honestly didn't care for any of his songs...

Just an overrated opinion.

please add more songs for rookies helps keep the motivation to learn for sure, and brother ODE to Joy , Happy Birthday, and koombah freekin ohh Wow motivates me to go sleep..Still y'all are awesome.
In additon on you tube Marty Schwartz channel has alot of video lessons for good songs like Back in Black, Bostons More than a Feelin. Worth a look.

The point I wanted to make was to have [U]more songs[/U]. I 'm new to Guitar Tricks but looking around the site I get the feeling the site was destined for big things but the administrators have let it sit almost idle for a while.

And, some tutorials are pretty poor. They should be removed and replaced with better quality lessons. No offence meant to anyone but am I right?

Other than this gripe, there's lots of good stuff here and bit by bit I'm ploughing my way through.

Finally, you can never have too much of the Beatles - Yeh yeh ! :)

Cheers, Jackson.

Originally Posted by: jacksonmoonThe point I wanted to make was to have [U]more songs[/U].

Hi Jackson! Adding new songs is one of our top priorities. The thing is that it is illegal to just take any song and tell you how to play it, and give you the notation. That is against copyright laws. Here at Guitar Tricks we contact each publishing company in order to get permission from the artists to use their songs.

Also, as you can imagine, it takes quite a bit of work to carefully transcribe a song (so that it's correct, unlike most of YouTube), break it down, and then make a professional video tutorial on it.

New material is added every week - songs and tutorials on other subjects. It is definitely not set on idle :). I think as you look around more and more you will find that there is way more material than you can go through and learn in years. I'm positive you will learn a lot from us!

/Ben

Originally Posted by: hrandersoniiiHow you can call two of the bands responsible for how rock came to be developed as it did.

Well, that's the universal view. To me, it was a matter of timing for the Beatles. Right place at the right time. It is not that I think thier music is not good (or great in some cases), I just think back then they were mysterious foreigners bringing back a remix of what (some say) they took from the South in the first place, and won over a comparitively unworldly populace. It was just good timing and now it's uncool to not like them, and everyone is on the bandwagon. If they were the same band but across the street, it would have been different. If they came today it would be different.

That is my opinion. Not "bad", just over-rated. One more "Beatle Brunch" and I'm throwing out all my radios! :D

Originally Posted by: Ben Lindholm

Also, as you can imagine, it takes quite a bit of work to carefully transcribe a song (so that it's correct, unlike most of YouTube), break it down, and then make a professional video tutorial on it.

I fully agree Ben. The company I am involved with produces music backing tracks. Licensing for the songs and accuracy when creating the tracks takes time and effort.

Guitar Tricks has been very good for me. In my first week as a member I have learned so much so there's a lot to look forward to.

Cheers, Jackson.

Great to hear! Hope you'll stick around for a while!

Can the site administrator make lessons starts automatically when the lesson link is clicked. As it is, we select the lesson then click the play button. I know it's only a minor tweak but it's just a small bit of coding that will keep the lessons flowing a little smoother.

Cheers, Jack. :)

Originally Posted by: RazboWell, that's the universal view. To me, it was a matter of timing for the Beatles. Right place at the right time. It is not that I think thier music is not good (or great in some cases), I just think back then they were mysterious foreigners bringing back a remix of what (some say) they took from the South in the first place, and won over a comparitively unworldly populace. It was just good timing and now it's uncool to not like them, and everyone is on the bandwagon. If they were the same band but across the street, it would have been different. If they came today it would be different.

That is my opinion. Not "bad", just over-rated. One more "Beatle Brunch" and I'm throwing out all my radios! :D

REALLY... sixty years later...stronger than ever... OVER RATED? I tried to not respond but couldn't help myself. To each his own I guess.

P.S. I do agree with you however about no Beatle song lessons. To easy to find.

I don't know why there's so much critique on Beatles songs. Guy's like me and you might know how to play them but what about new guitarists or returning players who want to pick up (excuse the pun) again? If Guitar Tricks was a free service then it's fair to say get onto youtube, but being a paid service, those who are not familiar with Beatle tracks might want to learn a few tricks for their bucks.

Jack M. :)

Originally Posted by: jacksonmoonIf Guitar Tricks was a free service then it's fair to say get onto youtube, but being a paid service, those who are not familiar with Beatle tracks might want to learn a few tricks for their bucks.

Jack M. :)

Hi Jack... first off, you're right in that as a paying customer you're certainly entitled to ask for what you would like to see on the site... but you're also just touching upon making Razbo's point for him. There are plenty of "tricks" (they don't call it Guitartricks for nothin!) to be learned without having to learn Beatles tunes. This trend to relate everything rock/pop back to the Beatles as if the guitar wasn't even invented or that we were all listing to Baroque music until "the four lads" came along is ridiculous. Razbo absolutely nailed it... the Beatles really didn't "invent" rock-pop, they just happened to be its most celebrated ambassadors, as there were plenty of "rock" and blues artists prior to the Beatles, many of which influenced the Beatles themselves. The debate can and does rage on (a friend of mine maintained that every musician in the world was/is influenced by the Beatles, whether they have heard the Beatles music or not), but for my money bands like U2 or The Police are more intriguing in that they rose to such super stardom at a time when pop/rock music was already widely established and hugely diverse.

On a more practical note, as Ben said in his post, it costs time and money to add new songs to GuitarTricks, so I am sure they have to choose carefully to make sure the new songs are going to draw people site, and keep full access members interested. I can only imagine the cost of legitimately posting Beatles tunes, and honestly despite your enthusiasm I don't think it would be a good return on investment for them (look at Guitar Hero... I think the Beatles launch was one of their last before the game folded?).

Remember with YouTube that lots of guys post stuff without any permissions at all, and sometimes it can be quite good. For instance, while there are a boatload of crap videos on how to play like The Edge, there are a fair number of good ones where they get it EXACTLY right... right down to the delay times and everything.

I wasn't trying to be trite in my response, but rather just point out that the Beatles have been very well covered elsewhere, so if that's your specific area of interest, then there are other resources you might want to look at in conjunction with GuitarTricks. In the meantime, you'll find lots of great lessons on this site. And after all, if the Beatles really have been that much of an influence and my friend is right, then really aren't we all learning "Beatles" music anyways? :)

Yes, I agree. I imaging a lot of work clearing copyright, organise the lessons and then to create the video/production for each and every song.

Keep up the good work. I've only been a member for 2 weeks and I've learned heaps of new tricks, solo's and entire songs.

Cheers, Jackson. :)