Learn and Master Guitar Review – A Great Product for Beginner to Intermediate Guitar Players

Reviewed By I. Fraser – Editor GuitarLessonsReviewed.com

From the moment I opened the packaging on my copy of Learn and Master guitar I could tell it was a worth while purchase. It was a well presented product that I could tell wasn’t just thrown together in some ware house. Legacy learning systems, the company that created this course, took the time to do it right. I just hoped that what I found on the guitar lessons dvd and Jam CD’s was of the same quality.

The instructor, Steve Krenz (bio here), is a well known and established guitar teacher and professional studio musician. He’s played with some big names in Nashville and has also just recently completed his second course for Learn and Master, the first of several Spotlight Series courses on Blues guitar.

Learn and Master Guitar review Video

Video is about 10 minutes long. I cover all the course features, benefits and a walk through of the dvd video lessons and lesson book.

Course Over View

The Learn and Master guitar programs comes with

• 20 DVD’s
• 5 Jam-a-long Cd’s (for practicing)
• 100+ page lesson book
• Unlimited access to the online support website
• 60 Day Satisfaction Guarantee & Refund Policy
• Price: $149 for 20 DVD Expanded edition or $119 for 10 DVD basic edition

A few Highlights of the course:

• Winnder of the 2008 Players Choice award from Acoustic Guitar Magazine
• Winner of two Telly Awards for excellence in video production in Education
• Winner of an AEGIS award for Excellence in Video and Film Production

Video Lessons Top Quality

The first DVD I popped into my player didn’t disappoint. The video quality was top notch as was the audio. Steve has a soft spoken way of explaining new concepts, which I think is key for a beginner, this was apparent from the first session on Disc 1.

At times the video lessons would show close ups of Steve’ fretting hand, strumming hand or the guitar depending on what he was discussing. This helped show me what he was talking about and strengthen my understanding. Since one of the big benefits of using guitar lesson dvds over other methods is the visual aspect I feel it’s important that you can see exactly what he’s doing while explaining it.

When the time came (in about Session 3 or 4) to begin learning some basic music theory and the notes on the strings there were easy to read graphics shown on the video to explain exactly what was being taught. Again, this made it very easy to understand and the graphics actually matched what was in the lesson book for that session making it easy to understand when you go to practice from the lesson book.

Here is a quick video clip from one of the Learn and Master guitar lessons. It’s a good example of Steve’s teaching methods as well as the images and close-ups I mentioned above.

Practicing with the Lesson Book

The lesson book comes as a supplement to the videos but I have to admit that it’s pretty rich in lesson material all on it’s own. The thought is that you first watch the lesson on the dvd then refer to the lesson book to review what was taught in the video and get some more practice exercises to better understand the concepts taught on the dvd.

The book is divided up into one section per lesson on the dvd’s. There are lots of diagrams and practice exercises to help you understand each concept and there is even an estimated time line for how long it should take you to learn each new skill.

While I like learning from the videos the lesson book is an excellent supplement piece to strengthen your understanding and refer to when practicing so you don’t have to re-watch the dvd several times.

There’s a look at the lesson book in my Learn and Master guitar review video above. I give my opinion on the course, walk you through how the course is used, give a glimpse of the videos and a walk through of the lesson book. It’s about 10 minutes but worth the watch if you’re serious about buying a copy of this guitar lesson dvd.

Practicing with Backing Tracks

This is one of the most enjoyable parts of this entire course. As someone who has tried to learn using books as well as private lessons in the past trust me when I say practicing can be at times boring. The backing tracks that come on the Jam CD’s with Learn and Master guitar allow you to either follow along with a reference track in the left speaker or fade the song all the way to the right speaker so you’re playing on your own.

This is a nice change from the old repetition many beginners have gone through when learning guitar. It adds some excitement to your practice sessions and makes it easier to make the transition to play with other musicians.

Listen to some samples of the Jam Tracks Here

Get your Questions Answered Online

Something unique to Learn and Master guitar is their online support forum. The only real trouble I could see learning using a dvd course VS private lessons was not having someone readily available to ask questions to. Learn & Master has over come this barrier by setting up an online support forum where students and the instructor Steve Krenz can interact.

The forum is easy to access (you’re given access with your course). The forum is divided into the different sessions from the course so you can ask questions pertaining to the exact area that’s causing you difficulty. The great thing is that Steve himself frequents the forum and posts answers to those questions himself.

My Consensus on the Course

I feel that Learn and Master guitar is a great program for beginners. The expanded 20 dvd set has more then enough content to keep you going for over a year if you work it consistently. Of course that’s the nice thing with a self study course, there’s no rush or pressure to learn new things. You can watch a new lesson when you have time and practice when you want.

If you have taken some guitar lessons before then the first few videos won’t be much help. They cover the real basics so it would either be a refresher for you or you could just skip ahead to about lesson 3 or 4.

If you’re considering taking private guitar lessons Learn and Master guitar is about 1/3rd the cost. Private lessons cost about $15 a pop and you’d take let’s say 50 lessons a year (2 weeks off for vacation). That’s a total of $750 for a years worth of private guitar lessons. Compare that to the $149 price tag on Learn and Master’s Expanded course and there’s no argument.

Learn and Master also offers a 60 day money back guarantee on their course. If you purchase it and aren’t completely satisfied with the program you can request a full refund up to 60 days from the date of purchase. That’s pretty solid in my opinion. They’re standing behind their products quality and removing some of the risk to you (since $150 bucks isn’t exactly chump change).

I suggest if you’re going to learn guitar from somewhere it might as well be Learn and Master guitar. You’ll be in complete charge of how quickly or slowly you learn and you’ll be saving money compared to taking private guitar lessons.

Right now they have a promo running where you can order today and pay in 3 separate installments of just $49 a month. You’ll still get their 60 day satisfaction guarantee and your course will ship right away.

Order now with 3 Easy Payments of Just $49 a Month