Last summer, I helped my sister pick out a guitar for my brother-in-law as a birthday gift. While visting them last month, Suzanne (my sister) told me of a tape Fred (my bro-in-law) had picked up to help boost his floundering attempt at kick starting his Rock Star career at the tender age of 46. It was very good, she said; the guy mixed humour with very easy to understand instruction for the novice and even tone deaf. Cool, thought I. Perhaps I should check it out sometime...

Well, as fate would have it, I woke up in advance of everyone else the next morning, and in leu of watching their broadcast selection of local television programming, I decicided to pop in "Guitar Playing for Dummies". Wow. Chapel's easy going manner without talking down to the guit-picking virgin is just what the doctor ordered. We walks you through the basic chords, simple strumming and picking patterns, all to some decent pop standards. You will come out of this believing...no...knowing that you can become at the very least, a pretty compitent player. If only this had been available back in 1976.

My 18 year-old just got the bug after his best friend started playing the bass. So I ordered him a copy...

The pace is very slow, but as a beginner, I liked it that way. It helped me to feel like I had the potential to keep up. This was very important to me so that I wouldn't give up.

Some may feel the pace of this DVD is too slow, but if you are interested in starting slowly... this may be just the right pace for you.

Eventually, I started collecting Guitar DVDs and I now have over 20, but this was the one that held my interest long enough to make it past the training wheel stages.

The back cover includes the phrase "Play in a variety of syles, including folk, blues, rock, and jazz." (Yes play these styles, but this DVD won't help you.) And it includes the phrase "Play open-position chords and jazz chords." This is the one that suckered me. Most musicians consider a "jazz chord" to be something more complex than a seventh chord - a ninth, eleventh, or thirteenth, perhaps with a flatted or augmented member. This presentation includes three or four major triads, three or four minor triads, and one or two seventh chords. This goes at least one step beyond the usual truth-stretching ubiquitous in advertising.

Jon Chappell does an adequate job of demonstrating a handful of basic chords and changing between them. He uses the same "Row, row, row your boat" kind of songs found in hundreds of other introductory music books. This is understandable, and the new musician should take pride and pleasure in playing simple things. But there is nothing fresh or thoughtful about the approach of this presentation. It is a rehash of the simplest things common in so many of these run-of-the-mill introductions.

If you have never picked up a guitar before, go ahead and get this DVD. It's cheap enough. Listen to Jon and take what he says to heart. I would like to think there is something better for the beginner, but this will work. If you already know a couple of chords, and can strum along with any song already, there is little for you here.