I know there are a lot of musicians here, most of them far more accomplished than my clumsy C,F and G strumming. Oh, and D as well. And A minor. I wonder if any of them have previously invested in any of Rick Beato’s training materials, or have any insight into its suitability for an old fart who wishes he knew more than that he just has a good pair of ears and pretty good pitch.
I ask because Rick is currently, at the time of writing, offering a humungous bundle of his interactive material for $99, which on the face of it is a huge discount.
Any observations are welcome: I’m tempted, really I’m tempted, but even heavily discounted, it’s still a chunk of moolah that I could otherwise spaff on a Dylan boxed set…
…so what’s the verdict?
I’ve read that it’s quite heavily theoretical, especially The Beato Book which is jazz theory. The courses do look interesting though and I’ve been tempted.
I did an excellent jazz guitar course on F***book which has now moved to its own site and there’s a free course as a taster – he’s a great teacher and makes concepts easy to get on top of, building from more rock ideas into jazz. Worth a look.
https://www.mwgcourses.com/
There’s a lot of good will towards Rick Beato, but the reviews for the Beato Book seem to echo that it’s not aimed at the beginner & as Twang says heavily theoretical – one Reddit review said
“Not useful if you can’t read or don’t know anything about music theory. It’s more of an encyclopedia if anything, but as a learning tool, it’s basically useless.”
A lot of the information can now be sourced from a quick google search & a large chunk is given over to chord diagrams – Someone described it as being like a teacher’s manual.
I don’t know how user friendly the courses are, but in his YouTube videos he often says “there’s more in my book” which would still leave me needing things explained
These are good and have a number of courses at various levels from beginner up, plus lessons on particular songs
https://www.justinguitar.com/
https://www.anyonecanplayguitar.co.uk/
I have the Beato book, bought to support the man, and can confirm that it is aimed at an advanced jazz/fusion audience. Even as someone who has a basic grasp of the theory, I found the presentation impenetrable.
I think his passion for music is admirable, and I wish I had his ability to listen to a tune and, as it is still playing, work out all the chords and play along with it, but I know that the gulf between my knowledge and his is frighteningly large. Once he starts talking about the Aolian and the extended diminished whathaveyou, I know that he is not the tutor for me.
Voice of Rick…”you need my ear training course…”
Thanks all, you have collectively confirmed my suspicions and saved me $99.
At least temporarily.
Like the good Captain above, I too have gazed, palm shading forehead, across the wide straits that separate my own level of understanding and the fluent facility of the chromatic shores of Rickland.
I’m investigating the links you have provided, and feel confident that, though I might be able to form a G 6th sus 2 whilst struggling through a hesitant Rain Song intro, I don’t actually need to know the theoretical logic that explains its unique tonal voicing. Phew.
I regularly use Justin on the odd chord fingering. Recently it was altered chords, a superbly vague term which old Justin clarified.
It’s a shame that the enthusiasm shown by Rick Beato in his videos, doesn’t appear to translate to his teaching. It keeps the theory side of music as exclusive rather than inclusive – Aeolian Cadences “They sound like exotic birds.” (John Lennon)
Youtube offered me a video from Ricky Comiskey, a Yorkshire based tutor, who may be worth seeking out. He appears to explain things clearly, has a weekly online class & a Facebook group, and his book contains the pdf’s of his lessons. His website is:
https://www.rickysguitar.com/
The good thing now is that there is so much online, either free or with tasters, so you can find someone that will be a good fit & keep you playing.
Whilst k have absolutely impeccable taste when it comes to listening to music, my ability on the creation on music extends to at most the pressing of the Play button on my CD player.
Based on all the comments above, which of these YouTube / Rick Bento / etc courses would turn me into a ‘“guitar god” with all its associated riches and rewards ?
I think it was TrypF who had me check out his friend Adrian’s channel, which I liked a lot. Adrian taught me to play the fiddly bits on Bowie’s Sound & Vision, which makes me look much better than I am.
https://www.youtube.com/@acpg/videos
(Also Twang ever so kindly made me a video lesson, that I’m still practising.)
How’s it going Gal?
Gal??? Not as bad as “Gaz”, but still resides well and truly in the ‘unacceptable nomenclatures’ file. How would you like it if I called you Twal? Eh? Eh? Exactly.
To be honest, I’m finding it a tad above my level and demanding on my digits, but it’s something I try and practise whenever I pick up the guitar and I shall persevere with until perfected.
Do a bar or two at a time, slooowly. It’ll come.
I worked with a Gary and sap his mates called him Gal. I assumed it’s normal. 😁
Edit: Wikipedia agrees so I’m officially right.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_(given_name)
That’s an excellent page and I bow to its authority. And it features a pic of Gary Cooper! When I first came to Italy no one understood my name and I had to constantly say “like Gary Cooper” every time so they’d get it. Now, of course, modern youth have never heard of Gary Cooper (or any other Gary) so I’m back to square one.
I remember an Italian woman once telling me it was “a beautiful name”. I think the realisation that Italians could be so easily duped is what convinced me to stay.
The question is what do you want to be able to do? Folky picking behind a vocal? Lead guitar widdleage?
I want to be the next Jimi Hendrix (apart from the dead bit obviously).
I would really love to be as good as Peter Green in his prime, but maybe at 56 I’ve left it a bit late……
@twang – after trawling the internet, I have decided that I want to be able to play like this…..
It has the black squiggly things on lines at the bottom of the video, so I’m guessing it should be pretty easy to pick up……
Rick is a huge fan. I think that clip just after 1 minute is amazing – I actually have that set of backing tracks and they are all amazing.
Does this Beato chap do anything for Root Note Plodders? I suspect not…
This is good.
Without watching, are two of them wearing a plaid shirt and scowling?
Thank you but I’m afraid most of that is still far far too technical for me!
Freddy Steady let me direct you to the YouTube channel ‘Bass Buzz’
A thoroughly engaging young American lad has an array of bass lessons and easy play alongs. He’s tall and slim with long fingers. I’m the opposite but even I can copy him.
Erm. Have you not heard of my legendary Root Note plodderness?
That was.
It depends on what you want to do. If as you say, you’d like to learn more theory, then have at it with Justin Sandercoe.
If, like me, what you really want is to make actual tuneful music with or without a theoretical understanding then I’d start off playing along to jam tracks. There are thousands floating about on YouTube. If you have a scale or two under your fingers then improvising to a groove is, for me anyway, is a remarkable way to improve. Phrasing and melody ideas have improved no end.
Also, for me, breaking the habit of unaccompanied noodling has been a revelation. Playing songs end to end and in time was something that has eluded me for decades I recently found this thoroughly good egg. A Scottish lad who has been happily playing in metal and indie bands up in Edinburgh for the past 40 years. He covers obscure NWOBHM and punk stuff in simple and crystal clear style. No fancy widdles just straight ahead rhythm guitar that’s so easy and fulfilling to learn and follow.
If anyone’s interested in learning blues guitar check out my mate Darren in Wellington NZ.
https://www.darrenwatson.com/guitar-lessons
Lots to consider, thanks all.
In case you don’t have enough to consider? I joined this site about 5 years ago. He does a lesson every week. Half of it is free, and you need to subscribe to get the 2nd part. If I remember correctly, it costs about 75 dollars a year. Approximately £1 a week.
He doesn’t teach songs. He teaches how to play guitar.
He teaches the CAGED system and harmonised 3rds and 6ths and speaks in plain language.
He teaches major and minor scales and improvising(I don’t bother much about this because I like to sing and play) so it’s good if you want to play lead.
Sometimes he talks about modes and other theory stuff but I just skip that.
There are 10 years of lessons there, and if you subscribe, you can access them all.
My problem is that he puts out a new lesson every week, and I couldn’t keep up if he put out a new lesson every couple of months, but that’s my problem, certainty not his!
https://www.activemelody.com/
A bit of theory is good though, I think. Knowing major and minor scales and how you build chords from them is very simple to grasp and lets you work the chords out for songs quickly. Same for bass playing, knowing which notes in the scale are good to use with a particular chord is simple stuff but makes a big difference to how the music sounds.
@twang , I’m sure you’re right especially in relation to bass playing.
I have never really learned that (yet.) Consequently I think, I’m pretty good at working out bass lines, just not very good at writing or inventing my own.