Phrase by Phrase Guitar Method: Classic Van Halen

I almost didn't order this based on some negative reviews by some expert advanced players I would guess, anyways I ordered and I'm glad I did. I'm only a intermediate level player and I find this DVD very helpful I wouldn't otherwise learn as fast as I have. I have books and cds from Troy Stetina and DVDs from Lick library which are also good, the only thing about lick library is it has no tabs on the dvd. I think the best I like about Mark Sternal DVDs is his instructions on different techniques and especially the 75% slowed down versions of the phrases which I have looped and play along until I nail it and then move on. I've been playing eruption for the past few days and still haven't made through the first part at 75% but getting real close. I have a copy of the Eruption transcription from Guitar world May 1995 and compare transcriptions with Mark Sternals, sure there are some differences but nothing to make a stink about, close enough to me. I'm just a hobbyist copying other peoples stuff. I also have the phrase by phrase Led Zeppelin and Metallica's DVDs but haven't started on them yet. Van Halen is more the style I prefer so I started with that. I hope this review was helpful

This is a good DVD because it breaks the song into small parts and reviews what youve learned.Tab is on the screen... Thats not that a big of a deal i guess. I use every other dvd out there and sometimes they dont have tab. That never bothered me, but what does bother me is when they teach big chunks. I want to remember what I learned and not spend a buch of time going back to remember parts. This small chunk approach is great. I can stop and come back the next day and pick up right where I left off. This guy doesnt have the budget that lick library and other companies have , but thats what is kind of cool about it. Its kind of like learning from the local "ripper". Guys that care about the effects...do you even play? I mean who cares about the tone. I want to play the song... I can play with any tone or effect I want. Anyway,great DVD. I wasn't expecting to like it that much. Now that I know what they are like, I'm going to get the Van Halen. Yeah son!!!!!!

Not a good lesson. This is a VERY loose rendition and not accurate at all.

Went from not being able to play much Van Halen to being able to play Eruption and other songs pretty well. This is a great DVD, and if you put in the time and practice, you can sound like EVH. You won't sound exactly like him because, hey, he's one of a kind, but you can sound pretty close. There's even a section on how to get the VH tone. Again, you won't get his exact tone, but you can get close.

These are 3 stars at best, not trying to ding the author too badly.I only listened through Eruption and parts of Panama so far. I'm not enticed right now to listend to anything else on the DVD. Here where the two star deduction comes from.First of all, Mark's tone is pretty sucky. This does not sound like EVH at all. This DVD shamelessly pitches Carl Martin pedals, and unfortunately you would not want to buy any of those after hearing the DVD. First of all, you can't tell that there is any Phaser, Flanger or Chorus at all on the recording. Then, the distortion is totally tame and brittle, far from anything close to "brown" that EVH produced with his setup.Second star deduction is from certain obvious inaccuracies in Mark's transcription (talking about Eruption now) and the lack of needed chops to pull off Eddie's stuff. I'm not saying I can do better, but c'mon, Mark, you are creating an instructional DVD, you better do some more woodshedding, man! If you (regular audience who is reading this) want to learn Eruption for example, buy the Guitar World March 2003 edition (no idea whether you can backorder), it has a fantastic transcription in which I only found a few "inaccuracies" (meaning my ears hear something slightly different than what's transcribed), and also buy the paramount Transcribe! slower-downer software by Seventh String (the best $25 I ever spent!). (I also have a Guitar One transcription of Eruption that is more of an approximation, don't recommend that one).If you search on YouTube (most sucky video sharing web page you could ever nightmare of, with absolutely horrible streaming video technology and the most disgusting reader comments possible), you will find one guy who got an astoundingly close sound out of his Axe-Fx, and at least one guy who teaches you Eruption who sounds really close to the original.Dude, that was a rant! Trying to kill off my back pain with beer ...

I bought this because it had good reviews. I love metallica and they are why i play guitar. i was worried that this video wasn't going to be that good because of the youtube video examples played at slow speed. This video is great buy it.I had the in the style of metallica vhs and it was fake this video is really how to play metallica songs and the songschosen are my favorites: seek and destroy, for whom the bell tolls, fade to black, master of puppets, saniterium, one,And harvester of sorrow.

This is a great way to learn Metallica. The lessons are great and well taught. I never tried to play Metallica before. I always thought it would be way too hard for me as an intermediate player. I was wrong. Though not "simple", it's really not as hard as I had once believed. Everything is there, even a breakdown of the solos. Wish they made more of these Phrase by Phrase DVD's. I can only find AC/DC, Metallica, and Van Halen. Make a Guns N' Roses...please!