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It must be the rebellious tradition of rock that makes us amateur guitarists an independent, self-taught lot. Sure, we could take lessons, learn the right way to hold the guitar, and (ugh) read music. But where's the fun in that?
What used to be fun, especially if you were 16, was to listen to Eric Clapton with a bunch of friends, each with guitar in hand. Together you deciphered the lattice of guitars in Clapton's Layla. O.K., so your transcription wasn't perfect, but it was good enough to impress friends -- especially girls -- at a party.
Today, such group effort is as dated as my warped copy of Clapton's original Derek and the Dominos record album, which includes Layla. Computers have revolutionized amateur music, and the Internet is filled with the scores of popular songs, free for the downloading.
Better yet, there's software that contains the original sheet music for everything from the Robert Cray blues classic Smoking Gun to the Grateful Dead's Uncle John's Band. Not only does this software have the score but it can also play the music for you bar by bar, illustrating where to put your fingers on the fretboard. While this may kill the joy of deciphering hard songs, you can't knock it as a way to learn rock, blues, or folk guitar.
AT YOUR OWN SPEED. On the PC side, there's a slew of guitar-instruction software. Sadly, that's not so for the Mac. There are just two publishers, eMedia and Gvox, but their programs are top-notch. While they differ in some ways, eMedia and Gvox use basically the same technique: an illustrated score that highlights each note as it's played. The music is depicted in both notes and tablature, which displays notes by finger and fret position.
You control how the music plays: Start slowly to hear each note and learn it, or play one section repeatedly. In other words, you can practice at your own speed, in your own way, on your own schedule (whether it's at five in the morning or at midnight). You can try learning several songs at once, or the chord pattern of one song and the solo part of another.
There are other goodies. Each program, for example, has a built-in tuner. You can also record yourself -- a good way to catch your mistakes. Both programs have animated fretboards that illustrate how to play the music.
SONG COLLECTIONS. Where eMedia and Gvox differ is in emphasis. The eMedia programs offer a more comprehensive background in basic guitar playing. Guitar Method 1 alone has 60 lessons, ranging from how to hold the guitar to varying styles in strumming and fingerpicking. Many of these lessons are illustrated through videos. Once you've mastered the basics, you can move on to eMedia's song collections, which include "The Blues" and "Guitar Songs." Guitar Method 1 and 2 retail for about $60 each, while the electronic songbooks are each half that price.
Gvox' "Guitar 101: the Fender Method" offers basic instruction, but it tends to emphasize lead guitar playing. Indeed, it has an excellent collection of practice solos that teach such fundamentals as how to use chromatic scales and pivot off one note. You can buy or download additional collections of famous lead solos and songs. Guitar 101 sells for around $50, with each collection in Gvox' "Riffs" series going for about half that.
Gvox also sells a device that attaches the guitar to the Mac and scores notes on the screen as you play. It works, but only if you find just the right position. And the price, at $350, is steep.
Although both companies' software is a bit pricey, the instruction is first-rate. Could I have become the next Clapton if there had been PCs when I was a teenager? Probably not. But at least I would have learned how to play his songs right. And I probably could have impressed more girls.
Haddad, Atlanta-based correspondent for Business Week, is a long-time Apple Computer buff. Follow his weekly Byte of the Apple column, only on BW Online Edited by Beth Belton
Copyright 2000, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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