One of Nashville's leading session guitarists takes you through a dazzling array of the techniques and styles: chicken pickin' rhythm & lead, Jerry Reed style, unique bends, double stops, banjo-style licks, claw style,... more » drop D licks, and dozens more are all demonstrated and clearly explained by Brent. A feature-packed master class for any fan of country guitar!« less
Great vid, but get ready to use the slow down a lot!
David A. Kaplowitz | Havertown, PA USA | 12/29/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Brent is one of the best! There's no doubt about it. He's not that great of a teacher though, so he kinda' rips through some of these cool (but tough!) licks without much explanation. When an instructional video requires the slow down feature for just about every lick --and believe me, many are like that!-- I get to thinking "how does this beat just transcribing this stuff by ear?"
So, in short, if you're already a competent player who's a Brent fan, you have to have this and do what you can to learn all the licks. But if you're new to the country guitar genre or a relatively inexperienced player, you'd do better to get one of the vids by Johnny Hiland or Arlen Roth since those guys are really good teachers as well as great players."
You'll be amazed if not informed
A. Phillips | 05/01/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Brent Mason is an amazing guitar player and in this video, you get that. But he's not a very good teacher. He seems disorganized, he doesn't really explain much -- he's kind of a typical blue collar guy, about as charismatic as a shop teacher. I enjoyed watching this video, but I couldn't honestly say I learned a lot from it, which is a shame because I would like to understand how he does what he does, but frankly, I'm not even sure he knows.
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WOW...the man is FAST!!!
Nick Hilderbrand | Ft. Worth, TX | 11/09/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is my 2nd Hot Licks Video(James Burton was #1), and is my favorite out of the two. The quality is really decent considering that these were all created on VHS first, and the new menu's with the Pitch-Correct Slo-Motion feature is AWESOME and is definitely necessary with this guy! I would not suggest this if you are a beginner though! Not unless you just want to spend all you time learning Brent's licks and nothing else. And having everything actually written down (staff and tabs) really helps out alot! But, add the slow motion AND the written part, and you can't beat this!!! Just totally awesome!!!"
Short on instruction
John Ialuna | Melbourne, Australia | 07/15/2007
(2 out of 5 stars)
"No doubt this guy can play but DVD provides almost nothing in the way of 'instruction'. There is a distinct lack of 1/2 speed and slow passage runs. Almost all exercises are played at full break neck speed which very frustrating to the learner. The info on Brent's guitar and gear is interesting but this is not what an instructional DVD is all about.
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Mason is awesome, but way over my head
Terry A. Heggy | Littleton, CO USA | 01/21/2009
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This program will be fun to watch for anyone because of Mason's incredible talent and spectacular playing. I am an amateur guitarist. But I suspect that only very, very good musicians will get much out of it in terms of playing tips. Even with the slow-mo replays, I still can't really understand what he's doing or begin to emulate it. I'm glad I bought the disk, but I'm not any better at playing for having watched it."