This video will take a while to digest
H. DEHAVEN | Houston, TX USA | 09/25/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I have watched this one several times now and each time I take away new ideas and better understanding. It is NOT for the casual or undisciplined player though. You really have to work with this material and think it through.
Carl presents a slightly different take on composing a solo. While his "intervallic" approach has much merit; I think that the most valuable concept in the video is the simple concept of keeping notes on ideas you work on. We all have stumbled on a cool little lick that we could not quite fit into anything we were currently working on. Well, a year down the road you very well may be working on something where that lick would be perfect. If you did not write it down, do you think you will remember exactly what you did?
His approach is not truly unique but he does present a lot of good concepts, such as taking a "minor" idea and work out a "major" one and a domninant one for the same musical "idea." This gets you out of the pentatonic rut and thinking of scales in a completely new light.
I would have rated it five stars, but I think it is a little light on providing detail AND there is a bit too much "concert" content. It makes it feel like they were just trying to fill space on a DVD. Yes, it supports the instruction material, but the performance material is not explained in detail and therefore of only moderate value as a demonstration.
RHB"
Outstanding instruction DVD!
HCarlH | Jacksonville, FL | 08/19/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have been buying and watching guitar instructional videos since 1985. Along with Larry Carlton's videos, Carl Verheyen has the most important DVD in my collection for soloing ideas. If you're tired of playing the same pentatonic box licks, THIS is what you need to break out of your rut.
Carl will have you all over the neck with lines that stand out. Most videos you'll watch once and file away on the shelf as a loss of money. Not this one. I refer back to this disc constantly for ideas. Also includes a PDF file of all the lines and some live footage of his band. Highly recommended!"
Stratjack
R. wenzel | 03/06/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Another great guitarist with an instructional video. But Carl looks at things different. He says instead of practicing scales and modes you need to come up with melodic lines, write them down and practice these until you got them cold. He divides these ideas between major, minor and dominate. A booklet(pdf) is included with examples, maybe 75 or so.I didnt count. What he does is start on a note and then jumps around using different intervals, usually wide intervals. Essentially demonstrating a compilation of licks. But make no mistake, Carl knows his scales modes and arrps. so should you if youre making sense of it all. The dvd is well produced and Carl's presentation is very good. Not bad not great."