Got a Guitar Anyone? - Jean Welles Worship Guitar Class Vol. 1
Mood:
happy
Topic: Homeschool Product Review
One of the great things about being on the TOS Homeschool Crew is that everything is prayed over. Since The Old Schoolhouse is a Christian company, the TOS Crew leaders pray over the vendors, the reviewers, the children using the products, the people that read the reviews, they pray for it all. They even pray that we who are doing the reviews will get just the products that God knows that we need. Sometimes we get products that stretch us. Sometimes we recieve an item that we would have never picked on our own, but God knew that we needed. Sometimes a package will come with a product that we have always wanted, but we would never buy since we are on a limited budget. This is one of those products.
John Allen has always wanted to learn how to play the guitar but we knew that at this time we couldn't afford the lessons or, for that matter, even a guitar. When I heard that we were on the list to receive Jean Welles Worship Guitar Class Vol. 1, both John Allen and I were ecstatic! Now the problem was to find a guitar. Sarah and I debated about buying, renting, or borrowing a guitar, but didn't know which way to go. After prayer and a little asking around, we found a good friend who had a guitar that we could borrow. Now all we were waiting for was the DVD to arrive. When it came, we were not disappointed.
We love, love, love this product. These lessons are geared toward older children and adults, and by the time you get done with this seven lesson course, you will have learned around nine different chords, seven different songs, and six different strumming techniques. The really neat thing about it is that it is all Christian. Jean Welles begins the video with her testimony of how she began playing the guitar, and in particular Christian music. She goes on by encouraging all students to pray before each lesson and practice, and to play as if playing for the Lord.
Another really great thing about these lessons is that you are playing a song on the very first day. She begins by teaching you the parts of the guitar and how to hold the guitar. She then progresses to how to tune your guitar. Finally, she begins teaching you chords and strumming techniques. Since Jean Welles has a degree in music and has extensive classical guitar and professional guitar experience, she is very qualified to teach. You might think that this course would be very heavy and perhaps difficult, but Ms. Welles explains everything clearly and she has such a demeanor about her that learning is not difficult at all. The close up shots of her hands and how to position them for each chord and strumming technique were also very helpful. John Allen and I were both playing a song the first time that we looked at a lesson. One great thing about a DVD (and Ms. Welles even encourages this) is that you can stop and rewind when you want to listen to something over again, or just stop to practice a while before going back. But, don't just take my word for it, here is a short clip telling about this great series. Quick note before you watch, since this video was made, Vol. 4 has been added, and they no longer carry the VHS format. The quality on the real video will also be much better. This is just a streamed YouTube video. All else is the same.
The DVD comes with an accompanying book that has everything that the teacher is teaching down in black and white for those who may be more visual learners. It even has diagrams of the things that she is talking about, and the songs with the chord charts above them.
The Worship Guitar Class Vol. 1 is the first volume in a four volume series. Volume 1 takes you from being a beginner to an intermediate proficiency level, Vol. 2 is for intermediate and advanced players, and Vol. 3 has lessons that cover intermediate, advanced and expert songs. In Vol. 4, you will be learning chord families, how to find a chord in various places on the fretboard, and even how to make instrumental arrangements. By the end of all four volumes, you will have learned over 60 chords, 30 strumming and fingerpicking patterns, and 28 praise and worship songs! Although the books are only in English, each DVD has a choice of hearing the lessons in either English or Spanish. The website offers various kits and packages with the prices as follows:
- DVD 1 + 1 Book - $29.95
- DVD 2 + 1 Book - $29.95
- DVD 3 + 1 Book - $29.95
- DVD 4 + 1 Book - $29.95
- All 4 DVD's plus bonus DVD's $99.80
- All 4 DVD's plus bonus DVD's and Books $119.80
- Books alone are $5.95 a piece per volume, or you can order 10 for $59.50 and get two free for a total of 12 books. This is handy if you want to teach a class with many students. One DVD is needed to teach the class, then the students can each have a book to take home and practice with.
- Various package deals listed on her website include guitars, guitar stands, tuners, all DVD's and books, + more and range in price from $197.58 - $299.00 depending on the size and quality of the guitar.
There are many, many other music lessons that you can purchase on her website including piano, drum, and voice. To go to the website, just click
here or on any one of the hi-lighted links above. To read what the other TOS Crew members have to say about this product, click
here. Ms. Welles also has a series of guitar lessons for young children that are going to be reviewed soon by some of the other crew members, so keep checking back often for those reviews. This is another one of those products that can be used by homeschoolers and non-homeschoolers alike, so I won't say "happy homeschooling", but, remember what I always tell you? "We may not all be home schoolers, but we are all home educators". So, this time I'll say "Happy Home Educating".
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