Guitar 360 Method - A New TOS Review!!!

Many years ago my husband wanted to learn how to play guitar. We found a good price on a smaller guitar that would be used as he learned and then save up for a better guitar. That year for his birthday I bought him 2 guitars. But with church, work, and other responsibilities, he didn't have a lot of down time for many years. He'd play on them sporadically, but not enough to get by playing an entire song or anything like that.

Fastfoward life until now, a few kids later and more responsibilities, but as we were moving and we came across ALL of the instruments we realized he (and some of the children wanted to as well) get back into learning how to play the guitar. Then we received notification that there was a course to help learn how to play guitar online from Guitar 360 Method. It is an online course that he could start right now called Semester 1 Bundle, which includes the Absolute Beginner Course and Bonus Songs. I asked my husband if he'd like to take part of this review and get back to playing regularly and he said sure. My son and eldest daughter also showed interest in learning and since we have a plethora of guitars I figured we could give them a shot too!

So what do you get in the Semester 1 Bundle? Well you get a 3 week beginner course for anyone who has NEVER touched a guitar. This was where my son and daughter would start. They know what one is and that the strings have letter names, but that's about the extent of their knowledge. There are also two bonus song mini courses that you learn after your first 3 weeks. Impressive, right?!  Then the Semester 1 course is 13 weeks long and cover a multitude of topics from chord vocabulary and chord shapes; strumming with confidence; understanding scales and the difference between major and minor scales; as well as learning how chords fit together in a key; barre technicque; and many other functional lessons to help you become a well-rounded guitar player.  This is just a sampling of what the course offers and how indepth it is really.

A sample of the breakdown of what is taught in a week.

The regular price for this course is $149, but Krisz is offering homeschool families a 20% discount which makes this course just $119.20! (That's less than $10 a week BEFORE the discount) I love a good deal and this is certainly one of them. Just use the coupon code HOMESCHOOL20 when you go to checkout.

But why pay for an online course to learn how to play guitar when you can get lessons in real life? Well for one the cost is a fraction of the price. Secondly, who doesn't want to be taught in a manner that intuitively makes sense with the instrument you are using? Watch this little intro video that shows you a little bit more of why this course is different.

Confidence, Freedom and Creativity on the guitar.

So my husband decided he would beging at the Absolute Beginner part of the course with my son who was most interested in learning with his dad.  At first they watched the videos and then they watched a second time while playing with their teacher. I remember hearing my husband say that his fingers were sore after doing the fingering exercises Mr. Simonfalvi showed in the very first video lesson. Later on my daughter also watched and she has been slowly working on practicing her fingering as well.

The 4 finger warm-up in this part of the course has been the one to slow my children down. They are working on having faster finger dexterity and being able to move down the neck as they practice. My daughter has moved on and started working on her first two chords and practicing how to strum properly and is already working on her first song! It has been slower then the initial 3 weeks that the course is stated to take, but we have been packing and moving from one location in our new city to another one and so that has taken up some of our time. Plus I think taking it slowly will be best for them to build a strong foundation for hand and finger placement.

This absolute beginner part of the course breaks things down in bite sized chuncks that would help anyone learn.

My son is still working on the 4 finger warm-up exercises as well. He is using a smaller guitar that fits him better, but his finger dexterity needs work. He also has deemed it a little harder than he anticipated so he has not been practicing daily like I would like him too. He has a tendency to give up easier than my daughter and husband.

clear videos and simple to understand instructions

Showing the fret.

Here are some thoughts of how my husband felt the program went:

"In the beginning he focuses a lot more on hand position and skills to help you with hand positioning. This was something I was weak in even though I've been playing guitar for a while. He uses a spiral curriculum, which is where you go back over things as you continue moving forward, always reviewing what has been learned. At first it is skill-based. But as you get to the second level of the spiral he starts teaching you music theory based on the skills from the first spiral while also introducing new skills. This process continues throughout all the spirals as you go from week to week in the course."

I knew my husband would appreciate the Semester 1 Bundle especially since it seemed to have a strong connection to music theory. Both of us have musical backgrounds and theory is rarely highlighted as the necessity it is. Guitar 360 Method does that and much more. I also have enjoyed watching my children learn to play the guitar alongside my husband. It's been a very fun experience to watch and enjoy.

Here are some other tidbits I can share about the course even though my 'students' of guitar haven't progressed far into the course (my husband really feels he needs much nimbler fingers before charging ahead.) The online teachings are done with professionally done videos that are clear and concise. Mr. Simonfalvi goes at just the right pace. The lessons are clearly laid out which makes navigation easy AND they can be viewed multiple times. So my son can watch the absolute beginner first week lesson multiple times even after my husband and daughter had already 'completed' that part of their lessons.

You will also have some ear training, printables including chord diagrams, and even some quizzes. The other great thing is that the video lessons are rather short, so they can be fit in to small chunks throughout the day. Our family is certainly enjoying using this program and I'll be updating in a few months when we "hopefully" get much further into the course. That way when we need someone to lead some worship songs for home church or at outreaches we'd have a few to choose from!

I love that all of them can each work at their own pace and not mess the others up. My husband has been playing music for years (he played saxophone in high school band and also as a part of The Million Dollar Band in his first year of college). We both were on the worship teams for our church. I have been singing and playing piano for years. We always knew that music would be an integral part of our family life and I'm so blessed to be a part of the Review Crew to have access to programs like Guitar 360 Method with their Semester 1 Bundle including the Aboslute Beginner Course and Bonus Songs!  Don't forget about the coupon I mentoned earlier - 20% off!! You can also find them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And as always go read some of the other Crew member reviews by clicking the link below!!