My son is 15. He promised if I would buy him a guitar that he'd learn to play. I bought him the Hal Leonard Guitar Method and Guitar for Dummies. I sat down with him and together we really got headaches. I didn't find fault in the methods, but they were tedious. Next we tried the DVD "Your First Guitar Lesson" and it allowed him to experience the sensation of making music immediately. We liked it because we weren't being required to think about counting or note reading. Instead, he was changing the chords with the songs. I don't think he had the attention span for the more academic approach. I'm thanking Dan Huckabee for preventing another Guitar Dropout.

I am a vocalist and wanted to learn to accompany myself. I bought the DVD and found myself playing within an hour. I also thought it was funny (and helpful) to have the instructor tell me to turn off the vid and get practicing. The lessons built logically, and were fun to follow. The choice of material kept me interested and I have continued to play and practice. Thanks, Dan!

I too bought this DVD because of the other reviews saying it was slow and easy to follow. That is definitely not true. By 5 minutes into the DVD, Dan has taught you 3 chords and is already teaching you to play 2 songs. Instead of slowing down and breaking things down, he basically says "Turn off this DVD and go practice. When you're ready turn the DVD back on and continue." As a beginner, I still have too many questions and have almost given up trying to learn the guitar.

I bought this because others commented about how easily they could follow Dan. Not true! His lessons were way too fast and on top of that, he has an annoying personality. If you're a true beginner, this cd is NOT for you.

I was a little disappointed in this DVD. The DVD did have some interesting information in the beginning about what to look for in a good guitar and some good tuning tips. The rest of the DVD went like this, he showed you quickly, how to form 3 cords, then Dan Huckabee would play a song using those three cords, and right to another song using those three cords. Then he would quickly show you a new cord and play a few more songs (very quickly I might ad) which used these cords. And so it went. Song after song of Dan playing songs. Never bothered to tell you any strumming patterns or even that you do not hit certain strings when playing certain cords. He would play the songs at full speed so for beginners there was no hope of keeping up. Dan explained that he did not want to overwhelm a person showing them too much at one time and letting a person focus on cord learning. The DVD did come with a book so if you wanted to learn the folk songs Dan played you can refer to the book. The DVD basically did not cover much at all. One thing was very funny, in the whole DVD Dan never smiled, however at the end they showed clips of him trying to smile for the camera. You could hear the camera guy telling him to smile then Dan would crack up laughing. Kind of like the bloopers at the end. The DVD was lacking in a lot of areas but not a total waste of money. You do get a book that tells you how to play 23 popular folk songs, and some good tips in the beginning, but it was basically lacking in all other areas. Maybe it was disappointing because I had just watched and played along with Learning Guitar for Dummies with Jon Chappell, who does a lot more explaining and covers more basic ground in a easy to follow format. Learning Guitar for Dummies I would recommend. It was a great DVD for beginners.