DVD-Figuring Out the Fingerboard-A Flatpickers Guide To Improvising

Product Details

Steve Kaufman has developed an amazing system that clears up the mystery and teaches you the notes, scales and chord shapes youll need to play fluidly and confidently anywhere on the neck. Anyone can learn Steves system. Starting by picking out well-known fiddle tunes in their simplest form, Steve shows you how to find the notes and develop a melodic sense. He then teaches you how to find movable chord forms in different positions on the fingerboard. Finally, youll learn the famous "CAGED" system, enabling you to understand and play scales and melodies in all positions up the neck.

Throughout this easy-to-use course, Steve imparts a wealth of practical wisdom, advice and encouragement. He provides you with all the tools youll need to develop a depth of knowledge and understanding of your guitar that will show itself in sparkling and creative solos.

The tunes that Steve uses to teach soloing around the fingerboard include Soldier's Joy, June Apple, Cluck Old Hen, Arkansas Traveler, Cripple Creek and Old Joe Clark.

Product Reviews

(5 stars) - A true guide to improvising
I own couple of Steve's videos, among them this one. They're all great 'cause Steve is a patient teacher emphasizing all the important points. And for this one I'm truly grateful: it's a wonderful insight into a mind and technique of an improvising master flatpicker. I was always wondering how those guys actually do it, and this is a true revelation. Steve does not only telling you how it's being done but also how to get there. Of course, there is no magic wand, and Steve himself tells you there's no shortcut; it's a journey that takes a long time and never ends. A worthy piece of advice: do not get frustrated and always enjoy playing your guitar. I watched through this video and I think that the method is great (and I think I never heard better closing words of encouragement :)). So I'm back to the beginning, learning all those fiddle tunes. See you in a couple of years from now :).

(5 stars) - Remember Cluck Old Hen and Cripple Creek? Use Them!!
I am primarily a fiddler by trade...and I should be, but was not, that familiar with Steve Kaufman. This DVD blew me away!!! I have a repertoire of over 500 fiddle tunes, and he believes this was the "key" to learning to play all over the fingerboard. Well, here he shows the METHOD to such madness, and it makes sense!!! He says that at "intermediate-advanced" guitar camps and seminars he'll find such players who typically know less than 10 fiddle tunes. He explains why learning fiddle tunes, NOT scales, is the key to playing like Steve, Doc Watson, and other great melody players (Blake, Rice, C. White come to mind)...

This will be the best $29.95 you spend, it is worth months if not years of lessons. I now can see my guitar picking (flatpicking) really picking up steam. Steve is encouraging, not in an overly folksy or put-on way, and his OM-42 (Collings) matches the sound of my OM-1 (probably Adirondack) like sequential serial-numbered guitars--so it is just fun to play along with Steve.

Buy it!!! If you aspire to playing above the 7th fret, this DVD is a must see and hear!!!

(2 stars) - Should be called "For Beginners"
The description to this DVD should identify it as "For Beginners" I've been playing most of my life and I was looking for something more than this DVD offers.
If you are a beginner, this will teach you a bunch.

(1 stars) - Save your money
If you're looking for any actual help in figuring out the fingerboard, look elsewhere. Kaufman's first bit of instruction is to "go out and learn 50 fiddle tunes and then come back to this DVD." Uh huh.

(5 stars) - Flatpickers Guide
The best out there. Steve Kaufman puts onto DVD, his years of experience teaching guitar camps. No disappointments here.

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