Ok, was cautious about ordering... but THIS REALLY IS THE MISSING GAP IN MY TOTAL PLAYING! I went from either slowly puttting solos together that sounded ok, or improvisation that was nothing more than doodeling at high speed.
Now I solo with ease, knowing EXACTLY what tones I'm hitting, even at HIGH SPEEDS. Though I still have alot of work ahead getting this total package up to speed in all keys, but I can solo in any key now, and be affective.
When I first read the book, I was not impressed at all. In fact this is nothin new, that you can't find in other books... but its presented in a way that lets you know, "just what is joe satriani thinking when he is playing"? I know... and
planetalk done it. Now, I'm no big fan of comic books, and planetalk is given in this format. I thought... well lets stick in the DVD and see how this works in real life.
The DVD is AMAZING. PERIOD. The book gives you the background, the DVD shows you just how easy it is to apply!
OK ENOUGH WITH THE GLORIFYING... IS THERE ANY BAD?
Well yes and no... I don't like the book very much, but it is a necessary read before watching the DVD. DO NOT WATCH THE DVD BEFORE READING THE BOOK, OR IT WON'T MAKE ANY SENSE. The book is very informative... especially if you don't already know the information in it, and it really has alot, but the comic book format isn't for me. So no, there is no bad to this method, but yes I didn't like the comic book (I never read them as a kid either).
WHAT WILL THIS DO FOR YOUR PLAYING???
It will allow you to solo over the fretboard, knowing where you are at all times (given atleast a little practice) and what tones you are hitting at any moment, allowing you to on the spot create a minor mood, dominant blues mood, modal moodes etc etc... again with some practice. This method EASILY allows you to get that major/minor sound going just like Albert Lee or more exotic sounding moods like satriani, vai, petrucci, BUT THIS WILL NOT HELP YOUR TECHNIQUE AT ALL, so if you can't already play fast, this isn't going to help with that, but its not the purpose of the material. ITS SOLE PURPOSE IS TO TEACH YOU HOW TO SOLO OVER THE FRETBOARD AND MAKE ACTUAL MUSIC AND NOT PATTERNS TO DOODLE OVER.
IS IT FOR EVERYBODY?
NO... not for beginners... atleast at first, BUT GET IT ANYWAY BECAUSE YOU'LL SOON NEED IT. In my HUMBLE AND HONEST OPINION you need these skills before attempting to tackle this material.
1) Know the notes on the entire fretboard, or atleast up to the 12th fret.
2) I think it important to understand chords and how the are constructed before using this method, THOUGH the book teaches this material also! atleast the basic chords.. major, minor, dominant and all the flavors of these... eg. major 7th, major 9th, minor9 etc..
If you want to play super fast... then you'll need to know three finger per string patterns and relate them to the material on the book/dvd. I have no problem now playing super fast and knowing where I'm at and what I'm playing.
It took me all of 2 days to really internalize this information, and relate it to everything I already knew, which took my playing to a new level, in only two days! This however may not be the case for beginners, as they'll have to internalize this information much longer.
WHY I NEVER THOUGHT OF THIS BEFORE?
Actually I have... I was currently developing a system very much like planetalk, but mine was much more complicated! It would have probably taken me years to refine what I was doing down to this level of simplicity, but I may never have done it, who knows? I don't have to even worry about it now!
Now I know exactly what to practice... and now all the material I have learned in other places makes much more sense and I can now apply it readily. Though let me repeat... this will take you from doodleing to knowing what you are playing at all times over the whole fretboard. It will not make a shredder out of you... for that I'd recommend John Petruccis Rock Discipline dvd for finger exercises, or Vinnie Moore's dvds. I used both, and they got me to the shred zone, but you'll still need this material so you'll know what you are doing!
I've been as honest and as forth-coming about the material as I can be. I'm brutally honest, if it sucked, didn't work in real life, or didn't deliver on its promises (which it exceeds in), I'd tell you, straight up.
This should be required reading period.
Brian Hinson
