The Rosetta Stone of Guitar

[Nick]

It's a win-win. We get a few new members, maybe. You all get testimonials from actual players and paying customers. I would've mentioned it except it was already mentioned by one of the original posters.

I've got to say I'm loving this method more and more.

[Dan T.]

Well, with such good reviews from Nick & CFB, I went ahead & ordered a copy. For $30 bucks you can't go wrong.

Dan

[Laoch]

Another satisfied customer here

Nick's review did sound "too good to be true" but I've come to trust the folks at GN and the price sounded very reasonable - particularly with the discount. I haven't spent a lot of time with Rosetta Stone yet but I'm excited by it and I can see how it can open up the fretboard for me. As Nick said, I still have to put in some time/effort myself but that is true for any learning material. I also agree with the advice to print the booklet and then work through it with a guitar and watching the tutorials.
My one minor gripe is that the DVD doesn't play properly on a Mac (as opposed to a Windows PC). I can access everything from the DVD on the Mac but it's a bit more cumbersome going through my web browser to open each file (tutorial, video, etc). Maybe I'm missing something but the DVD works "better" on a PC (for lack of a lengthy but better description).

Nick thanks for the recommendation!

(Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with GN or RSoG but I'm a fan of both)

[Easto]

Sounds like something I might have to look into.

But I do find it funny though that so many new posters somehow decided to post responses on this particular topic..Coincidence?

I know what you mean. I too got a email telling me there was a review here. But to be honest I had never heard of this forum before. I hang out at several other guitar/music forums and wanted to come over and take a look once I heard of Guitarnoise.

You have a nice little forum here. Don't worry, I'll be back. Although I came to give my opinion on the RSoG I like what I see.

[jackss565]

Have just ordered a copy, will let you know what i think.

Jackc

[slejhamer]

I got it a few days ago and have only dabbled a little bit so far. I am primarily using it as a means to practice scales on my bass. For that purpose, it is very cool - the modal patterns in particular become very easy to spot, and no annoying "shift" to worry about. I can honestly say that I enjoy practicing scales with his spiral mapping and jumping techniques, whereas previously I hated practicing scales. When I was taking lessons my teacher went over different ways to play scales and I can see some similarities here, but RSoG makes things even simpler.

But I think there are some flaws, none of which I've fully defined yet, but I'll mull it over some more. Communication with other musicians is an obvious one - it seems like a pidgin. And thinking in terms of Mamas and Aboys is no substitute for a solid understanding of how scales are constructed; this seems to be a detour, and to some degree it perhaps oversimplifies things.

Also I don't see any discussion of melody and how to approach improv or soloing (someone please tell me if I'm wrong.) Admittedly I haven't watched all the videos yet, so maybe that stuff is covered there. The book itself is fairly thin and doesn't stand on its own, in my opinion, but then it probably wasn't supposed to.

So, sorta disappointed in some ways, but very pleased with it in others.

YMMV

[slejhamer]

Well, it's like Nick said - almost "everybody" knows how to get from point A to point B on a map, but one day you take an alternate route and find that it works better for you - maybe it's a short-cut and saves time, maybe it's more scenic.

For the specific scale practice method I use, RSoG seems to be a really good fit. Working through modal patterns, I could almost immediately "see" them in terms of the RSoG technique and I thought that was cool. No stopping to think, "minor scale, raised 6th" or whatever Dorian is. There are essentially three universal mini-patterns, and your fingers fall in place once you get 'em down (which is easy.) Little lights kept flashing.

So, in terms of learning scale patterns, I think this is a really good supplement to the traditional patterns and something "everybody" can use, probably even beginners. So it's a short-cut in a sense, but I'm lazy and I like short-cuts.

But for learning the notes and intervals of the scales, and linking it all together, the jury's still out ... I know there's more theory in his tutorials and videos so I won't comment further until I give it more time.

[Nick]

The problem is, and where I've now had some success teaching because of RSOG, that it's hard to grasp the entire picture without method to the madness. This is why CAGED is so popular, but where CAGED fails and RSoG succeeds IMHO, is that you see the picture and the underlying patterns and get an understanding of why. It's the a-ha I was talking about. CAGED just has people memorizing patterns. RSoG helps you get past the "can't see the forest for the trees" stage.

I'll agree with Sledge. That if you just stop thinking once you've digested the material on a superficial level you won't get anything more from it. However I believe that this method is a great launching point for discovering the underlying properties of "Why?" I think that if you took it to a teacher and asked them what they thought, whether they agree or disagree with the methodology and had them explain why, you would be light years ahead of where you are now. Just having that handhold to pull yourself up is invaluable.

[slejhamer]

Oh yeah, I've tried CAGED before. Blech.

RSoG is simpler and more powerful at the same time (at least based on my limited use so far.) Even if you don't get into the "why" at all.

[pab]

i've thought about getting this but i tried contacting him through his site and keep getting an error message (the error message comes after using the contact link on his site and then clicking "contact us" after giving the email address and message). i'm trying to find out how he ships it and if he will ship via USPS to Canada, and what is the charge for shipping to Canada using USPS. If you guys have a link to a location on his site that details with these types of details, i'd appreciate it if you would let me know. however, i doubt i will order from him until that error gets fixed - being able to contact someone directly about a purchase is important to me, especially when a good part of this order is on blind faith. thanks!

paul

[Nick]

I'll let him know

[pab]

thanks nick!

[garlandpool]

Hey everybody! Fred Pool here, author of the Rosetta Stone Of Guitar. I've been meaning to get in on the discussion over here for quite a while, but it's been pretty busy for me.

Anyway, I've been paying attention. I'd like to answer "pab" first:

After reading your post I tested the CONTACT form on my site and it worked fine for me. I'd like to know why it didn't work for you. I don't like thinking that people can't contact me. I just have no idea why it wouldn't work for you. If I can figure out why I'll be glad to fix it. Anyway, as for your question about shipping internationally, I DO ship to Canada and any other country in the world. I just eat the cost, whatever difference that may be. I do this because it just makes it easier. I know there's a way to work in some kind of calculation for it, and I may do that someday, but for now, I'll just keep it the way it is.

Now, to respond to "laoch":

I'm trying to figure out what the problem is for Mac users. Until you wrote, I didn't know there was one. Could you try something for me (I don't have a Mac handy to test it)? Could you go into the root directory of the DVD and open the file named "frame.exe"? I'm hoping that will run and give you the same kind of access/presentation that everyone else is getting. Let me know what happens.

I'll be back later to talk more about some of the comments and questions people have raised. Thank you all for the feedback!

[greybeard]

I have become the latest victim of this insidious cult........

[pab]

Hello Fred. The error I get is:

"TD Form Mailer 1.0 can't be run from this location, sorry."

This is after I put in my email address, put in the message, and click "contact us". This is from windows, and i've tried it using both IE and firefox. same result. as mentioned i would like to have that (contact us) working before purchasing, but here is my message that was attempted to be sent:

hello - i live in canada and am wondering how you ship the DVD. if i request USPS (rather than UPS or fedex), will you do that? UPS and fedex charge extra fees for clearing customs. thank you.

Thanks,

Paul