My name is Everett Ritenour and I have been playing guitar on and off again for about 15 years. I have always been able to hold my own but I have never been able to grasp just how music works. I have been on the fence about taking lessons because as an active duty Soldier my hours are never consistent ( I have been in the Army for 8 years and two deployments has hindered my ability to take lessons on a schedule). I have toyed with the idea of online lessons but was concerned that even though I have the ability to learn at my own pace that it may be hard to learn from a recorded video. Well this is not the case with center stage guitar academy AT ALL!
I can assure you that I will be remaining a student, even after my year subscription is expired. I started the videos from lesson one, I did not let my ego get to me and even though I am a very experienced self taught player I gave you the respect of starting from video one. I have never been this excited about anything guitar related since I was a kid. I have even taken in depth notes on all the videos so far and thats something I never even did in grade school haha. I have finished module 1 and I am half way through module 2. I can honestly say that I have learned more about guitar in THREE days then I have learned in 15 years. I can say with confidence that not only do I know scales but more importantly I understand why they are used, how they are used, and the magic behind them. The best part is that I am only on module 2!!!
Your teaching method is perfect, your customer service is unmatched and I can say this because I received a personalized email 12 hours after I submitted my song request, and your videos give my everyday noodling a purpose.
I will forever be grateful to the center stage guitar academy, but more importantly to Bryan Billhimer. I finally understand the guitar well enough to have that drive to play for hours without sleep.
I'm a 63 year old, retired marketing executive. I played drums in a rock and roll band until I was thirty five and my son is a professional jazz pianist…but, I always regretted not learning how to play guitar. Finding myself with a lot of free time, I bought a guitar, and decided to check the internet for information. I tried a bunch of guitar learning web sites/youtube videos and then found The Center Stage Guitar Academy. I took the free lesson, was impressed, and signed up for the ongoing series.
The key difference from the other guitar playing sites is CSGA's building block approach to learning. Most of the other sites start with learning chords. For a drummer, that would be like learning beats without first practicing rudiments. With CSGA I didn't play a chord until lesson eight. By that time, about a month and a half in to the lessons, I was playing single note runs and clean double octave scales at 150 bpm up and down the fretboard. In the process my fretting fingers became limber, calloused and without pain!
If there is one thing I have learned in life it is not to take shortcuts, especially when learning an instrument. The Center Stage Guitar Academy's crawl-before-you-walk methodology follows that thought process. Plus, the videos are great, the instruction easy to understand, the downloadable material indispensable and the responsiveness of the staff whenever I have a question…remarkable. I'm not John Fahey yet, but I am thoroughly pleased with the CSGA method and highly recommend it to anyone who want to learn the guitar the right way.
Center Stage Guitar Academy's online guitar lessons have been the best tool for my guitar learning process. I used to browse through countless you tube videos looking for certain lessons only to find they were incomplete. Center Stage takes me through the process in such a way that I am always prepared for the next lesson or technique. Everything I need is right there in one place. It also teaches me the theory and tools I need to be creative and come up with my own songs.
Having very little experience with guitar, Center Stage Guitar Academy has been a great way to learn! Bryan introduces music concepts while keeping it interesting with new songs along the way. I have learned more about guitar in a month than trying to play on my own for 2 years. You also can't beat the price!