Chuck Schuldiner Project

Friday, June 29, 2012

Levi Clay Soloing Over Chord Changes

So it's friday night, review time! Today's review is going to be something a little different, it will be a review of Levi Clay's new video series “Soloing Over Chord Changes”. In this 40 minute lesson thing Clay combines video and text to create a great learning experience. I will review the quality of the text, the quality of the videos and then the overall lesson. I must admit, that together the text and video form quite an impressive package that will help any beginning jazz guitarist. Overall this lesson is a great introduction to learning about soloing in a band context. I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

In the text Clay manages to accurately communicate his message without citing his video word for word. The diagrams in the text are also very handy and indeed help out the average learning guitarist. His use of tab as well as sheet music is good as it allows guitarists who mostly read tab to be able to challenge themselves with site reading while simultaneously having a reference point in case they get lost. To conclude, the text is very useful, containing a wealth of solid information and a lot of tasty diagrams to help out guitarists of any level.

The videos are good, but lacking in features. Clay, is quite obviously a gifted teacher and can clearly communicate even complex theoretical concepts. He is almost Govan-like in his teaching skill. My criticism is that the videos are truly lacking in pizazz. I feel like if Clay decided to add some tabs to the bottom of the video to show what he was playing, the lessons could be easier to follow. Another suggestion might be to link to all of the following videos in the commentary section. I am aware that everything is up for download and whatnot, but I still think the overall process could be streamlined. In brief, the videos are good, but not great, and making them great would not be too difficult at all.

For the overall quality of the lesson, I will have to rate it as high. Clay does not force you to learn his solo to learn all the concepts that he presents. His method of presentation is clear and accurate and easy to follow. The entire thing works together, the text and video compliment each other rather than being copies of each other. Again, Clay really, really, REALLY knows his stuff, and you should not doubt what he says. This man is one of the greatest in the world. So in brief, the overall quality of the lesson is very high and it can teach any guitarist quite a bit.

In conclusion, Levi Clay's “Soloing Over Chord Changes” is a must see lesson. It is educational, effective, and really cool. The text is very well written and very easy to follow. It has lots of helpful diagrams. The videos, are good, but lack frills, and the frills could make them great. Yet overall there are some fantastic lessons to be had here, so you MUST check out what Levi has to say. So go out my guitar playing brethren, GO OUT AND SHRED!

http://www.leviclay.com/playing-over-changes.html

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