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After a year of learning, I figured it was time to revisit my Jamorama review. This is the deal… I started playing guitar a couple of Decembers ago when I bought myself a guitar for Christmas. I am 40 something and I have never played a guitar before… and any other musical instrument. So I figured that I am a pretty tough case study for any guitar training or learn guitar type of system. So I figured it was a good idea to do some type of a Jamorama review.

So let me begin this review of Jamorama with a description of what you get…

In Jamorama Book one there is these headings - beginners - intro to strumming - intro to chords - reading tabs - first string notes - easy chords - healthy learning - various dominant chords. This is a killer introduction, and the 52 included audio clips let you hear what the lessons are supposed to sound like. This is great stuff for a true beginner.

In Jamorama Book two there is a bunch more - this is more intermediate level material, including sight reading - bass note runs - major seventh chords - various strum patterns and chord progressions. You also get an intro to scales and lots of different chords. Pluse you get 61 audio clips… these help you figure out what you are supposed to sound like.

In Jamorama Book three you get more advanced - the advanced level stuff includes minor scales - barre chords - power chords - ninth chords - diminished chords - and augmented chords. This book also has 31 audio clips to go along with it. The audio clips are downloadable MP3 clips that you can play on your computer or anywhere else you can play an MP3.

One of the coolest things about Jamorama is that it is all downloadable, so you can get it quickly… actually immediately. I hate ordering a guitar book and having to wait to get it delivered. Of course, this means that you need to be sure to remember where you put it on your hard drive. What I like to do is print out the PDF file, and then I have a hard copy of the course.

File under: Jamorama, jamorama review, guitar

The Pentatonic scale is giving me lots to study right now. I started off working with the Am (that’s the A minor) scale on the fifth fret. That one seems to be the easiest of the five pentatonic box patterns.

I have that Pentatonic scale pattern pretty much down. I know it, and can play it pretty consistently… although I wouldn’t mind playing it a lot faster. And that same pentatonic pattern can be moved around the neck. For instance if you play it at the 12th fret (12th position), then you are playing it in E. And if you play it all the way down the neck at the open position, you are also playing it in E. That’s all I know for now… but I am sure you can play the same pattern in other places on the neck.

The other pattern I learned was the G major pattern at the 5th fret. This one is a little tougher, because you are actually playing it over a total of five frets (instead of four frets with that Am box I mentioned above.) That means you are going to be moving your fingers around a little more.

All in all, it seems like some very useful stuff… all of a sudden I am playing some leads. It’s sorta amazing to me (as a complete novice still) that without knowing more than a couple of simple pentatonic box patterns, I can be playing lead guitar. Now that doesn’t mean my leads sound all that great… but at least they technically belong.