The Complete Arpeggio Package and Rest Stroke Picking

Outstanding

I've been at this course for about 6 weeks and my guitar playing is exponentially better than it used to be. While, I came into it as a somewhat experienced guitar player with knowledge of Delta and Piedmont style blues, I'd say there's a lot here for players of most levels. All of the jazz chord substitutions and knowing the building blocks of them through arpeggios have enabled me to read a lot of fake book jazz charts that were foreign to me before. I also write songs in a very different folk/indie style and all the learning here has done wonders to improve existing songs and fill me with fresh ideas for writing. This course is definitely worth it and I would recommend it to anyone.

5 of 5!

Great course- Great Price!

When you consider you are getting over 5 hours of instruction for just over $100, that is like $10 per half hour session. I challenge you to find a guitar teacher anywhere that will give you those rates. At the price alone, this material is an incredible deal. Now, when you add that it is coming from Yaakov, a proven teacher/specialist in the gypsy genre, you can't go wrong! Countless free lessons are graciously available on youtube for you to see the quality of video and presentation. But why would you worry about the polish if the content weren't there? Well, it is. He starts with basics on the rest stroke technique and idiosyncratic nature of gypsy phrasing. He gives you authentic fingerings and gypsy arpeggio shapes. He goes over each arpeggio pattern paying attention to both left and right hands. Then, he shows you how to use these arpeggios within the context of actual gypsy jazz songs, often quoting directly from Django's playing. Still not enough? How about the discussion boards on each course where you can ask your questions and he responds quickly? You can post short videos of your technique, progress, etc for evaluation and validation. I have yet to write an e-mail to Yaakov and not have him respond within a business day. I have seen him help other students refine their technique. And all this for $10/half hour still? What are you waiting for? Where will you find a better deal? Join us in the course and join the family!

Solid, well organized course

I'm steadily working my way through the course. It's very well organized and well explained. I feel that my picking technique and arpeggio knowledge is now well grounded and developing nicely. I am looking forward to learning other courses/lessons.

Uncovers and shares the truth about playing Gyspy Jazz genre

Yaakov is not only a master guitar player who plays Django better than Django, but a great teacher as well. He exposes a lot of truths about playing guitar. For example did you know that in order to play really fast you have to first be able to play really slowly? It's true. Also did you know that 10 mins every day practice is MUCH more effective than 1 hour every week. Again it's all about establishing muscle memory through consistent repetition, however short... So when you are having fun - play whatever you want. But when you are practising, practice slowly and focus. Yaakov shows you how to be committed to playing guitar and get ahead using very practical methods. All these insights plus a full but accessible and playable encyclopaedia of arpeggios and jazz chord shapes provide ever guitar player with what they need to get ahead and keep their playing fresh. For the novice - I encourage you to adopt this method as Yaakov explains. And be patient as he explains. And practice slowly. For the intermediate player with entrenched ways of playing. This will free you from your current constraints and provides new memories and pathways for your brain and muscle memory. For the good player who can already play a lot of great guitar but using major, minor, pentatonic and blues scales...this course will use what you already know and show you how playing arpeggios and more chord-based rather than scale-based improves your ability across all genres and allows you to switch genres more easily - which once you know even some of this material you will certainly do... Thanks for sharing all this Yaakov. Rigas

a must have for any guitarist.

having learnt to nail la pompe from yaakovs brilliant la pompe course, this was naturally the next step for me, and what a giant step it has been. after a couple of months using yaakovs lessons on this essential must know course on arpeggios the whole guitar neck has lit up. although i am no master gypsy guitar player my knowledge of the guitar neck has improved immensely. this course will definitely improve your playing. yaakov's lessons are brilliantly put together, he really helps you to nail the gypsy picking style. simply brilliant. cheers yaakov.

Finished the Course!

This course has taken me up several levels. In the past I was content to learn other peoples' Jazz standards parrot fashion, but there was nothing of myself in the music, it was someone else's interpretation. I now have the 75 arpeggios which improve each day giving me full access to the whole fretboard and a complete understanding of what I am playing over various chord progressions. This is such a joy, I can now do my own thing! I still have lots to do, it's my beginning and I have signed up for more of Yaakov's courses to push on and progress with Gypsy Jazz. It does become a passion and for inspiration I watch Yaakov play!

Excellent Course!!

No one teaches this material better than Yaakov. I first learned of his instructional material from the excellent, free video on how to play La Pompe on YouTube. I was hooked! This video had me playing La Pompe correctly in a single afternoon, so I felt I had to check out more of Yaakov's material. I've been a loyal customer and student ever since!

A fantastic course for techique improvement,fretboard knowledge.and analysing solos . Recommended !!!

Hi Yaakov,thank you so much for adding of how to use arpeggios in improvisation over the songs Minor Swing and J’attendrai .For the time being I`m working on Minor Swing ,and i have to admit that by doing the exercises you provide ,is like having a passepartout to open all the gray areas of the fretboard .I see allready improvement in my soloing ,and that gives me the motivation to practice more and more .I think You are the best gypsy guitar teacher and I mean it ,with all the respect to all the others who trying to help us learn , but you have a way to hit the heart of the matter with a simple but totally effective way. Thank you from the bottom of my heart ,for sharing all this knowledge with me and everyone else eager to learn this beautiful art named gypsy jazz guitar.All the best to You .Chris.

Great study!

This course is such a great program for getting into the Gypsy Jazz style. Amazing content. Clear instruction. Extremely valuable!

Excellent method to learn the fretboard and enter into Improvisation.

I've been playing guitar on and off since I was 16, I'm 55 now. I've always loved Jazz guitar, but couldn't quiet get the hang of improvisation. This course provides a method and very detailed video and text examples of how to learn arpeggios in a fun and effective way, and to allow you to feel comfortable soloing over jazz changes. I've not seen one of his videos or courses that were not excellent. Thanks so much Yakov!

The most effective course on this topic

I've already bought and practiced many different methods about improvisation with scales and/or arpeggios. For me this one is the most exhaustive and comprehensive course. Yaakov demonstrates all the positions you'll need to improvise in gypsy jazz and links these positions in order to play them all over the fingerboard. On all the positions, he patiently shows you the most important techniques in this style which is the right hand techniques. Once you know these tools, study his applications and improvisations on two popular tunes, and you'll have a better understanding of what improvisation is and of course you'll be a better player.

Arpeggio course

I have a a number of books, some better than others, which provide details of the basic GJ arpeggios but by comparison to this video course they are 'dry' and sometimes sketchy in the information they provide. I love the systematic way the arpeggio lessons build, the fact you can navigate the site easily and view the lessons via either a downloaded mpeg or stream them online. And considering you can view the lessons again and again it makes it great value for money when compared with private 1-2-1 lessons.

A must have for any player

I'd say this is a must have for any player. It's all condensed and focused. Just what you need. Thank you Yaakov!

Highly recommended !

By his delightful and motivating style of giving lessons, Yaakov accomplishs to mediate even the most complicated knowledge of mastering guipsy jazz guitar "as good as a play" and lets look all chapters like no-brainers. This course is my favorite one and I took Yaakovs advice to practice the arpeggios daily. My experience: the more often you play, the more interesting they get. My handy hint: always connumerate and / or say aloud the musical score. In this way you´ll get a good foundation for the chords secondarily. Arpeggios are the best daily warm-up directly after tuning yout instrument. Believe me: You´ll never wand to do without it again. Andrew Easterday