Guitar Coach Reviewer's Comments

Bluegrass pickers, country strummers and metal-head power cord lovers-finally there's a program that meets nearly all your guitar lesson needs. Guitar Coach Deluxe by Charanga, our #3 ranked guitar lesson software and "TopTenREVIEWS Bronze Award" winner includes six CD-ROMs of interactive music lessons that cover everything from reading notation to finger positions.

This software includes a Chord Miner Professional that catalogues over 7000 chords and 41 chord types in every key. You can also build your own chord progressions, download chord sets and print arrangements.

Guitar Coach incorporates features such as an animated fretboard and recording tools but places two steps behind #1-ranked, Guitar Method because it does not include some key elements such as left-handed instruction or guitar maintenance tips.

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Ease of Use:  

Guitar Coach Deluxe's six discs offer instruction ranging from 'First Lessons for Guitar' to 'Chord Minor Professional' discs. All six discs included with the deluxe set, are available separately through their website. Unfortunately, the CDs work independently of one another, so you have to switch discs when you want to change to a different lesson or area of focus.

Guitar Coach Deluxe displays a well-organized and uncluttered screen. It has a history icon, that when clicked, displays a list of the last ten pages visited. In addition, bold-type key words and phrases link to a definitions information box to help you learn the vocabulary of guitar playing.

Feature Set:  

Each lesson included with Guitar Coach Deluxe comes with a video recording of a live guitarist playing the selection of music. You can play along with the video or you can slow the video down to get a better view of the finger positioning. The program also has the ability to maximize the video, filling the entire screen, for an amplified view. In addition, a guitar tuner icon is always present, should you need to tune your instrument.

Each piece of music employs tips and a five-step process to mastering the song. The program includes a valuable resource section full of information and an extensive music library. Unfortunately, Guitar Coach Deluxe does not include audio lessons, instruction on guitar care or games.

Ease of Installation:  

Loading and installing all six CDs takes some time and the manufacturer, Charanga, requires that you register the software before you can use it.

Lesson Coverage:  

Guitar Coach Deluxe has one CD devoted to teaching some of the fundamentals of guitar playing and one on improving skills, the other four are performance focused, teach specific songs and chords, which are skills that lean more towards advanced instruction. We feel that the program could use more instruction for beginners who are not ready to perform or play such professional arrangements.

Practice Tools:  

While practicing a song with Guitar Coach Deluxe you can record and save your performance and play along with an accompaniment as the program tracks your position on the sheet music. There is an adjustable metronome to help you keep time and an option to incorporate repetitive loops.

This software includes a superb searchable chord dictionary, through this dictionary you can search by chord name and listen to how they sound.

However, this program does not include interactive games or offer a function to compose your own music.

Help/Support:  

Guitar Coach Deluxe offers phone and email support, but does not offer a FAQs section or a tutorial. You can access an electronic manual through the help menu.

Summary:  

Guitar Coach Deluxe by Charanga excels in performance and style lessons and song instruction, because of these three factors, the software seems more suitable for an intermediate player that wants to improve skills and learn new chords than a beginner just starting out.

We would recommend Guitar Method for the beginning player that needs left-handed instruction, audio lessons and information on how to care for their instrument, and this program to players that want to learn complicated chord structures.