Quick Licks - Steve Vai Melodic Shredding DVD For Guitar

I have been playing for over 30 years and am self taught through dozens of books and videos.I'm also a teacher certified in Music. I cannot remember being this excited and inspired by my progress and I'm only a bit more than halfway through the licks. Andy James does a fantastic job of taking you painstakingly through each lick, breaking it down in a straight forward, no nonsense manner. This way of learning is like teaching someone to fish rather than giving them fish. After you have these licks ingrained in your head, you will be able to apply them to different grooves and styles because he is showing you how to take a scale (Lydian mode in this case) and make real music with it. I have the Steve Vai signature licks books and although they are really cool also, this tops them because it's easier to understand and not just solos from songs which may have non diatonic notes/licks within them that can be confusing when trying to learn new patterns. Initially I was disappointed that no tablature was included, but it has forced me to focus on remembering the positions and patterns without the crutch of having the sheet music to look at. The result is I'm learning faster. By having an inset camera angle, it became very clear exactly how to use my right hand to pick and tap the more complicated licks and how to play those magical sounds that are like a blur, something you won't get from tablature. Andy James is a phenomenal player as I found out after searching him on Spotify. He now tops my playlist! He's also a great teacher-very articulate and accurate in breaking it down for you step by step. I keep wondering if he's going to get tired, as it seems he did the whole video in one sitting. LOL!! This happens very rarely to me in that I have an experience like I've hit the holy grail with instructional material, I wasn't expecting it but I'm blown away. Although it's not for beginners and challenging even for intermediate players, the first few licks are very approachable and the rest give you something to aspire to for the future. I wish he did one of these for every mode but I definitely will be purchasing his other products. FIrst, I have to finish this one. Only thing to nitpick is that I would love to have another backing track included to try mutating these licks into my own music. But, there's Youtube for that. Back I go to practicing...Quick update- I finished the video and contrary to what another reviewer stated, the licks are 99% spot on accurate from what is taught and what is played on the solo performance. It could be that the speed at which the licks go by in the solo make them sound different. Awesome video and I just ordered another two by Andy James, can't wait to get them!!!

First of all no question Andy James can shred. But as far as the product goes I found the "Teach you how to do it" part lacking. From a theory stand point there is *almost* zero. Just a quick run through of a scale and virtually never mentioned again.OK it is a "licks" video. Just so others will know BEFORE they buy the DVD... this is simply a breakdown of a song done in the style of Steve Vai where little segments of notes strung together. At the end, assuming you can play it (doubtful for most) then you will know one song...sorta.It is very much done in the style of "put your finger here, then here, strum this string and there ya go." Again this is not due to a limitation in Andy's playing skill but rather teaching style used in this video.Some guitar players are fantastic and don't know any theory. Others such as Steve Stine can teach theory and shred until the cows come home. Steve can teach total beginners or folks at the level Andy is teaching. I don't know if Andy can teach multiple styles or not. But it sure didn't come out in this video.I know some will say "What do you want it is a LICKS video". Fair enough. That is why this review isn't a 1 or a 2 star review. Having nothing to do with it but I paid another $10 more than it sold for just a few days ago. That's life.While I would probably buy Andy James music, I would not without a lot more investigation buy any more of his lessons.

I love the content and the lessons but there is one problem with this and all lick library DVD s. They don't give you the tab for the lessons which makes learning complicated parts rather difficult but not impossible. However, the teacher does tell you which fret and note for each lick and he plays each lick slowly at first. Overall, I do recommend this video for the study of Steve Vai licks and runs as well as many other lick library DVD s. The absence of tab is what keeps lick library lessons from being the best ever which is why I give it 4 stars instead of 5. Watch this DVD carefully and take your time and you will learn much. Jesus is your answer and God bless you. Romans 10:9-10

Each lick is clearly shown. There is no tab, the presentation makes learning and memorizing the licks easie. This is a fun DVD.

I love the song that andy james composed with vai-style.it is really tasty, but i want a tab too. i watched the video again and again, and practiced the pattern from time to time. I found some of the licks he taught are not exactly the same as what he played in the song.

as a seasoned guitarist musician of 25yrs, I'm still always looking to learn.Andy James is a great instructor, guitarist and musicians.His interpretation of steve vai (god on guitar) is dead on, and fun to play.I highly recommend anything with Andy James name on for both instruction and listening pleasure

Andy James is a Top Notch guitarist.Follow him and you'll see big improvement in your playing.Ya just can't go wrong.

its steve vai! enough said lol great for learning how to harmonize with backing track in key of E LYDIAN