Chop Builder, Frank Gambale

Starring:Frank Gambale
Studio: Warner Brothers Pub.
Product Type: DVD

Description

Keep those chops in shape! This intense routine three times a week will increase guitar fitness, strengthen hands and increase speed and dexterity while improving music theory and fretboard knowledge. The emphasis is on endurance. A challenging and motivational DVD. With booklet. (75 min.)

Customer Reviews:

Frank Gambale chop builder.......2007-03-02

Gambales chop builder is exactly what I was looking for as far as picking exercises go. It covers everything from alternate picking, legato to his sweep picking and each exercise is quite melodic and interesting to play. The only criticism I have is I would rather just have it in CD form rather than DVD. I think working on his Monster licks and speed picking dvd first would make learing the Chop Builder exercises a little more easier to learn. Just so you understand how he is using his right hand when sweeping arpeggios and 3 note per string scales.

You have to exercise and Frank makes it less painful.......2006-10-07

I have always been a great fan of Frank Gambale. His technical abilities are amazing, and so are his teaching abilities. This is not the video for you if you want to learn theory, but if you want to get better at playing guitar, you must own a copy of this video! As the title clearly states, this is a guitarists 'workout' video. It is not a technical, theoretical, or a licks n tricks video. There are so many good and not so good theory videos out there if that is your purpose, however, don't forget that theory is a small part of playing guitar! So don't be fooled, there are no magic pills that you can take to be a better player, it takes practice, dedication, and boring exercises. Frank's humor turns the most mundane guitar task (exercising) in to a fun and enjoyable workout. Expect to build your chops if you faithfully follow his routines. This video comes with a 74 page booklet that has all of the exercises in tab and standard notation, and I may add that the booklet is one of the better ones I have seen compared to the cheesy ones that usually accompany instructional videos.

Frank covers many types of exercises in his regiment of exercises: Alternate picking triplets, Alternate picking sixteenth notes, Combination triplets and sixteenth notes, Major scales and their modes, Melodic minor modes, Harmonic minor modes, Diminished and whole tone scales, Interval scales and patterns, Chromatic exercises, String skipping, Sweep picking triad arpeggios, Hammer-ons and Pull-offs, Stretch voicings, Blues progressions, and much more.

This video delivers what it claims to: An unbeatable chops workout. No matter if you have just started playing guitar, or have been playing for 25 years as I have, you will benefit from using Frank's chop building routines.

The best DVD for fusion practice !.......2005-07-25

Don't read "guitarhomie" below. This IS the DVD for practicing. Of course the humor is super cheesy, but it gives the DVD a unique flavor that Gambale fans and others will just laugh at ! It goes with the character. It is very dense stuff, so of course it ain't playing at a slow pace. You have to learn exercices first then try to play it with the master, it's not that difficult and this idea is GREAT !! Really stimulating stuff.

Great DVD for those who want a good practice plan.......2003-10-30

Actually, I purchased the VHS some years ago along with some of Frank's other releases. I have to say that this has become an invaluable tool for my technical practice....and that's what it's for. It's not meant to be a 'beginner's video' or a 'let me teach you' video. It is meant solely as an excercise/workout video for intermediate to advanced guitarists. It maps out a good practice plan for you, based on the things that Frank himself practices. It's a must if you're a player looking for a more organized 'technical' practice routine.

An...approach to guitar exercising.......2003-02-03

...I've been playing guitar for 6 years now and I've decided to take a dive into the technical aspects of the guitar and this DVD did not help me at all.

This DVD is more or less just an hour long jam along with Frank, with sprinkles of..women and 2...students playing with Frank behind him. Frank does not play his exercises at slow pace, nor does he talk about alternate picking and the D-U-D-U (down, up, etc) or U-D-U-D approach. He just starts jamming and yells during the jam "OK! We're going onto exercise 2!".

He doesn't break anything up until the camera pans off to a women holding a card that says "Round 9" or whatever (horrible boxing pun). Only then are you taken back to him where he just starts jamming once again. I had no problem learning his exercises and playing along with him and his crew, but I was looking for more technical information rather than a play-along DVD....

If you're a huge fan of Frank Gambal you may find this DVD to your liking. If you've read magazines about him and checked out a few of his tutorials in them and found them insightful - you will most likely be disappointed in this. I see that he has a couple other DVDs out, but I think for now I'm going to have to pass with this sour experience.

I give it 2 stars because at least it does build up stamina and strength (which he notes will do). It's also good to get a brief lesson on certain scales and modes, but he doesn't give any insight to what you're playing...

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