Gitarrero Beginner (5.2010)

Gitarrero Beginner is a guitar lesson software package developed by native Germans for English-speaking students. While English is not the primary language of the developers, Gitarrero communicates its points clearly and serves its purpose as guitar learning software. Included in the basic software package are twenty-eight lessons with audio, video and written instruction, an electronic tuner and built-in tests. However, this program lacks a lot of extra features that we%27ve come to expect from guitar lesson software.
Ease of Use:
The language used in the curriculum of Gitarrero is moderately confusing at first due to anomalies in the translation from German to English, but thankfully most of these are connected to pictures which will clear up confusion. The oddities in speaking and wording are perplexing and can be distracting, hurting the overall teaching power of the program.
Other than the occasional language barrier-related hiccup, Gitarrero is easy to use and navigate. The interface is simple and well-designed and the lessons communicate their objective in a straightforward manner.
Feature Set:
Included in each lesson are descriptive pictures of key words, written instruction and an occasional video illustrating a complex concept. A relatively low number of lessons are included in this guitar lesson software package, amounting to only twenty-eight in total. We were a bit disappointed with the lack of content available, hoping the program would continue on past a few short lessons.
Ease of Installation:
Gitarrero was easy to install, giving us no problems during the process.
Lesson Coverage:
Gitarrero Beginner adequately covered the basics of playing the guitar, making it easy for anyone to pick up on it, regardless of musical skill. This program also teaches basic music theory to get the learner ready for more advanced ideas. In the end, we were pleased with the content provided, but we hoped for more of it.
Practice Tools:
Gitarrero includes standard practice features such as an animated fretboard to demonstrate chords, repetition loops to focus on parts of a song and accompaniment to help with the big picture in some of the later songs. We would have liked to have seen some interactive games to help with the learning process, though the practice tools featured are adequate.
Help/Support:
All of the standard technical support features are available, with the surprising exception of a phone line. A FAQs page, troubleshooter, email support and tutorials are all available.
Summary:
In the end, Gitarrero is a helpful program, but a bit difficult to understand at times. The interface is easy to use and the lessons are concise, but we felt Gitarrero lacked a lot of features that would greatly improve it as a guitar lesson software package and a contender for our higher rankings.
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