Song Xpress Guitar Videos

Have you ever seen or used any of the videos in the SongXpress product line? What did you think of them? Or, if you've got any other instructional videos to reccomend or criticize, let your opinions fly in the Guitar Forum.

The videos offerred by Song Xpress have one purpose: to teach viewers how to play each of the four songs on each tape. The tapes all carry an attractive $9.95 list price, which make them a valuable alternative to learning songs via a private teacher. The following four reviews are the newest additions to the Song Xpress library.

Austin Blues Vol. 1

• Cold Shot BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
• Couldn't Stand the Weather ADVANCED
• Crossfire INTERMEDIATE
• Lenny INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED

Song Xpress instructor Dan Warner is at the helm for Austin Blues Vol. 1, guiding viewers through four tunes written by the late guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan.
This edition in the series should offer a challenge for guitarists of varying skill levels. Whereas many guitarists will find "Cold Shot" to be simple and straightforward, chances are most will have a little (or a lot) of trouble conquering "Couldn't Stand the Weather". The etheral sounding "Lenny" might also be a bit of a challenge for guitarists unfamiliar with unusual chord shapes.
Warner was the right choice for this video; of all the Song Xpress instructors, he is clearly the most adept at explaining and illustrating difficult guitar parts. Warner pays close attention to detail, and makes sure to fully explain difficult passages before moving on.
NOTE: it should be stressed again that Song Xpress videos never include guitar solos. Guitarists looking to learn to play like Stevie Ray Vaughan will not find much guidance here. Austin Blues Vol. 1, however, does include one or two Stevie Ray Vaughan licks. Warner also briefly explains and illustrates the blues scale. This is a nice touch... allowing viewers to try and improve their guitar skills in general, rather than just learning songs. Let's hope we see some more efforts like this in upcoming Song Xpress videos.

Classic Blues Vol. 3

• Before You Accuse Me BEGINNER
• Lie To Me INTERMEDIATE
• Mary Had a Little Lamb INTERMEDIATE
• Spoonful BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE

The Classic blues Vol. 3 video in the Song Xpress series is rather enjoyable. The tunes on volume 3 vary significantly in difficulty, from easy, to somewhat tricky. Since many of the tunes on the video don't have one fixed rhythm guitar part, instructor Dan Warner instead often provides "cliche" blues rhythm guitar patterns. The result is a video that not only shows users how to play the four songs listed, but also how to play 12-bar blues in general.
Classic Blues Vol. 3 would be a good starting place for learning blues for the adventurous beginner. Although it doesn't many contain licks (except a few Stevie Ray Vaughan riffs on "Mary Had a Little Lamb"), or lessons in improvisation, it does provide tunes that will get a guitarist playing the blues. While tunes like Johnny Lang's "Lie to Me" might prove to be difficult for novices, with some practice, they'll be playable. Classic Blues Vol. 3 is a good one.

Heavy Metal Vol.2

• Flight of Icarus BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
• Iron Man BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
• It's Not Love INTERMEDIATE
• Smoke on the Water BEGINNER

Volume two in the series of heavy metal favorites proves to be somewhat less difficult than the first. There are still some tough guitar riffs to work on ... particularly Dokken's "It's Not Love" (featuring George Lynch), which contains an intriguing and sometimes difficult guitar part. The other songs on the video, however, are generally much simpler, and should be relatively easy for intermediate guitarists to learn. Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" and Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" in particular are almost easy to play. Knowledge of power chords, and an ability to palm-mute are really the only requirements for being able to play the tunes on Heavy Metal Vol. 2.
The packaging of Heavy Metal Vol. 2, and all future Song Xpress videos, has changed slightly. The heavy cardboard casing of the video has been altered to include a fold-out cover, on which basic chord diagrams have been included. As of now, the chord diagrams aren't overly useful, since they're the same in each edition, and they don't necessarily pertain to the songs on their videos. In the future, hopefully Song Xpress will create fold-outs that include chord diagrams more specific to the material on the videos. Realistically, though, it's not necessary, since the videos themselves do a very good job in explaining the songs they present.

Heavy Metal Vol.3

• Alone Again INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED
• The Trooper INTERMEDIATE
• War Pigs INTERMEDIATE
• You've Got Another Thing Coming INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED

This SongXpress release contains some very complex, lengthy heavy metal tunes, all of which are well-taught by instructor Dan Warner. Nevertheless, you'll need patience to learn these tunes. Songs like Judas Priest's "You've Got Another Thing Coming" have many complex guitar patterns, that will make memorization difficult.
Warner moves slowly in his explanations throughout Heavy Metal Vol. 3, however, and really makes learning the songs on the video seem much less intimidating. You'll still need to know your staple heavy metal guitar techniques (eg. pick slides, palm muting, etc.) in order to play the tunes well, but with some practice, and a couple viewings, a somewhat experienced player should be able to conquer all of the material on Song Xpress' Heavy Metal Vol. 3.

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