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Ormond · September 23rd, 2009, 01:17 AM

I have both the lesson series and the 101 Licks.
Depending on what level you are at you will get a different level of usage. For the beginner I would strongly recommend it because many of the essential licks are there. The intermediate player will zap through that stuff. It is still a very good series for the intermediate player.
It is not quite so jam packed for the advanced player...or someone who has learned the basic licks and learned how to string them together. But much of what is on the set is stuff that can be put together thus extending a players "longer run" stuff.
The bends, however, are pretty advanced. In fact, one or two licks requires bending three strings at once - with one bend going in the opposite direction of the other two.

He has a habit of just "taking off" after a riff has been shown and doing some stuff that you wish had been put down in the tab. And he plays it so fast it is hard to slow down to analyze it. Whoever wrote the tab for the series could have extended some of the tab sections. It would have made things less frustrating.

He does touch on the jazz flavored stuff a little - something I think is important if a player wants to sound more sophisticated. He does about four of those runs and they sound very cool on their own but I have yet been able to find any chord(s) that can be played over them that makes the run sound like it might not be falling apart. They start in A and go to D but, nah, does not quite work. I moved two of the runs up two frets on the neck and they actually fit better. So if Sol does another series of DVD's (and I hope he does) it would be good to put a backing track behind some of the less obvious changes to show where the passages could be used. Not necessary for the easy blues licks or Cowboy chord licks.

I have all the Doug 7 stuff too - by comparison I like what Sol does because it is not as disjointed. There are acutally sections that stand on their own for a style or technique - for example, there is a section on neck navigation, probably the most useful part of the entire Series and all the runs in the section are linked to the subject. It just feels like there was a little more thought and planning in the Sol series.
Finally, there is so much material that the cost of the DVD's is reasonable. Even a bargain. That saying, there is so much of it that it can be overwhelming to find a place to start. I went through both series and graded each section as to whether I wanted to learn it or not and at what priority. I then turned the DVD's into Quictkime files so I could easily go to where I needed without having to deal with 6 DVD's. This way I can follow my notes, follow the tab and get in and out of the video section without too much computer hassle.
Fulfillment on the order was excellent. I had the DVD's three days after ordering.

I highly recommend the DVD's. But be be prepared for some frustration when you see things played really quick that could have been tabbed out as a bonus.
If you are a beginner I'd say you have a solid year of work with daily practice to nail the series and play to speed.

September 23rd, 2009, 01:17 AM	#11 (permalink)
Ormond Tele-Holic Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: san bernardino Age: 59 Posts: 573	I have both the lesson series and the 101 Licks. Depending on what level you are at you will get a different level of usage. For the beginner I would strongly recommend it because many of the essential licks are there. The intermediate player will zap through that stuff. It is still a very good series for the intermediate player. It is not quite so jam packed for the advanced player...or someone who has learned the basic licks and learned how to string them together. But much of what is on the set is stuff that can be put together thus extending a players "longer run" stuff. The bends, however, are pretty advanced. In fact, one or two licks requires bending three strings at once - with one bend going in the opposite direction of the other two. He has a habit of just "taking off" after a riff has been shown and doing some stuff that you wish had been put down in the tab. And he plays it so fast it is hard to slow down to analyze it. Whoever wrote the tab for the series could have extended some of the tab sections. It would have made things less frustrating. He does touch on the jazz flavored stuff a little - something I think is important if a player wants to sound more sophisticated. He does about four of those runs and they sound very cool on their own but I have yet been able to find any chord(s) that can be played over them that makes the run sound like it might not be falling apart. They start in A and go to D but, nah, does not quite work. I moved two of the runs up two frets on the neck and they actually fit better. So if Sol does another series of DVD's (and I hope he does) it would be good to put a backing track behind some of the less obvious changes to show where the passages could be used. Not necessary for the easy blues licks or Cowboy chord licks. I have all the Doug 7 stuff too - by comparison I like what Sol does because it is not as disjointed. There are acutally sections that stand on their own for a style or technique - for example, there is a section on neck navigation, probably the most useful part of the entire Series and all the runs in the section are linked to the subject. It just feels like there was a little more thought and planning in the Sol series. Finally, there is so much material that the cost of the DVD's is reasonable. Even a bargain. That saying, there is so much of it that it can be overwhelming to find a place to start. I went through both series and graded each section as to whether I wanted to learn it or not and at what priority. I then turned the DVD's into Quictkime files so I could easily go to where I needed without having to deal with 6 DVD's. This way I can follow my notes, follow the tab and get in and out of the video section without too much computer hassle. Fulfillment on the order was excellent. I had the DVD's three days after ordering. I highly recommend the DVD's. But be be prepared for some frustration when you see things played really quick that could have been tabbed out as a bonus. If you are a beginner I'd say you have a solid year of work with daily practice to nail the series and play to speed.