Chops & Grooves Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Pros:
Anger is amazing, but I was blow away by Driessen and cellist Eggleston.

I saw Driessen in concert and bought the DVD to try to understand what he was doing on stage. His stage performance was overwhelming. Too much going on at once. Driessen plays the bass and the tonal chord (major, minor, 7th...), rhythm and melody all on the same fiddle. All at the same time. It doesn't make sense, but these three guys make it look easy.

Eggleston calls it "a band in a box," and he can boogie like no cellist I ever saw. WOW! I had to try this on my cello. Well it isn't easy, but it is fun.

Their "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Mercy, Mercy" are fantastic. Anger breaks each part down and explains what they are doing, how they do it and why. I am impressed.I set my DVD player to loop (repeat chapter) on a tune while I play along.

I use a mandolin to copy the bass, chord work and melody. The bowed rhythm is a little like deadening the mandolin strings while strumming.Then I try to play it all on the fiddle or cello. It isn't pretty. I sounds bad, but it sure is fun. And it's getting better everyday.

The video inserts are perfect. Homespun has produced a video that allows the viewer to see all the important close-ups at the same time. Very nice.

Cons:
The student needs to read sheet music.
Even though the techniques are explained, there is too much going on to understand it without the sheet music. Actually the sheet music isn't necessary for the bass, chords or melody, but it is necessary to understand how the rhythm sounds fit between them.
The sheet music has a few minor errors and it only transcribes the basic concepts in each lesson (chapter).

I bought this DVD for a week ago, and I can't put it down.

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Product Description:
Learn how you can create infectious, driving rhythms and syncopations in a wide variety of musical styles. The percussive bowing techniques taught produce exciting grooves that can be used to accompany genres from bluegrass to Celtic, swing to ska, Latin to rock and funk. 2 HOURS · INCLUDES MUSIC · EARLY INTERMEDIATE LEVEL.

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