Hear and Play
Product Overview
Hear and
Play offers a series of lessons in piano and drumming. The main idea
is to teach you how to learn to play by ear – in other words, you hear
something you like and can reproduce it without the sheet music.The
FounderThe company was founded by Jermaine Griggs, then just 16
years old. Griggs has built quite a following. His website features
numerous testimonials, some from semi-renowned musicians.
What You Get
A lot, that’s for sure. Besides the course you choose – there are two
individual courses in chord playing alone – you might receive several
“bonuses” (depending on the package you purchase) that are purportedly
worth a small fortune. I should mention that I am describing this a bit
tongue-in-cheek. These bonuses will have value for many users of the
system, and what that value is in dollars and cents will vary from
person to person.
Speaking of the aforementioned chord courses, this is an audio-only
series. If you absolutely need to see what the instructor plays,
you’d be better off with a DVD course from someone else. But the lessons
are methodical and detailed enough for most beginners and enthusiasts to
grasp. Griggs is still quite young (not yet 25) but he has a good
ability to explain chord structures.
Bloated Website Works
Getting through the seemingly endless information on the company’s
website is a task for only the most patient visitor. The pages read like
most over-marketed product portals written by seasoned marketers.
Scattered throughout each product page are the ubiquitous testimonials,
product shots, limited-time offers, product hype, more limited-time
offers, etc. In this market, especially on the web, this is all quite
necessary to give a consumer enough time to make an educated decision
before he or she leaves the site.
Stand-Out Features
To that end, it’s well done. There are audio and video sample clips
which do a tremendous job of demonstrating the quality of the training.
Despite the numerous marketing tricks employed on the site and the many
times you’ll ask yourself, “now where was I?”, the programs likely
deserve the hype. Griggs and his other instructors are quite talented.
Enough users have had positive results using Hear and Play, and the
company offers a money-back guarantee to reduce the risk factor.
ConsAs I mentioned earlier, the three chord courses are
audio-only. Many people are visual learners, especially those new to the
piano. Griggs states that the audio-only aspect is intentional, that you
can’t always be in front of a keyboard, and after all, you’re learning
by ear. That may be, but there is video competition out there and he
needs to keep up with the Joneses in that respect. Perhaps a CD/DVD
combo would be the better solution. After all, the company’s other
offerings, such as the jazz and drum courses, are sold on DVD.
RecommendationThe lessons offered by Hear and Play are quite good,
and playing by ear will accelerate the learning process for most
students. Even better, the price won’t break the bank.
Check out
the company’s sample clips
and decide if you could learn that way. If so, it’s a good bet this
system will make a great musician out of you.
Back to the top of "Hear and Play" |
