Guitar Control

If you’ve spent any time trying to find an online guitar course, the chances are good that your search has turned up lots of options. That said, Claude Johnson’s Killer Guitar Control Secrets method is one of the more unique options we’ve been able to find.

Johnson promises that this course can teach you to play from the heart. He says that “playing from the heart” is essentially the X-factor that countless guitar greats have. Through several different techniques, Johnson’s course can teach you what you need to know to play lead like the masters.

But does it deliver? In our review, we’ll take a closer look at this unique course.

Things to Consider Before Purchasing a Guitar Course Online

If you want to get better at electric guitar solos, you probably won’t seek out an online course for acoustic music. That’s why it’s important to take some time and think about what you want to get out of a course. Here are some questions to ask yourself before you commit to any given guitar course:

• What genre do you want to play? In most cases, online guitar lessons focus on one genre (or a couple of genres). For example, this course focuses mostly on rock and pop.
• How much experience do you have? Some lessons are designed for players with no experience who need to get started on the guitar. Others are made to help more experienced players improve. Make sure you see what type of player a given course is designed for–new players will likely be overwhelmed by courses for experienced players, while experienced players will be bored by courses for beginners.
• How much time do you have to play? Some lessons are designed for players with minimal practice time. If you have more time to practice, you may want to invest in a more extensive option.
• What are your goals? Each set of online lessons is different, but most lessons for more experienced players specialize in some way. Be sure to choose lessons that align with your goals.
• Do you play electric guitar or acoustic? This is less important, as many genres can be played on acoustic or electric guitar. However, if you want to learn more about electric guitar tone and playing secrets, you may want to choose a course that is more geared toward electric players.

But first, let’s look at some pros and cons.

Pros

• Players will learn improvisation, different phrasing styles, and several techniques that can help develop excellent lead playing.
• The course can be bundled with other courses on blues and acoustic playing to help you become a well-rounded guitarist.
• Every purchase comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee.
• The course distills wisdom from many guitar greats so that players will benefit from a range of perspectives.

Cons

• Compared to some courses, this one is slightly expensive.
• For players who are very new to guitar, this course may be too advanced.
• Some customers have complained about slow or non-existent refunds.

In this section, we’ll take a much closer look at Claude Johnson’s remarkable course. What will you learn? What’s the creator’s background with an electric guitar? What are the purchase options available? We’re about to find out.

What Will You Learn?

Claude Johnson’s course website goes into detail about what you’ll learn with this course. However, it’s important to keep the bigger picture in mind, too. According to Johnson, his method is based on three components:

1. Essential Technique – This refers to many of the playing techniques used by guitar greats. You’ll learn about many of these techniques in the course.
2. Fretboard Knowledge – If you want to be able to play incredible leads, you need to know how the fretboard works and how notes are connected. Johnson’s course will help familiarize you with the fretboard and improve your ability quickly.
3. Brain-to-Hand Connection – This is what Johnson also calls “playing with heart.” It refers to playing with emotion and feeling, something not all guitarists can instinctively do.

Of course, Johnson isn’t going to completely lay out everything you’ll learn on the course site — otherwise, there would be no point in purchasing the whole thing. However, he does include a list of some of the things that his course can help you with:

• How to get great tone with a budget guitar, amp, and effects
• How to master the pentatonic scale and then combine it with your rhythm playing
• How to set up your “home base” on the guitar neck, so you never feel lost.
• How to learn and master Johnson’s “Master Keys” rule
• How to use fundamentals of jazz, rock, and blues to revitalize your playing
• How to write songs that have a “Top 40” feel and sound
• How to effectively use key switches in your leads
• How to avoid mistakes made by most guitarists at some point
• How to make improvising feel like it’s second nature

Of course, it’s one thing to read about what you’ll learn, and it’s another thing entirely to see the program for yourself. Many reviewers have noted that Claude Johnson’s videos have a relaxed feel to them, almost as though the instructor is in the room with you. Check out this video from the course YouTube channel, which might give you a feel for the way each lesson will go.

It’s also important to note that, without purchasing and matching the videos themselves, it’s impossible to know which techniques are taught and how they are taught. Johnson doesn’t go into a whole lot of detail when it comes to describing the course videos, either — we can’t tell how many hours of video are included or how many individual lessons are included in the entire course.

Meet the Instructor

You probably don’t want to take a course for an electric guitar that has been designed by just anybody. Luckily, Claude Johnson, the developer of the course, has used his experience playing and teaching guitar for 25 years in order to create a unique system.

If you want to see Claude Johnson in action, check out this video lesson on playing lead guitar. While it’s true that some guitarists think Johnson’s videos are a scam, many of them do concede that he is a thorough teacher who is fairly easy to follow.

Purchasing Options

Often, guitarists try to find quality online learning help because they want to save money over the cost of traditional in-person learning. For that reason, most online courses have a few different purchasing options.

If you would prefer a less expensive purchase option, you may be interested in Killer Guitar Control Secrets, the main course from Johnson’s website. This course, according to its creator, will double what you know in one week of playing, even if you’ve been playing for years.

We can’t say whether you’ll really double your knowledge or not, but we think this course is worth taking a chance on. Plus, it only costs $59. Videos are delivered instantly, and you can watch them as many times as you want.

If you’re in the mood to spend a little more and improve your playing in a variety of genres, you might want to spring for Johnson’s money-saving bundle. With this $149 collection, you get five courses:

1. Killer Guitar Control Secrets — This is the main course in the package, and it’s designed to expand your abilities and control while playing lead guitar.
2. Killer Lead Guitar Made Simple — This course is intended as a kind of prequel to the main course. If you don’t have much experience playing lead electric guitar, this course will help you build a solid foundation. According to the founder, this course will help you get the most out of the main course.
3. How to Play Smokin’ Blues Guitar — For players who want to expand how they play, this course is a great option. You will learn basic blues-style playing and will also get access to a massive library of examples to practice with.
4. Acoustic Mastery — Most of Claude Johnson’s courses are focused on electric guitar, but the Acoustic Mastery course is designed to help you learn rhythms, picking patterns, and different phrasings.
5. Ultimate Guitar Song Collection — This isn’t necessarily a course, but it’s a collection of 75 legendary guitar songs. This collection focuses on rock songs, and you get tabbed examples to practice with.

Before you buy, it’s also worth mentioning that both purchase options come with a 60-day money-back guarantee. If you find you are dissatisfied with your purchase, you can simply contact customer support for a full refund if it’s within 60 days of your purchase.

Of course, selecting an online course is a large commitment. If you aren’t yet sure whether this is the right course for you, this video review from a student may help you make a decision.

Hopefully, now that you have more information on this remarkable guitar course, you’ll be able to make an informed decision. We like this course’s approach — it combines some of the intangible factors of playing guitar (like playing with heart) with tangible techniques (like incorporating triads and sweep picking). If you want to play the best leads of your life and develop substantially as a guitarist, we think this just might be the right course for you. Click here to check it out!