Maybe for a new student just trying out guitar, though I would still rather get a $100 Yamaha before I got the Jamstik.
When I first saw the articles about this it looked interesting, but honestly there's NOTHING I could play on that thing except beginner pieces. I don't know any pieces that are limited to 4 frets, lol. I can't imagine having to reach up to click in a new 4 frets. Couldn't jam on it either, guitar is hard enough to know where the note is let alone having to use the switch to change the octave. In guitar you can have the same pitch in 4 different places on the fretboard ( on different strings).
I was hoping it was like an inexpensive Frameworks guitar, or other brand. I guess you sometimes get what you pay for. For what this is, It may well be too expensive. Although I do like the idea of one.
Maybe for a new student just trying out guitar, though I would still rather get a $100 Yamaha before I got the Jamstik.
When I first saw the articles about this it looked interesting, but honestly there's NOTHING I could play on that thing except beginner pieces. I don't know any pieces that are limited to 4 frets, lol. I can't imagine having to reach up to click in a new 4 frets. Couldn't jam on it either, guitar is hard enough to know where the note is let alone having to use the switch to change the octave. In guitar you can have the same pitch in 4 different places on the fretboard ( on different strings).
I was hoping it was like an inexpensive Frameworks guitar, or other brand. I guess you sometimes get what you pay for. For what this is, It may well be too expensive. Although I do like the idea of one.
Absolutely getting a $100 Yamaha would be infinitely better for a new student. Just one of many reasons ... I remember when I was about twelve or thirteen spending countless hours with a $75 Yamaha learning all the inversions of all the chords I could play. Being able to move your hand and fingers between three inversion of all the common chords seamlessly without looking takes a long time to master but pays dividends. On a far more serious note, during my entire teens, my love life revolved around the bands I played in, I'm not sure the girls would have been nearly as impressed with me with that round my neck!
I backed the BT jamstik+, the reviews of the original js's are not good, the strap issue is a pretty consistent finding, and the original connects using WiFi, and there are lots of problems reported with pairing, hoping the BT version is significantly better.
I will have a first look at the bt jamstik+ coming soon.
Absolutely getting a $100 Yamaha would be infinitely better for a new student. Just one of many reasons ... I remember when I was about twelve or thirteen spending countless hours with a $75 Yamaha learning all the inversions of all the chords I could play. Being able to move your hand and fingers between three inversion of all the common chords seamlessly without looking takes a long time to master but pays dividends. On a far more serious note, during my entire teens, my love life revolved around the bands I played in, I'm not sure the girls would have been nearly as impressed with me with that round my neck!
And there's nothing wrong with having a decent electric or acoustic. My daughter in the video plays an Olympia acoustic and a Squier mini electric. I've got good electrics in the house like the Les Paul shown in the review I wrote on iK Multimedia's iLoud.
But how did you learn before you started playing inversions? How many people went through using a Mel Bay book and figured out notes for Ode To Joy, before figuring out how to read a chord box diagram?
I still think the 5 fret jamstik is a good thing. It's not a guitar replacement, and it doesn't intend to be one.
Are 5 frets limiting? Yes. But then, constraints can be useful. I once injured my ring finger on my fretting hand and had to figure out how to play without it. The result was that I played in ways I never would have if I hadn't.
This review originally had two paragraphs that addressed love-life-as-the-reason-for-learning-guitar. They didn't make the cut because they weren't specifically about jamstik- my internal voice said "get to the point, already!"
And there's nothing wrong with having a decent electric or acoustic. My daughter in the video plays an Olympia acoustic and a Squier mini electric. I've got good electrics in the house like the Les Paul shown in the review I wrote on iK Multimedia's iLoud.
But how did you learn before you started playing inversions? How many people went through using a Mel Bay book and figured out notes for Ode To Joy, before figuring out how to read a chord box diagram?
I still think the 5 fret jamstik is a good thing. It's not a guitar replacement, and it doesn't intend to be one.
Are 5 frets limiting? Yes. But then, constraints can be useful. I once injured my ring finger on my fretting hand and had to figure out how to play without it. The result was that I played in ways I never would have if I hadn't.
This review originally had two paragraphs that addressed love-life-as-the-reason-for-learning-guitar. They didn't make the cut because they weren't specifically about jamstik- my internal voice said "get to the point, already!"
To your question, "But how did you learn before you started playing inversions?" I initially had a friend of my older brother show me the fingering to all the chords in House of the Rising Sun on an old Spanish gut string that belonged to my brother's girl friend. Later he showed me how to play 12 bar in E. That lead to the need to bridge and learn inversions. The rest as they say is history I can't read a note of music sadly, despite several fruitless years of piano lessons, I have always played by ear.
Of course I wasn't excluding electric or semi acoustics, I too have always had a collection of all the above. Choose your axe. I just think a kid should learn on a real guitar. Bleeding fingers are part of the process too. That said if this thing helps then that's great.
Comments
When I first saw the articles about this it looked interesting, but honestly there's NOTHING I could play on that thing except beginner pieces. I don't know any pieces that are limited to 4 frets, lol. I can't imagine having to reach up to click in a new 4 frets. Couldn't jam on it either, guitar is hard enough to know where the note is let alone having to use the switch to change the octave. In guitar you can have the same pitch in 4 different places on the fretboard ( on different strings).
I was hoping it was like an inexpensive Frameworks guitar, or other brand. I guess you sometimes get what you pay for. For what this is, It may well be too expensive. Although I do like the idea of one.
Absolutely getting a $100 Yamaha would be infinitely better for a new student. Just one of many reasons ... I remember when I was about twelve or thirteen spending countless hours with a $75 Yamaha learning all the inversions of all the chords I could play. Being able to move your hand and fingers between three inversion of all the common chords seamlessly without looking takes a long time to master but pays dividends. On a far more serious note, during my entire teens, my love life revolved around the bands I played in, I'm not sure the girls would have been nearly as impressed with me with that round my neck!
I will have a first look at the bt jamstik+ coming soon.
And there's nothing wrong with having a decent electric or acoustic. My daughter in the video plays an Olympia acoustic and a Squier mini electric. I've got good electrics in the house like the Les Paul shown in the review I wrote on iK Multimedia's iLoud.
But how did you learn before you started playing inversions? How many people went through using a Mel Bay book and figured out notes for Ode To Joy, before figuring out how to read a chord box diagram?
I still think the 5 fret jamstik is a good thing. It's not a guitar replacement, and it doesn't intend to be one.
Are 5 frets limiting? Yes. But then, constraints can be useful. I once injured my ring finger on my fretting hand and had to figure out how to play without it. The result was that I played in ways I never would have if I hadn't.
This review originally had two paragraphs that addressed love-life-as-the-reason-for-learning-guitar. They didn't make the cut because they weren't specifically about jamstik- my internal voice said "get to the point, already!"
To your question, "But how did you learn before you started playing inversions?" I initially had a friend of my older brother show me the fingering to all the chords in House of the Rising Sun on an old Spanish gut string that belonged to my brother's girl friend. Later he showed me how to play 12 bar in E. That lead to the need to bridge and learn inversions. The rest as they say is history
Of course I wasn't excluding electric or semi acoustics, I too have always had a collection of all the above. Choose your axe. I just think a kid should learn on a real guitar. Bleeding fingers are part of the process too.