[MusicTlk] Fwd: [Tech-VI] Accessing online guitar tutorials with a screen reader
Kirk Reiser
kirk at reisers.ca
Thu Sep 19 18:04:22 UTC 2024
I'd like to add two more sites to the list of accessible guitar
tutorial sites. I can't speak to accessibility related to Windows or
Mac computers because I don't use either but these are accessible from
linux machines, which I use.
https://www.totallyguitars.com (Neil Hogan) They have a comprehensive
set of tutorials for pieces and theory. Neil also does a weekly wrap
up podcast which is fun to listen too.
https://www.jakereichbart.com Jake Reichbart, his lessons are very
indepth and he does a good job of explaining everything. He is more
jazz oriented so his pieces are typically jazz arrangements. His
lessons are a tad more expensive, usually about $20 but he often has
sales and if a person byes three or more the price turns out to be
about $15 a lesson.
Kirk
On Thu, 19 Sep 2024, Chela Robles via MusicTlk wrote:
> Just realized I sent you guys the wrong one here is the correct article. Sorry about that.
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: "David Goldfield via groups.io" <david.goldfield=outlook.com at groups.io>
> Date: September 19, 2024 at 2:02:24 AM PDT
> To: tv <tech-vi at groups.io>
> Subject: [Tech-VI] Accessing online guitar tutorials with a screen reader
> Reply-To: tech-vi at groups.io
>
>
> Sound Without Sight - Wednesday, September 18, 2024 at 7:17 PM
>
> Accessing online guitar tutorials with a screen reader
>
> INTRODUCTION
>
> In this article I’m going to discuss some of my favourite guitar websites. I want to stress that this is a very
> personal view, reflecting my own ability, needs and preferences, I am an amateur musician, and this is just the
> view of someone who plays for pleasure, and only occasionally to entertain. However, I have written it in the
> hope it may lead some players to useful and informative sites, but also to encourage others to put forward their
> thoughts about their own favourite sites and ideas about what could be provided but isn’t currently, or to
> suggest types of support they have yet to find.
>
> Below I list the guitar tuition websites I am going to cover, partly to avoid anyone already familiar with these
> sites wasting their time reading about what they already know, but also to give a brief overview of what
> follows:
>
> 1. Jerry’s Guitar Bar. Principal genre: singer-songwriter, but also has some classical guitar pieces.
> 2. JustinGuitar. Genres: rock, blues, singer-songwriter.
> 3. LickLibrary. Genres: rock, blues, singer-songwriter.
> 4. TrueFire. Genres: rock, blues, singer songwriter, jazz, latin, South American, flamenco, classical.
>
> An important pre-requisite for me is that the site must be reasonably accessible using a screen reader. If the
> content is really good, and largely meets my main criterion below, I can put up with a bit of hassle getting
> around it, but there are, thank goodness, enough fairly accessible sites that meet my needs that this is not a
> major concern.
>
> My number one criterion for deciding whether a guitar tuition site is going to be any use to me is simple. It
> must provide full note by note spoken explanations of what to play and how to play it. While I can figure out
> relatively easy note and fretting sequences, I am quite limited in that way so to be useful to me, a lesson on
> how to play something must provide all the details in audio, note by note, with fingering and fret information.
> Not surprisingly, many sites do not do this, relying on pictures and diagrams for some of the details, which is
> frustrating. One has to decide for one’s self of course whether there is enough information provided, given your
> ability to identify notes, fingering and fretting, to enable you to get what you need from a specific lesson or
> website. Finally, all the sites I am going to mention here require you to pay for their content, though some
> certainly provide some free material.
>
> JERRY’S GUITAR BAR
>
> Probably my preferred site currently is Jerry Lambeth’s “Jerry’s Guitar Bar”.
>
> This site specialises generally in singer-songwriter and rock material. For example there is a lot of material
> by: The Beatles, Eagles, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Crosby Stills and Nash, John Fahey, Ralph
> McTell, Pink Floyd, America, Richard Thompson, and the Rolling Stones.
>
> There are many things to like about this site. Firstly, I have not yet come across a lesson in which Jerry skips
> over any details of how to play a given song. Secondly, in my opinion, the site is very accessible to a screen
> reader user. It uses headings well and has a clear, logical layout. If you follow the link for “all the songs”,
> you have options to browse them by the following categories: free lessons, by artist, collections (usually these
> are for a given artist but sometimes by other features such as playing style), by difficulty level: easy,
> intermediate and advanced, by bar chord usage or not, by thumb-over chords or not, by playing style, lessons
> with separate solos, finger style instrumental pieces, guitar courses (here Jerry groups lessons at a certain
> level and playing style to form courses), tips and tricks, latest lessons, coming up.
>
> Buying a lesson for an individual song typically costs between 5 and 6 dollars, with slightly harder material
> being a dollar or so more. For example Paul Simon’s “Something So Right”, which contains four lesson videos,
> currently costs $6.97.
>
> If you purchase one or more individual songs, you’ll receive an email with a link to download the lessons(s).
> They download as zip files. When you open the zip file you’ll find one or more lesson videos, a performance play
> through of the video of the song and pdf files of the tabs and chords/lyrics. Once you save them to your
> computer, they are yours to keep. If you ever lose them then you can email Jerry and they will send you a
> replacement link. If you click on a song title, included on the purchase page is a preview video showing part of
> the lesson. You need to be aware that download links expire in 72 hours and you can only download a file a
> maximum of 5 times. Again, if you fall foul of any of these limits, you can just email them and they will send
> you a fresh link.
>
> Jerry’s site has an active forum. A relatively new feature is articles written by Jerry on particular topics of
> interest. An interesting recent one was on the science of guitar tone, which discussed the different woods used
> to construct guitars and the influence these have on the sound of the instrument.
>
> JUSTINGUITAR
>
> I haven’t gone over as many lessons from JustinGuitar as from Jerry’s Guitar Bar, but with everyone I have used,
> Justin has meticulously detailed every note, fret and fingering.
>
> To get the most out of this site you need to sign up, which is free. There is masses of material on this site,
> including structured courses starting from beginner and going to pretty advanced. There are also specific
> courses on particular subjects or musical areas such as Blues. There are also many individual song lessons, as
> well as lessons on other topics such as Jazz chords on the guitar, ear training, guitar technique, guitar gear
> and guitar anatomy.
>
> The site has an app for which you pay a subscription, and I believe also has a one-off life membership you can
> buy. However, I have not yet explored the accessibility of the app on IOS or Android.
>
> The website is generally accessible and well structured, with good use of headings. Justin has made a huge
> amount of the material on his website free to access on YouTube. The main benefit you gain from using his
> website is structure, the lessons on his website are logically organised, where as his YouTube entries are just
> linked from his YouTube page, but are not organised into any structure, albeit there are thousands of them. If
> you search for a guitar lesson for any well-known song from the last 50 years, there is a fair chance that
> Justin has covered it.
>
> Whereas with Jerry’s Guitar Bar site you get to download and keep what you buy, on Justin’s site you buy access
> to the video on the site. You don’t get to download it.
>
> LICKLIBRARY
>
> LickLibrary is another site where you need to register, but again this is free. It also contains a huge volume
> of material. The purchase model here is like Jerry’s Guitar Bar, you buy and download the lessons you want.
>
> In terms of detailed descriptions of how to play songs, this site is a bit more variable. On the whole it is
> pretty good, but the level of detail does vary a bit between different tutors. I would particularly recommend
> Danny Gill as an outstanding tutor. His technical ability, very clear explanations, and general enthusiasm are
> very engaging.
>
> This site tends to sell collections of song lessons by individual artists or bands, or occasionally it groups
> songs from artists with a broadly similar style into a collection for sale. It also went through a phase of
> recording lessons for all the songs on some classic albums, including Hotel California and Joshua Tree. Because
> what you buy from this site tends to be collections of song lessons, purchases tend to be more expensive,
> typically around £20 for a collection for a given artist or band. But of course, you are getting more for your
> money. You can also by courses on Blues, Rock Guitar and many others. There are also lessons available for bass
> guitar. There are loads of jam tracks and lessons in the style of particular artists, e.g. Santana or Pink
> Floyd.
>
> TRUEFIRE
>
> This is another very interesting site, but in my opinion the most variable in quality of the ones I cover here.
> It has a wide range of lessons on many different topics, mostly on the guitar but I have seen a few for bass
> guitar and two for harmonica. The variability, in my view, comes in relation to two aspects of the lessons. One
> is the level of detail provided about how to play songs. Some tutors are very good and provide all the detail
> you could need, while others tend to gloss over some details and rely on the pictures to tell the full story. My
> advice would be, if you find a tutor who provides enough detail for you, use the site feature which allows you
> to see all the lessons that tutor has contributed.
>
> There are also some lessons on more advanced classical and jazz guitar, and here generally tutors rely on the
> pictures, sheet music or tab to provide all the details. The other variable aspect, in my opinion, is the
> content of the lessons themselves. Again, some lessons are packed with information, ideas and techniques. Others
> have left me feeling frankly that I have paid for more than I have got from the lesson or course. Again,
> sticking with a tutor who you consider provides value is a good strategy.
>
> One particularly good aspect of TrueFire is how well the app for this website works on iOS (I have not tested
> Android). The app is very accessible, has good help support, and allows easy navigation around individual song
> lessons and the features of the site more generally. The app is free, and you can use it to buy lessons from the
> site. Very occasionally I have had to use the “clear cache” option to get something to work on the app. On those
> occasions I found their support people very helpful, and they got back to me in good time, allowing for the fact
> the site is based in the United States.
>
> Overall, in spite of its more variable quality, I would recommend this site, not least because it covers some
> genres for which it can be hard to find accessible lessons. However, I would advise a bit more caution before
> buying than I feel is necessary for the other sites. It’s worth previewing lessons or courses if you can, and
> checking reviews.
>
> SUMMARY
>
> All sites listed offer great ways to learn guitar and are mostly accessible using a screen reader. Jerry’s
> Guitar Bar and JustinGuitar offer the most detailed and consistent lessons, with Jerry’s website offering you
> the ability to download and keep lessons to listen offline.
>
> LickLibrary and TrueFire offer a huge range of content and genres at the expense of the description within their
> lessons being more variable. TrueFire also offers an accessible iOS app.
>
> NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
>
> Also check out Bill Brown’s “Guitar by Ear” courses and lessons, which have been designed specifically for VI
> learners. These are available to purchase as downloads or on CD and are covered in more detail in a separate Knowledge
> Hub article.
>
> The post Accessing online guitar tutorials with a screen reader first appeared on Sound Without Sight.
>
> https://soundwithoutsight.org/accessing-online-guitar-tutorials-with-a-screen-reader/
>
>
>
>
>
>
> David Goldfield,
>
> Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist
>
>
>
> If you need help using your assistive technology learn about my training services by visiting
>
> WWW.ScreenReaderTraining.com
>
>
>
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