Sincerely,
George Lessig

PLAY-IT-NOW TUNES has developed an innovative all-audio method of instruction that teaches guitarists to play their favorite songs. Individual guitar lessons for the greatest hits are delivered entirely on CD without use of reading materials or videos.  An expert instructor verbally guides the player's fingers through every note, chord, and strum of the song's primary guitar part, making it easy for everyone 20 to learn to play popular songs. A full-band accompaniment provides support, guidance, and a final play-along. This patent-pending all-audio approach is not only extraordinarily easy, but also entertaining and extremely effective.

Music Trades Magazine

"Hara, president of TalkingTabs, has developed an all-audio method of instruction that teaches consumers to learn guitar by listening only.  The company also produce Play-It-Now Tunes, which talks players through playing their favorite songs.  The music education products come on CD - there is no book or visual guide of any kind - and features instructors providing audio guides note-by-note, measure-by-measure.  Then comes a play-along section when the guitar part is learned.  The novel approach was inspired by Hara's son, Jared.

Today Play-It-Now Tunes offers over 160 songs, the majority being classic rock tunes.  More are on the way, including the classic, "Stairway To Heaven".

It's an idea so new it's old: so many players learned guitar by someone, usually a friend, talking them through it.  So the CD's do just that: talk the player through the intro, talk about what chord to play and how to play it ("first finger, second string, second fret...second finger, first string, third fret.")

It all gets back to listening.  As someone said, this retro - going back to the way it was.  I guess it is! "

Musical Merchandise Review

TalkingTabs
"BrainStew" as Performed by Green Day

"Unlike many modern guitar instructional offerings, this disc offers no notation or tablature, no interactive graphical fretboard interfaces, no video segments, and no software to install-and that's axactly what makes it cool.  The whopping 44 audio tracks on this CD get you to do one thing: learn a Green Day tune using your ears, by listening to a guitar instructor clearly talk through and demonstrate every riff, chord, fingering, and rhythm required by the song.  TalkingTabs has dozens of song lessons available at different skill levels, and the wonderfully old-school "see with your ears" teaching format is so effective that one would hope it will soon be applied to specific (and more advanced) playing approaches, not just hit songs.  The voiceovers may, at times, come off too sac-charine for some Green Day fans, as the voice of Barney might if the purple dinosaur were attempting to talk teenaged skate rats through gonzo street tricks.  But, in an era when the unending barrage of digital "conveniences" we're offered sometimes only serves to make our lives more complicated, the TalkingTabs approach is a welcome one."

Jude Gold
Guitar Player Magazine
August 2008 Issue

"Just wanted to let you guys know, I picked up a Play It Now Tune lesson at the local music store. "Redemption Song" man o man I'M HOOKED. Your product is just what the guitar doctor ordered. You will definitely have one very happy customer spreading the news about TalkingTabs."

Wishing you much success!
CHEERS!
Ronald Kirschner

Jade Thomas
Account Executive
FedEx Services

"Talking Tabs is a refreshing product that embraces the age old technique of ear development.  It is a well organized approach using today's technology, while teaching the musician to listen.  I believe it's a great product to enhance any teaching materials already embraced by guitar teachers.  It's nice that the people at Talking Tabs have reminded us that learning music is also study in sound."

Menzie Pittman,
Director of Education
Contemporary Music Center

"As a beginning guitarist, I have found the "Play It Now Tunes," from Talking Tabs Inc. to be an excellent product. If you are interested in the pleasure of learning to play a selection of popular songs from a variety of musical genre, or in mastering specific guitar-playing skills, then the "Play It Now Tunes," is for you.

Each Play It Now CD begins by playing the specific tune in its entirety. On subsequent tracks, the song is decomposed into its successive component parts, e.g., introduction, first verse, chorus, interlude, second verse, etc. Each of the component parts are further decomposed into bars, and an explanation of the chord progression and strumming pattern for each set of bars is given. As each required chord is introduced, its fingering is reviewed. Each group of bars is presented with several exercises in which you play along with the instructor. Of course, a major advantage to this type of instructional media is that you can practice each part of a song while playing along with the instructor as many times as you like.

Each tutorial ends with a complete review, and finishes by playing the entire song with the guitar part muted so that you get to play along with the band. Very cool!

I have thus far purchased 9 of the "Play It Now Tunes," 5 at the beginner level, 2 at the intermediate level, and 2 at the advanced level. At the beginner's level, I have "Ain't No Sunshine," "Killing Me Softly," "Bad Moon Rising," "Brown Eyed Girl," and "Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay." The thing that makes all of these tunes level 1 is that they require only chord-strumming skills, i.e., no pick up notes, pull offs, hammer ons, etc. I have found some variability in the skill level required within the level 1 collection. "Ain't No Sunshine," is an excellent first song for a beginner because it only requires 4 of the easiest chords, and only down strokes at that. "Sittin On the Dock of the Bay" is a bit more challenging since it requires a total of 7 different chords (A, B7, and C through G), plus it features a strumming pattern with both up and down strokes.

The two level 2 tuens I have are "Folsom Prison Blues," and "Man In Black." These two tunes feature pick up notes and some pull offs, plus the strumming patterns are a bit more complicated than the level 1 tunes. Each requires a capo.

The 2 level 3 songs that I have are "Breathe," and "On The Road Again." What makes each of these two tunes level 3 are the advanced skills required. The Faith Hill song uses several less frequently used chords, including C plus 9, G over B, and D7 sus 4. It also features a D chord generated immediately after a D sus 2 via a hammer-on. In addition, it requires a number of arpeggios. No bar chords are required and so it is somewhat easier than "On The Road Again." If you are an advanced guitar player and you are looking for a lively up-beat tune that will give you some practice with bar chords, then "On The Road Again" is a very good choice.

As I stated at the outset, I am just a beginner and I have not mastered all of these songs. I have reviewed them all carefully because I wanted to aquire an understanding of what skill set is required to become a competent guitar player, at least for playing a variety of pop and country songs. I have thus far had a good many hours of enjoyment practicing various parts of these songs and playing along with the instructors."

Gary R. Day