I first found about Les Wise via his books for REH Publications. He was one of the first instructors at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California and has taught many students over his years there. In this unique course, Les shares his perspective of the guitar fretboard in standard tuning (and how to master it!)
This course which is part of the Truefire Foundry series is an independently produced course that is sold on the Truefire website. That means that Les Wise produced this course in his own studio.
Fretboard Freedom Fighter is an 8-week that is designed to help guitarists master the fretboard without being locked into positions. The core idea is by learning every arpeggio starting on every fretting hand finger, you will be able to play any arpeggio without falling back into patterns and habits. Les Wise enables us to do this by learning 3 “master structures” which systematically covers EVERY possible arpeggio fingering on every string set, across the entire fingerboard.
The great part about this course is that it has an in-built timeline for us to work on the material. This is really useful for anyone who has a busy schedule yet wants to level up in a systematic time frame. The concepts are explained in a clear manner and progress gradually. We begin with 7th chords and eventually end up chord alterations and triad fingerings (which are actually variations of the initial “master structures” we have practiced.
As you go through the course, the depth (and power) of this approach really comes across. I know that I personally has to revisit the earlier material to strengthen my command of the fingerings. Like many great courses, the simplicity of the approach is deceptive – hiding the true power when you master the material.
In conclusion, this course is very rewarding for those who are brave enough to embark on it. It certainly helped me gain a clearer view of the fingerboard. I personally will recommend this course to my more patient (and curious) private students.
Pros: Very well organised material. Systematic and step by step.
Cons: Material can be dry. I recommend alternate practicing this course alongside working on real music or songs.
TLDR: If you like structure and want to really master the fretboard, this course is a great system for mastering the fretboard.
[Where to Buy]
Get your copy here:
https://truefire.com/foundry-guitar-lessons/fretboard-freedom-fighte/c1124
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