Sound: Rock Discipline was first released on VHS back in 1995, in 2002 it has been updated to DVD format. The DVD contains the same lesson footage as the video, but features some extras like a backstage tour. Rock discipline goes for about 2 hours and it is not; as I expected an 'I play, now you play' type of DVD. John shows a variety of different excercises which encourage correct practice and self improvement. Rock Discipline will probably appeal most to players into rock, metal or shred music, however the warm up section should appeal to played on any genre. // 9
Content: The lesson section of the DVD contains: a very effective warm up section (including stretches and exercises) a section on playing with a metronome to build speed and accuracy, a section on scale fragments and how to use these to build solos. A section on picking arpeggios and 'inside string picking'. I found this section particularly handy. Very well explained. There is also a section focusing on legato playing. The most poorly explained part of this DVD is the section on sweep picking. John's explanation wasn't very thorough. The final section on chordal techniques was incredible, I learned a lot from that section about orchestration and interesting chords. It's a shame John didn't spend longer explaining that part. In between the sections there are seques where John talks about his inspirations and influences. Extras included on the DVD are a backstage tour with John; some footage of John Performing three of his songs at a G3 concert (unfortunatly these clips only go for about a minute each). There is a section of bloopers. A segment of tuning, Dream Theater biography. And a so called "interactive" tour of John's guitars, which was nowhere near as interactive as I expected it to be. There is also a tab book of all the excercises, so you can practice the excercises without having to watch the DVD // 8
Production Quality: Most of the footage of this DVD came straight from the VHS release. It's not the most modern DVD you are likely to see, but it's still charming. Three cameras were used to film this one focused on John whilst he explains things, one on his right hand, and you can guess where the other one is. The use of split screen between the left and right hands helps show correct technique. // 9
Impression: I love this DVD, the lessons and advice given aren't stale and it has a friendly feel to it. It is unfortunate that some of the sections didn't go into more details. I liked the inclusion of the tab book; it makes it easy to follow along with the lessons. I think this DVD is definately worth a look at, even if it is just for the warm ups. // 10
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