Video Review: “Andy’s Comprehensive Approach Parts 1 and 2” by Andy Fite

Have you ever felt overwhelmed, not knowing to practice on the guitar? I know I have! With all the different ways for organising scales like the CAGED system and 3 note per string fingerings, practicing can be a daily challenge. Then… there’s also those blank spots on the guitar, positions that I don’’t really play as much (and avoided) because I didn’t know them – there’s so much to work on!

In this new series by Andy Fite, I discovered how his personal comprehensive approach was relevant for my own playing. Andy presents the material in a friendly way. In Part 1, he demonstrates how to practice scales on single strings, within a position playing context, and then via ‘long scales’ which span the entire fretboard. In Part 2, he goes into scales in parallel (intervals) as well as 3-part harmony via close position and open position triads.

The thing about courses like this is that is that you probably know it’s good for you. Still, you might be unsure of how much of it you will actually practice. I know I’ve bought some books in the past that I didn’t go through as much (the George Van Eps Guitar Method series comes to mind). For me, the main difference with what Andy Fite is doing here is he’s making all the individual elements bite sized. You can tell Andy thought about this a lot and he’s summarizing years of experience within these concise videos.

Each segment opens up ideas for practice that helped me see the fretboard better (and improve my technique as well). If you’re wondering whether to get this series, I would definitely recommend this for anyone who’s been playing for awhile (intermediate and advanced players) who want to really have control and a connected view over the entire fretboard. For beginners, this video can be something that you study in conjunction with other videos or your repertoire studies. I wish someone taught me what Andy covers in this video like 15 years ago – it would have helped me a lot then. Still, I’m grateful that Andy is sharing this material now and I look forward to studying the whole series.

Pros: Great teaching, friendly approach, comprehensive and awesome exercises.
Cons: No notated examples or handouts. Then again, it’s part of the process to learn the fretboard by following the principles that Andy outlines.
TLDR: If you have any blank spots on the guitar fretboard or keep getting into playing ruts, this video series can be something to help you solve that problem.