Metal Riffology Reviews

These comments and reviews are compiled from the Metal Method Message Board. Spelling and grammar are not edited.

Digging it! I like the way titles are arranged on the menus,the arpeggios section is gonna get a lot of use.
-Guitarsmurf

I received the Metal Riffology Course yesterday and went home and watched the first disc. I have to say that I really liked it and am looking forward to learning from it. The layout is perfect, the subjects are exactly what I was looking for and everyone who buys this will love it. My hats off to you for putting together an amazing course.
-Motley

I just wanted to let you know I came home for lunch today and saw I'd received the Metal Riffology DVD's. I planned on just skimming through it but, before I knew it I had watched both DVD's in their entirety! Literally, I'm mesmerized by the whole course.
You, Doug, and whoever else contributed did a great job here. I can't wait to get started on it!
-Tony

Got my copy of Riffology in the mail yesterday and sat and watched it all the way through. All 102 riffs!
Overall you did a great job Sarah! There are some great riffs on there. You made a dvd that I think just about anyone at any level of playing can use. You did it in such a way that the riffs themselves weren't overly complex or technical so the beginner could dig right it. You sprinkled in enough theory to allow the player to do more research on the topic if they chose and alot of the riffs could be altered or extended for those that were looking for ideas in their writing of music. Production wise, I thought you did a nice job. Its hard being on that side of the camera and you seemed comfortable and I got the impression you were enjoying it. Its refreshing seeing a female do a video like this as its such a male dominated genre. My 9 yr old daughter loves hard rock and metal and is learning guitar with me. She has a pretty mean look BC Rich Warlock. Its encouraging for her to see other females playing this style so I give you a lot of respect for that. Not sure what your plans are in terms of a follow up to this but I think it would interesting if you did a supplement that contained more explanation on the theory and expand the section on "making it your own" I think something like that would be a big hit. I haven't sat down and worked through any of the riffs yet but general questions were going through my mind as I was watching it. I'll be sure to post those as I work through the music. Again great job!
-6string

I received today.
Sarah, YOU ROCK!!!!!
Some of those riffs gave me goose pimples.
Those guitars on your set are sick! sick! sick!
Metal Method vids totally smash the competition!
The on screen rythmic notation you guys use is the best out there!
The sound quality of the vids is almost 3d like! It just booms out of the speakers and melts your face!!
I can see that you guys put so much TLC and polish on these vids. Wow!
I gotta give this DVD set 5 stars out of 5 stars.
I'll give a more detailed review after I spend more time with DVD's.
OK, I'm aleady looking forward to the next release. Thank you!
-dougmarksstudent

Received mine on Friday. Haven't gotten to post a review yet because I've been using it too much and haven't had time to. Haha. Thank you very much for autographing my copy, Sarah! I really appreciate that. I must say that after listening to only 3 of the riffs on the first DVD I was inspired to take the riffs and re-write them into my own style.. It wasn't until later that I realized that you mentioned doing this. I have already spent hours with these DVD's and have picked out my favorite scales to use for riffs and have found not only the scales but the rhythm and writing techniques outlined to be VERY helpful. As I mention to you before Sarah, I was planning on writing and recording a song by a certain date due to personal reasons but later decided to wait for this DVD to help me write a better song. And I must say that it was WELL worth the wait. I have already learned so much from this DVD set and am sure I will continue to learn much more. The DVD's are set up in a very simple way to understand and navigate through. And there is definitely something in there for everyone. I loved the styles you covered with the riffs. Kudos on a job INCREDIBLY well done!!
P.S. I think it would be awesome if you eventually made a DVD out of the "Melodic Principles for Rock Guitar" book.
-Deven

I have been so anxious for the Metal Riffology lesson since I first heard about it. This morning I had a feeling that it might arrive. I literally watched for the mailman through the front door window for an hour an a half. Honest! Low and behold, I saw him pull up and saw him place the package into the mailbox . Needless to say, I am ELATED! I watched both DVD's intently, and I am thrilled to death with this lesson of a lifetime. Thank you Sarah for creating the perfect lesson as far I'm concerned. It's extremely well put together, and one that I'll cherish for a lifetime. Your playing and guitar sound rule. I love the way that you explain everything in such detail and I love all of the different examples given. Sheer brilliance. It was well worth the wait . I too give it 5 stars out of 5 stars. Top notch work. This is definitely going to keep me busy this Winter as I want to try to perfect all of these amazing riffs. I'm going to have all of the riffs printed this evening so that I can get to work on this! Thank you Sarah for the great work, and also thanks to all the people on the credits and to Metal Method. I'm now in guitar heaven .
-Steve

I got my Metal Riffology today..Its more than a course. It is an Encyclobedia of Metal Riffology..A must have..
Sarah Spisak the first word to mind was Impressed!!!! Metal riffology .... A tour through Metal Guitar.
-GuitimeDennis

I'm so thankful I waited for tis course. I spent about 10-12 months trying to write a verse/main riff for my song but came up with nothing, but after this I came up with a main riff that I loved using mostly pedal tones. Still working on it. I can't wait to post the final product out. It's going to be a full song I am doing with a good friend of mine. Guitar, vocals, and probably drums. I'm really excited!Haha
Thank you SO much, Sarah! You do not know how much this has helped me! Without MM I couldn't have done any of this. I don't think I'm really going to have a lead guitar part in the song, just rhythms and melodic sections etc. i think that the Natural Minor section gave me a really good idea for a harmonic section in the song where everything could just kind of... calm down.
THANKS AGAIN!!!
- Deven

Her new Riffology is a whole new beast. I have her book as well and it's great. However Theory takes me a whole lot longer to comprehend than most. I can only absorb a little at a time, and it's 3 steps forward two steps back. I had both of her riffology cds...and they were great. I learned to play alot of riffs from favorite bands.
This Riffology could Easily be Stage 7. Stage six was all about theory, and Doug once said it didn't need to be done as the final stage, it could be done during stages 1-5, (I think stage 3 would be the best starting point). It's alot to learn, all theory. The new Riffology is both in depth and it's easily attainable for someone that's in the stage 2-3 level. She explains the theory much like her book, but the riffs are easily attainable without understanding the theory. VERY WELL LAID OUT. You can jump right in and learn the riffs she's teaching, but what's even cooler is you can use the riffs to create your own. It in my opinion is a work that you can easily learn straight through and build a great repitore of riffs, fairly easily, then you can use these riffs to develop your own, a device to help with songwriting skills, and then you can go back and understand the music theory to further develop your musical skill and knowledge.
It has something for everyone. Doug's stages teaches you basics from rythym to lead, Riffology gives a beginner or intermediate riffs/rythym that are easily learned but mak you sound great. FUN things to make your learning process that more enjoyable. Then as you develop and move through Doug's stages and disesect her explantions for the riffs she's teaching you learn to understand and apply music theory. And it gives you the tools to develop your own music and style.
Like I said it's a beast al of it's own. Yes like her previous riffology you can easily hear the sounds and styles of metal, they are just not tied to any certain band like the previous riffology was. But most have a sounf that will remind you of certain bands. The best thing is that after watching it now 3 times, 1. the riffs are pretty straight foward and will provide numerous hours of learning and entertainment. 2. It gives you a VERY strong basis for forming your own riffs and start the music writnig process and finaly, 3. A very strong reinforcement of music theory by application.
This should have probably been in her review, but I haven't quite been able to really word my thoughts yet on a good review. It is a MUST have supplement to the stages. Even at the lower beginer stages, this will provide a fun way of sounding ool without a ton of effort yet provide advanced knowledge to continue guitar learning process that's is essentially never ending. If nothing else you will have a blast learning riffs that sound very impressive to your friends!
-Tim ("Rayzer")

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