The Beato Book Exposé (A Review From a Basic Learner)
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- Опубликовано: 30 янв 2022
- The Beato Book is something I've been curious of time and time again, more or so due to the general view of his channel from many sides of the music community, and my own personal thoughts on him and his content. I wanted to look into the book to see for myself whether or not this was worth the price it's placed at... the answer which would probably be not really.
Leave your feedback in the comments below, watchers and dislikers, as I'm curious to hear from your side of the picture.
I bought the book and completely agree with you. It is nothing as advertised. I practically gave up after 5 pages. Tried coming back to it, going through later chapters, but to no use. Completely worthless to me. And where I'm coming from, it is no small amount of money.
This is so spot-on. Been in the similar situation as you although I didn't get the book. I had a preview of it and saw that it was just a dump of diagrams which is not really of use if you don't provide context. Great video!
The interactive aspect is helpful. But there is so much free great stuff out there. And if you hit a wall with something on any particular channel that would lead you need to purchase something just search out the concept/s and you'll usually find it for free.
Your main point is completely correct: It's a reference book, not a step-by-step guide or tutorial. That's critical for beginners and prospective purchasers to understand. He recently did a complete overhaul of it. It's called "The Beato Book Interactive" because it has videos and sound clips integrated in at least parts of it. To his credit, in the intro video to the current version, on his website, he now explicitly says that it's not a book meant to be read from start to finish, that it's a textbook designed for people to look up topics that interest them and dive in. I agree that his past videos were misleading in what he promised. More recently, I've noticed he just says "check out my Beato Book." I personally enjoy his videos but prefer other RUclipsrs (and doing my own web research) for learning theory.
so even the interactive version and exercises are not good for learning? I am asking because I am interested in the interactive book. thanks
@@AtefWagih each module has 1 or 2 sentences just telling you what something is but not explaining it at all.
I agree with your assessment 100%,.
I've played guitar for about 20 years and can play pretty well, but thought I'd finally take the time to learn the theory side that I never learnt to help improve my playing. The interactve book was certainly advertised as 'for beginners' so thought I'd give it a go, assuming I'd be in a pretty good starting position for the learning material as I already had most of the basics down The problem I found was from the outset (even in his beginners course) is that it doesn't follow a natural progression of learning and very quickly delves into 'complex' musical theory, circle of 5ths, sus chords etc without any explanation (not that an explanation would be useful for beginners). I was bamboozled and lost heart after about 15 minutes but persevered hoping maybe the lessons would circle back. THEY DON'T. Its a steam train of random chords, scales, just dumped on you from there on to further confuse and dishearten. So disappointed after really enjoying his online content.
Is money back an option???
Yeab man, I wish I would've seen this before spending the money. I agree completely. The biggest downside for me is the complete lack of explanations. Like after the first couple pages, I had no idea what any of those diagrams meant and there's NOTHING explaining it. Kinda sucks. I really love Rick Beato's channel, so it's disappointing that I kinda feel swindelled by him. At least to some degree, as I get there's a lot of cool stuff for people that already know some theory.
I always suspected exactly this, which is why I avoided it. However, a lot of what you said here applies to his videos as well! His videos seem to assume people have intermmediate knowledge and focuses on more advanced stuff. Even his music theory basics videos gloss over so many things that fly over a beginner's head.
Edit: you addressed this by the last 5 minutes of your video so its nice to see you agree!
So, what books would you suggest?
As a guitar player with occassional recording jobs, I've been contemplating on getting a copy of the Beato Book to maybe improve myself as a player, but still taken a back with reviews like yours.
But I'm not sure whether I should consider myself as a beginner or not.
My case is I learnt music theory by myself using elementary music theory books from grade 1 to 5, can tell the difference between a quaver and a crotchet 😅,know the position of notes on the music stave, eventually understood the cycle of 5ths, enharmonics, relative major-minor ie A minor is the relative minor of C major, understand the basics of chord construction and understand the origins of the seven modes from the major scale.
Huge disclaimer: I have basic understanding of what I see on a music chart, but I couldn't sight read.
Do you think what I have for now is adequate enough for me to really benefit from the book? The price of the Beato Book for us in Malaysia is kinda steep and it will surely be a huge waste of money if there's not much I could juice from it.
I'll say that considering the price of the book and from what you kinda self-analyze based on your knowledge of music, what you're pretty much getting is way overpriced for what it's worth honestly. From what I saw in the book at least, sight reading is something that almost seems like an essential skill Beato seems to expect from some people at certain times not only in the book, but from some of his own videos on basic theory as well.
At best, it's a "debatably" (in big quotation marks) purposeful use as a reference book rather than learning material. Although some people have even spoken out about how the book doesn't serve those who are at that level too because it drives them off course as well, which is super odd. I'd say there are definitely better options you could probably find out there, and even recommendations on RUclips, but the Beato book I'd stray away from due to the false advertising it gets from the very creator (i.e. "beginner's learning tool"), and the sheer amount of debate that hinders around it being useful in the first place (which many say it isn't).
Again, I think it just comes down to whether you put value in it by the cover or not, but it's definitely best to look at what others say about it and know the ins and outs before you decide on blowing money on it, because $50 is quite a price considering what it is.
My go-to youtuber for music theory is Jake Lizzio from Signals Music Studio. He's absolute proof that teaching is a skill in itself.
When it comes to teaching theory, Rick is the anti-Jake.
I have been playing guitar since my teens, just picked up the promo pack that has all of his books, I have only looked at the begginers guitar course and he does teach a lot of things no other guitar teachers had taught me before, haven't really looked at the book that has a new interactive version nowadays.
There is no instruction in the book.
But I got alot out of it. You have to do the work though. The triads are something EVERYONE should know.
If you have ever torn apart the circle of 5ths until you understand what is going on, you can teach yourself alot with this book.
BUT... Beato is a guy sitting in a studio full of gear with a head full of theory and how many albums has he put out? Same with the book. A book full of diagrams from a guy who claims to be a teacher...
Did you had to blur his video here for any reason? Just wondering
Great review of the Dick Beatoff's book.
Underrated comment.
Rick was a college professor, so i think he used to teach music to people who already understood most stuff.
I think this influences a lot of his themes and instructions. And I don't really think that he actually plans most of his videos too far ahead, so... it's mostly him talking naturally... which can be confusing to someone who isn't already throughly introduced.
It is a downpoint for sure... but I think is stems more from a lack of teaching skills rather than malice.
It is always on sale, things that are always on sale are too expensive
I disagree with your comment at 12:30. I don't think his Jazz theory is that good. He is weak on bebop and the Lydian Chromatic Concept. He even thinks that modes and scales are the same thing which is completely untrue. He's OK for Pop and Rock but not Jazz. The book you review is just a chord reference book - complete waste of money. If you want to learn Jazz Harmony you can't beat the Berklee book 'The Chord Scale theory & Jazz Harmony' by Barry Nettles. Expensive but worth it.
It's $26 on Amazon. What am I missing?🤔
I learn more from his videos
wait, I have 4.0 version and there IS an explanation what upper and lower case roman numerals mean, right the first time you meet them in a book
Ah well thanks for that little oversight at least. I was comparing towards older versions from what I had because I also heard about how the 2.0 edition didn't have a trace of this and from skimming through the 4.0 one, it seemed as if it was the same.
There probably are some things I missed on the book and I'll give credit to Beato for, but as such I'm still not on board with it.
@@masteraudiofancy8799 anyway - good review, thank you. Worked as an excuse for me not to blame myself for not reading it since I got it for free as an addition to the eartraining program
Well I bought the book and my experience is exactly as you have explained it :(. Unfortunately. Basically if you do not know music theroy, cant read notation etc do not buy it. There are almist no explanations in it.
The book is an extremely comprehensive textbook, worthy of a lifetime of study. It is not supposed to be a "learn to play like Jeff Beck in five minutes" tome.
Fully agree with this. The book is terrible. It's not a book. It's a sequence of fragments loosely ordered. There's no explanation in it. The theory section leaps around between modes and chords and doesn't explain any of it. Rick himself seems knowledgeable and capable but the book is just not a good way to learn music theory.
Damn, I'm from a 3rd world country, and I bought his ultimate guide lol
Any recommendations?
Hey fellow subhuman! Are you also enraged that you have to live in a tent because you bought this glorified pdf with a sleek cover? I sure as hell am! I won't even talk about how difficult it is to reach knowledge and education in shitholes we live... Fuck our part of the world amiright? Hang in there, stay hydrated.
If he releases anything other that "Beato Book Complete" such as "4.1, 4.2, 5.0, 6.9" or whatever, I'm going to shit on my 4.0 and upload it. Nobody is going to watch it though since I'm nobody.
He's always plugging his book. It gets old.
When musicians take a bunch of stuff they've created over the years and smash into a "course", it's the worst. There's no flow, no context, no porgression and the video quality switches around(if they have videos) and you feel like you've been ripped off. I really like Beato but I knew this would be what this book was. Plus, welcome to 2023, books alone are sub-par. I made the mistake of buying David Walliman's course. It was a mismash of really outdated bad quality videos. I really hated it.
Rick is going to get sued if he doesn't fix these concerns in his book. I wish him well.
How the f he will get sued
No he's not. Well actually anyone can sue someone in the US but that doesn't mean the case won't get thrown out. He will not be successfully sued for this book pertaining to his claims of said book. You're dululu.
Hit piece
I have the Beato Interactive set and it's clearly not well suited to beginners, especially beginner guitarists.
I don't agree with you going after Rick's son. That is kind of low. The section in your video bothered me a little. Leave Rick's kid out of it. Just saying.
im pretty the kid point is more driven towards the whole theory of beato using his kid for views at times, merely because that's one of the biggest reasons he managed to get a platform in the first place. he pretty much blew up on facebook with the whole "perfect pitch" thing, and at times has pulled him in to videos almost in a sense of "flexing." I imagine it could've been worded differently that i agree on, but the way beato sorta treats his kid sometimes is a bit off.
it's especially apparent if one of the things he's been called out for without any response was when he made a livestream where he just ranted to his viewers about his son facetiming someone instead of playing the oboe, in which he wanted to ground him for and go on a whole tangant about how "kids today don't know nothing" type of rant. the stream has since been privated, and a video reupload that included the segment of him ranting about Dylan was taken down from beato himself (see the faded 14:16 screenshot), giving off a sense that he wants to hide it in shame or so, and has never once talked about it or mentioned it since then.
plus when was the last time we truly saw dylan in a full video?
I always held back on buying Rick's book. I always thought his video lessons are more informative and instructive. Beware of false idols. Rick's goal is to interview his heroes on YT and make money off the interviews and gain notoriety. THE END!
I love his interviews. What's your point?
Look, its not the best book. However , it is one of the few ways Rick can monazite his work. If you believe and want more RIck, this is the way you help him.
dude became a millionaire by using famous artists to get clicks on his videos, complaining about being demonitized for violating their copyrights, and then making an appeal to blues lawyers and boomers to buy his shitty products because he's "the little guy"
Just sounds like you're having a whine about the book because you thought it was for beginners. If you follow him you'll either be wanting to learn what & how he plays the complex scale patterns he can play, so you'll buy the book for that reason, not coz it'll start with absolute basics & progress you through to advanced practice. If you are a beginner & want to learn basic music theory for guitar, you'd start with exactly that kind of book before the Beato book. Even if you're a beginner & serious about getting really good, it's a good investment for when you're ready to tackle it & worth every penny. Your vid here just makes you sound negative towards his book because you paid money for something you misinterpreted, but could still benefit hugely from. I understand it's just your opinion & perception, but it is a hit piece.
But even regardless if you're a regular watcher of his channel or not, no matter what the book is always aimed towards beginners and those who want to learn music theory (mainly geared towards those who don't know music theory half the time).
You at least do make a point most people who do come into the book have most likely tried some other way of learning, even if it was one other book. I think it's more or so what's interpreted at face value though, which drives back to the whole thing of him advertising the book merely for beginners. He does this super often on streams and I'm an avid watcher who usually checks in on just what he does half the time.
I have stated that it's something I can imagine would benefit those that most likely have an idea of basic or intermediate music theory, and that's not to say they're wrong on buying the book. If it helps them then so be it, I'm not one to judge on people who managed to learn from something that I couldn't. But once again, it's the perspective of taking the book and how it's presented at face value, and having those expectations going into the book, while also being curious enough to see if Rick Beato does deliver.
And plus, even aside from the book's goal and merit of the people, I couldn't imagine I was the only one who felt like with some of the pages, it felt "thrown together" in some way, especially with the diagrams that come with little explanation for even at least one of them.
Driving back to overall learning, if you manage to learn something and understand the book the way it is, good on you man. If it helps you progress further with music theory and going beyond or so, cool! But again, curiousity can kill the cat if the book manages to be misrepresented one way or another by the very person who created it.
@@masteraudiofancy8799 Dude, Rick has ~3million subscribers, you have 24? Nuff' said!
@@georgeschueller629horrendous argument
How can you say that with a straight face, George. This man has 26 subscribers, not 24. Let's get our facts straight! @@georgeschueller629
“He has teached”??? Is English not your first language?
Okay, you just spent your entire video basically saying that The Beato Book is not for beginners. You could have taken 4 minutes to make your case. And, to the best of my knowledge, Rick Beato's son is not mentioned in his book. Why make it a point to even mention his son? What books to do recommend? Instead of spending your time tearing something down, why not build something? And for that matter, why not just play your guitar?
I consider the money i spent on his book and "BUNDLE" more of a DONATION to RICK for his general work in bringing music analysis and review of other musicians work product to the masses. As a teaching tool i found it pretty worthless and i hesitate to use that term when talking about RICK BEATO because he is such an ambassador for the guitar arts but it is an apt term. Rick, i hate that this book and the way you push it appears to be nothing more than a money grab. I will still watch and enjoy his videos but the book does NOT deliver what he professes it does. Not even close. You have to KNOW a lot before you could get any benefit from this book and even then it is such a hodge podge of unorganized material with no effort to teach the basics that it is more of a door stop at his point in my office.
Then he should promote it as a donation. I like Rick. I've learned a lot from Rick. I never bought his book because I find it too expensive and the entire digital download thing is kind of a scam, especially when I see this from the point of view of a graphic designer. None of the criticisms about the way Rick sells his book sounds good. It sounds like a scam. I think he should rebrand his book or stop selling it. He could end up being sued. It's very easy to sue someone. Rick would be in a heap of trouble. Again, I like Rick. I think he's a great ambassador for good music. Lastly, I always thought Rick's goal was to interview well known musicians, elevate his brand and not teach anymore. That's all good too.
Theory is not been to be shown or "studied". Its meant to be put to use. Ricks book fails to get you using the theory. Its a poor book and in my opinion its a scam. Youre better off just giving the guy 90 bucks for "support" and buying a proper theory book from Hal Leonard or another publisher. I bought my copy for $20 years ago so I cany be too upset
Bro your editing is too much on this vid, I was DYING the entire time. I think ill stick to his vids from now on.
I 100% dislike these video because it doesn't highlights as it should highlight that these book is for people who kind of know a small amount of music theory.... But they don't really know how to use it.... Therefore they are starters in these.... because the real level to call some expert or intermidate is far more away that someone can think of.... Because I thought I was good... In fact I thought I was really good..... It was not until I learn from him that I really becamed an expert... Knowing that when I thought I was really good with 5 years of experience in music.... I found that I was really just a starter
Rick Beato is hands down the best source of accsessible music theory knowledge. Rick breaks things down in a easy to understand way.
This review of Ricks book is way of base.
As a pretty advanced player... that book looks bad lol. Having no explanations is DEEPLY flawed. Rick's gone to all the worst boomer takes.
Sorry old bean...have to disagree.
Rick's book is a tremendpus resource and explains musical concepts both simple and complex very accessibly.
Very recently Rick has released a web based interactive version of the "book" giving on screen explanations of each section.
......and no, I'm not one of Rick's employees or associated with him. Just an amateur musician from the U.K.
Rick can't teach. He is over self congratulatory. He only has a cult following because of the Apple rant.
he has nothing but boomer takes
OK, obviously you don't like the book! if you spend this much energy on learning guitar as you did on your review of the Beato book... you are going to be a legendary guitarist and virtuoso! Like all those guest virtuoso's who believe in what Rick does and are willing to be on his show, which is a testament to the man's competency! There is no one book that can teach you music, it is a journey, like life.
There is no "one book" that is going to teach music theory for sure but there are some. Beato Book is not one of them though, despite claiming to be for hundreds of times. Aplogist fans/shills call it a reference book but even than it is not even good.