In early October, 2014 I was bitten by the Cigar Box Guitar bug. Don't know why, but I jumped in and built my first CBG, a three string slider. I really enjoyed just sliding up and down the neck making a nice tone. Then, I figured I needed to learn to play the thing. I looked at a ton of YouTube videos on how to play CBG, but most were either too advanced or just poorly taught. After much googling, I finally stumbled upon Patrick's site LearnCigarBoxGuitar. Good name, but did he back it up?
I read every page I could get to on the site and watched all the free videos. In the end, I took the plunge and signed up for the Starter Pack. Once "inside" I was blown away by the amount of content. Most lessons included two videos. One for the right hand. One for the left. There was also plenty of tabs available for whatever was being taught. He kept the course interesting by using familar songs as the vehicle for teaching a skill. Spoonfull is not a hard or complex song, but when you're just starting out, being able to do a recognizable version of it is very encouraging. Many other songs in the Starter Pack are similar, in that they get progressively more complex, but seem to flow from the prior lessons. It apparent that Patrick has some formal background in teaching/training.
By the end of the starter pack, I felt comfortable having someone in the room when I played and managed a pretty decent version of Norwegien Wood. The course was exactly what I needed and provided more than I expected.
I recently signed up for the Blues Pack which is actually two courses in one. The first part is called the Bridging course and is a warm up for the Blues course proper. It contains a lot of techniques for playing that will be invaluable in the Blues course. As I work through these videos I'm starting to see how the techniques here will be used later. It should make the Blues course that much more valuable.
I've tried (purchased) CBG lessons from several sources and have to admit that Patricks's LearnCigarBoxGuitar is by far the most complete and comprehensive. I'm really glad I found his site before I spent a lot of time, money and frustration trying to learn on my own
If you want to really learn how to use your cigar box for some great sounding blues, then check out LearnCigarBoxGuitar.com.