My rock star dreams meet a Bluetooth mini guitar - CNET

I stuck with the classical guitar setting and jumped into the JamTutor I app, which walks you through lessons with video tutorials and challenges. The videos explain how to position your fingers to play single notes and chords, and the challenges test out your ability. The JamStik+ monitors where your fingers are and which strings you're plucking, and grades your efforts.

The "arcade" challenges take a page from the Guitar Hero video game. Notes stream toward you on a virtual fretboard, and you simply strum when the notes hit the edge closest to you. In this case though, you can set the app to wait till you get the fingering right before the song continues, so the stress level is dramatically reduced.

This was by far the best part of the leaing process. The app teaches you a few chords and notes, and then arcade mode puts your knowledge into practice right away. Even though I was no Jimmy Page, I enjoyed that I was playing actual music in under an hour after booting up the JamStik+. I can definitely see the lessons continuing and hope I might be able to strum out a song or two in a few months. I can also see the wacky sound settings being fun at a party.

The issue I have with the JamStik+, however, is its size. While it's small enough to throw into a suitcase, that very thing makes it a little hard to play. The fretboard on the JamStik+ is the exact same size as a regular guitar, but without a large main body to rest on your knee, playing it can be a little awkward. I eventually got the hang of using the included neck strap, but it's still uncomfortable to hold a relatively small gizmo in a way that lets you focus on your finger work.

Famous Jimi Hendrix guitar gets a mode...

1 - 5 of 10

Next Prev