Guitar Gizmos
Guitar teaching aids to help you learn guitar
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Space Trainer Reviews Ultimate Guitar December 2009 Dragons Den Approved!The Space Trainer, a tool that aims to help beginners overcome common learning problems, has got the backing of a Dragon's Den investor. Inventor Kelvin Pratt reckons his learning aid eliminates the bad hand position that plagues beginners. It works by helping the hand form the correct shape for playing and stops over-gripping of the neck. It costs £5, is easy to fit and remove from the neck of most electric and bass guitars, as well as a range of acoustics. Visit www.guitar-gizmo.com for more info. MusicRadar.com June 2009 Check out the Space Trainer, a low-cost, blissfully simple tuition aid for beginner guitarists.Designed by Essex guitar teacher Kelvin Pratt, it's a clip-on frame that helps new starters get their fretting hand in the right position from the off for those all important first-position chords. It forces you to approach the fingerboard from the front to help let notes sound clearly. "Necessity was the mother of invention," says Kelvin, "because I was always holding people's fingers up when they go flat on the fingerboard. I tried putting a pencil on there to help, but it kept falling out, so I came up with these." GuitarStringGuide.com March 2009 Guitar teaching aid solves beginners problem of left hand position.One of the biggest problems children (and adults) have when first learning to play the guitar is the correct position for their left hand when playing chords. There is a natural tendency for the student beginner to over-grip the guitar's neck and flatten the fingers on the fretboard, leading to much frustration as the chord is incorrectly fretted and doesn't sound as it should... many students give up the guitar before they master this basic requirement. Although guitar teachers have always been aware of this problem, there has been little to help them overcome it until now. The Guitar Space Trainer is a simple but brilliant invention from British guitarist and guitar teacher Kelvin Pratt. We at GSG first heard about this guitar teaching gadget back in 2008, so were delighted to have the chance to try one for ourselves in 2009. The Space Trainer comes in a simple plastic retail pack and is a pretty unassuming single piece of lightweight moulded black plastic. We tried it first on a Takamine acoustic guitar and it easily clipped onto the neck without difficulty. There are no instructions included in the pack, but none are needed - you simply position it as shown in the picture and it clips into place. Once in place, the surprising thing is that... it works! The simple bar across the bottom of the fretboard has the effect of forcing you to bend your fingers and correctly fret open chords with the tips of the fingers of the left hand, naturally eliminating the usual beginner's 'flat fingers' contortions.
To the experienced guitarist, playing with the Space Trainer attached to the neck feels a little strange, but there is no doubt that it does exactly what it claims - preventing over-gripping and naturally forcing the left hand to adopt the correct position. It is easy to see that beginner guitarists would benefit greatly from having the trainer fitted from the very first lesson, removing it once the basic chord positions have been learned. Like training wheels on a child's first bike, the guitar trainer can then be removed but the benefits not lost. This is not the most exciting guitar accessory, but for absolute beginners (and guitar teachers) it is well worth the modest cost... even if only needed for the first few weeks or months of learning the guitar. What is it? How does it work? Who is it for? What guitars does it fit? Where can I buy one? Maldon Standard December 2008 New invention to help people learn the guitar By Adam Cornell Professional guitarist and teacher Kelvin Pratt has designed, patented and launched the Space Trainer to help budding musicians learn guitar chords correctly.
Mr Pratt, of Crescent Road, Heybridge, came up with the idea after teaching at Plume School, Maldon and Thurstable School, Tiptree, when he realised there was nothing else on the market to help. The gadget has now been sold in the UK and the USA and Mr Pratt hopes it could prove to be an essential aid for all beginners. He said: “I work as a guitar teacher and have met a lot of people in the industry but there is still the opportunity for a local business to get involved. For anyone starting it is a wonderful idea. People with a guitar can then use it rather than giving up and throwing it in the corner. “For many years I have played the guitar professionally and I have worked all over the UK in many bands, clubs, pubs and halls. 12 years ago I became a professional teacher of the six string electric, bass and acoustic guitars both in many schools and at my own studio. “During my time teaching I have noticed that many beginners struggle with bad hand position and I have tried to correct this by using pencils or a similar item positioned underneath the neck to encourage their hand into the correct playing position. “After years of unsuccessfully searching for a gadget to solve this problem I have produced my own solution, the Space Trainer. When fitted it has trained many of my students and now they find it easy to get their hands into the correct shape making chord playing much easier.” The new gadget is now being used in schools around the Maldon district and is available from www.guitar-gizmo.com |
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Removing the trainer from the guitar was as easy as clipping it on and it was a relief to see that there was no damage to the neck or fretboard, and indeed no sign that the device had ever been fitted. Next we tried it on an electric guitar - our USA Fender Strat Plus. Despite the very slim neck the Space Trainer again clipped in place very easily and did not obstruct the strings when playing.
The Space Trainer works by positioning the hand correctly on the guitar for the chords to help beginners learn the fundamentals before moving on to become guitar heroes.