The Truly Totally Different Guitar Instruction Book - DVD
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The easiest yet most powerful guitar lesson you will ever learn.
Does this sound like you? You know scales, you dabble with modes, you know your chords and you can handle a bit of improvising, but you're still wondering how it is that some players seem to have the whole fretboard at their disposal; they seem to know how, why and where to find every last fragment of music... with total ease. The whole fingerboard seems to be friendly, familiar territory to them, no matter what the music is doing.
"A fresh and new approach to helping young and old to have a more complete understanding
of music and the guitar.
Well done, Kirk."
Hi, I'm Kirk Lorange, author of PlaneTalk. You have obviously found this site because you've heard about it somewhere on the net and you're wondering what all the fuss is about. This book and DVD have been selling from this site for over ten years now, teaching thousands of players from all over the world a very simple way to map out the fretboard, how to decode that annoying 'kink in the tuning' and a mindset which enables you to freely improvise over any old chord progression without once thinking 'scale' or 'mode' or 'Pentatonic box'. I never found those useful when it came to making real music. I learned them all, I still know them all, but they always just sounded like scales and failed completely over complex chord progressions. I moved on to something far more practical, powerful and musical years ago. The basic mindset is nothing new -- follow the changes -- but that's easier said than done. That seems to imply that you follow chord progressions, but how? What do you think about? What do you look at down there on the fretboard? There are thousands of chords and anyway, what does that mean exactly?
These are the questions PlaneTalk answers in an amazingly simple way. Click the links below to find out more about me, the book / DVD, have a listen to some examples of my playing and read some testimonials. If you've always suspected that testimonials at websites are written by the owners, then go to this forum at my other site where you can be more confident that they were written by real people; feel free to ask them any questions.
PlaneTalk started out as a 6 page booklet that I used to handout at my workshops in Sydney (Australia) back in the early 90's. It was so helpful to my students that I decided to turn it into a proper book. I used the comic strip format as a way of imparting the information in a fun and concise way, as a conversation between the guy who knows and the guy who doesn't. I have them trapped together on an airplane flight, hence the title. I also designed the Guitar Slide Rule — a folded-sleeve-with-insert affair — that graphically crystallizes the lesson. That was in 1994.
In 1998 I put together an hour long video which demonstrates the mindset in real time to real music. I turned that into DVD format in 2000 and combined the three items -- book, slide rule, dvd -- into 'the package'.
A year or so later, I created the PlaneTalkers' Forum — a private forum — where we could all discuss the mindset and I could clear up any questions my customers had. The book, slide rule, DVD and forum became 'the package'.
In 2007, I put together a 5-movie-lesson called 'The Chord Tone Blues' that was only available on CD-ROM to those who had bought 'the package'. It's a stand-alone lesson showing how to apply the PlaneTalk mindset to a 12 bar blues. It was so well received and in itself cleared up so many loose ends that I'm now including it in 'the package'. Watch 'The Red Strat Blues' in the next panel; that's the progression.
Between the four items pictured above and the PlaneTalkers' Forum where you can discuss it all on a daily basis with me and many other PlaneTalkers, I can pretty much guarantee that your playing will move ahead by light years. In fact, most of my customers tell me they will never need to buy any other instruction books again.
How much does it all cost? $86 US Dollars plus shipping.
The PlaneTalk lesson teaches many things but its true power kicks in when improvising. I learned all the scales and modes decades ago but they never came in very handy when improvising. It just sounded like I was playing scales. Melody was what I was seeking and that I found not in the scales but in the chords. Thinking chords means that it doesn't matter how complex the progression is, it's always the same mindset. The videos below show a variety of styles, including jazz which I don't really play, but, if the chords are jazzy, the melody lines will be jazzy. Most players rely on the Blues scale for a 12 bar; I still prefer just following the chords.
Red Strat Blues - this is the same 12 bar progression I used in the Chord Tone Blues CD lesson that comes with the package.
Jazzy Improvisation - this is played over a pretty cheesy "Band in a Box" backing track that a fellow PlaneTalker loaded up at the forum.
Sugar Loaf - an improv over the chord progression from a Bossa Nova lesson I made for my other site, Guitar for Beginners and Beyond.
The Power of Chord Tones I - a video I put together showing how easy it is to create melody from chord tones, which is what PlaneTalk teaches.
The Power of Chord tones II- a second video showing how easy it is to create harmony lines if you know your chord tones.
Changes - an improv using slide over an interesting track that keeps changing key. In standard tuning so the PlaneTalk mindset applies.
Slide Guitar - slow blues in E, another slide improv using the PlaneTalk mindset rather than thinking scales or modes. Bass string dropped to D.
Got the Blues Bad - yet another this time over a home made backing track in G. Still just thinking PlaneTalk, not scales or modes or 'boxes'.
I only just bought my first guitar. Is PlaneTalk for me?
I didn't write PlaneTalk for beginners but more for those who have mastered the basics and are now stuck. However, many beginners have bought it and tell me that they're very pleased they did, that the basic theory lesson, fretboard map and mindset it teaches have made learning much easier. I certainly wish someone had shown me this when I was starting out, it would have saved me a good twenty years of poking around the fretboard searching for that one 'constant' I knew must be there.
Do I need to know any theory?
No. PlaneTalk in fact goes through basic theory in plain English before moving on to describing the 'trick' to seeing your fretboard as familiar, well worn territory. You will learn why it is so important to always know what it is you're playing and how music is structured and how easy it is to keep track of it all using the PlaneTalk mindset. It's a lot easier than you think. With lots of practice, of course.
Will I be needing to remember endless patterns?
No. PlaneTalk makes use of an extremely simple landmark, one you learned in the first few days of playing. Many PlaneTalkers tell me they're amazed and annoyed that they didn't 'see' it themselves. As simple as it is, its ramifications are endless and -- if you're anything like me -- will become the only thing you really need to consciously be aware of.
This doesn't require me to remember movie stars' names or other odd mental gimmicks, does it?
No, no silliness, no gimmicks. The PlaneTalk mindset uses a landmark that IS music, one that displays at a glance the context of the moment. With practice, of course.
What if I don't understand it?
The chances of that are slim, as it's such a simple mindset. However, depending on your level of playing, you may wonder how to use the knowledge. In that case, just come to the PlaneTalkers' Forum where you can ask me and many other PlaneTalkers any questions you may have. Sometimes it takes a while to see the need to have the whole fretboard at your disposal, but once you do, the PlaneTalk mindset will be yours forever more. Most PlaneTalkers say they will never need to buy another book again, that all they need now is time to refine their art.
Do I need to read notation or tablature?
No. PlaneTalk doesn't go into any of that. PlaneTalk, among other things, describes in plain old English a way to map out the fretboard and teaches a mindset that you can use to improvise chordally and melodically, to literally see the endless possibilities the whole length of the fretboard ... with lots of practice, of course. I use graphics and common analogies to explain some aspects of music, but you won't be scratching your head over any dotted crotchets or mysterious Greek names. I don't read notation very well myself.
I know all my scales and modes. How will PlaneTalk help me?
If you are happy with the results you achieve when improvising using scales and modes, and happy with your understanding of how music works and applies to the guitar, then don't bother ordering. But, as I've heard said, if you practice scales, you end up playing scales. Scales and Modes are not really music, they're the building blocks. Melody is the music and melody is not all that easy to extract from scales and modes, especially when you start getting into more complex chord progressions where just playing the 5 notes of the Pentatonic scale doesn't work. The PlaneTalk mindset allows you play over any chord progression ... with practice, of course.
What's the difference between the book and the DVD?
The book describes very methodically the logic behind it all. It takes you through basic theory then explains the power of the PlaneTalk mindset in plain English. The DVD demonstrates the technique to real music clips, showing real playing and using all the overlay features of modern video editing. So what the book explains, the DVD demonstrates.
What's the slide rule all about and why can't I see a better image of it?
The Guitar slide Rule crystallizes the whole mindset, shows you instantly how your brain should perceive the fretboard at any given moment. I don't show a better image of the slide rule because the mindset is so simple I'd be giving it all away.
And the Chord Tone Blues CD? What's that all about?
I put this together at the request of my customers who wanted a see how it all works in the Blues genre. I used to sell it from inside the forum but decided to make it part of the package.
I 'discovered' the PlaneTalk mindset many moons ago when poking around the fretboard in standard tuning looking for positions I could use while playing slide guitar. I'd already spent years playing in the traditional open tunings, but I was never quite sure of the layout of my fretboard in those tunings, so I reverted to standard tuning to see if I could make it work with a slide on my pinkie. I quickly discovered that it's a very rich environment for slide and that all chord flavors could be either played outright or hinted at. I distinctly remember the day I said 'Eureka!' to myself when I finally realized I'd found what I'd been looking for: a constant; a landmark; a bottom-line against which I could measure everything and anything, and it was one so simple that I couldn't believe it had taken me all those years to find it.
I've been playing with a slide on my pinkie ever since, combining both normal playing and slide guitar, merging them into one hybrid style. A couple of years ago I produced a 70 minute long DVD showing all I know about the art. You can read more about it here at my other site, or go ahead and order it here. You'll also find a video player there with many videos of my slide playing.
I also sell the beautiful brass slides you see in the movies. They're machined from solid brass and are heavy and highly polished. I do have a 'special' package at the order page if you want to order the whole kit and caboodle -- the PlaneTalk package and the Slide DVD/Brass slide.
In 1998 I put together an hour long video which demonstrates the mindset in real time to real music. I turned that into DVD format in 2000 and combined the three items -- book, slide rule, dvd -- into 'the package'.
showing how to apply the PlaneTalk mindset to a 12 bar blues. It was so well received and in itself cleared up so many loose ends that I'm now including it in 'the package'. Watch 'The Red Strat Blues' in the next panel; that's the progression. 
I 'discovered' the PlaneTalk mindset many moons ago when poking around the fretboard in standard tuning looking for positions I could use while playing slide guitar. I'd already spent years playing in the traditional open tunings, but I was never quite sure of the layout of my fretboard in those tunings, so I reverted to standard tuning to see if I could make it work with a slide on my pinkie. I quickly discovered that it's a very rich environment for slide and that all chord flavors could be either played outright or hinted at. I distinctly remember the day I said 'Eureka!' to myself when I finally realized I'd found what I'd been looking for: a constant; a landmark; a bottom-line against which I could measure everything and anything, and it was one so simple that I couldn't believe it had taken me all those years to find it.
minute long DVD showing all I know about the art. You can read more about it