Yamaha has a really interesting and unique teaching guitar called the EZ-EG guitar. This $299 electric guitar features 12
lighted frets that show beginners the actual hand positions for all the
chords they'll need to know before they take off on their own, and six
'strings' that emulate strumming or finger-picking. In addition to an
onboard selection of 36 songs, songs can be loaded into the guitar's
memory directly from any PC. The EZ-EG will also reproduce nine
realistic guitar sounds, eight bass guitar sounds and the timbres of a
banjo, piano and traditional Japanese shamisen through its built-in
speaker. Selectable play modes include: Strumming Practice for the right
hand, where chords change automatically during a strumming practice;
Chord Training for the left hand, where the user simply makes the chord
changes while it strums; and Full Play, which shows chord changes by
lighting the frets, while the user strums and plays chords.
Standard
'guitar' features include volume, tempo, and balance controls, standard
tuning plus open tuning options and a tremolo bar. A unique electronic
capo allows pitch adjustment. Users may plug the EZ-EG into a standard
guitar amplifier, or use the mini-headphone jack for private practice.
The EZ-EG operates on six "AA" cells, and includes a power adapter, pick
and strap. $299. www.yamaha.com
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