Detailed videos show proper finger and hand position from multiple angles.

The mention of guitar lessons probably conjures images of hunching over an acoustic guitar in the back room of a strip-mall music shop while an aging hippie prods your unwilling fingers to contort to the chords of “Kumbaya.” Fortunately, iPlayMusic has a more effective and humane way to teach you guitar with Beginner Guitar Lessons and Play Music Together.

Both of these iPlayMusic applications offer a series of instructional videos in an iLife-style interface that features basic video controls plus a loop function that lets you repeat any video without your fingers having to leave your guitar. The tempo control can speed up or slow down the videos without altering the pitch, so you can follow along at your own pace. A simple file navigation system organizes the videos into four sections: Get Started offers a video tutorial on the program. The Lessons section demonstrates the basics, from how to hold your guitar to specific chords to strumming techniques and more. Reference offers a quick look at chord charts and instrument maintenance tips. And Songs features the song lessons themselves, with each offered in three formats, including a full song lesson with a complete band playing the composition, a guitar-only track that lets you learn just the guitar part, and a Jam Pack that features the song as a karaoke-style track that you can accompany with your own guitar and voice.

Beginner Guitar Lessons targets the fledgling guitarist with nearly 80 interactive videos including chord how-tos, practice drills, demonstrations on how to alter rhythm, and even riffing styles for different genres of music. You get plenty of opportunities to practice these techniques too, with a song-lesson selection that culls from blues, country, folk, kids’ music, reggae, and rock (though, with the emphasis on cuts from Bob Marley, the Beatles, the Grateful Dead, and Creedence Clearwater Revival, you get the sense that the spirit of that aging hippie instructor is alive and well here).

Next, tell us about the wipers!

Play Music Together is aimed at parents who want to learn to play guitar and sing along with their kids, so the material offered is more fundamental and it’s delivered in a more playful presentation: The teacher from Beginner Guitar Lessons is joined here by his puppet sidekick Capo (named for the bar one attaches to a guitar’s fretboard to raise the pitch of the strings, get it?). Each of the half-dozen kids’ classics on the lesson plan, including “If You’re Happy and You Know It” and I’ve Been Working On the Railroad,” is presented in the same three formats used in Beginner Guitar Lessons, as well as in a karaoke-style sing-along version starring Capo and featuring scrolling chords and lyrics.

Both Beginner Guitar Lessons and Play Music Together allow you to export any of the videos to your iPod, and every song features a GarageBand project file so you can add your newly developed chops to a complete recording.

iPlayMusic’s applications aren’t the only way to learn guitar, but they’re the most effective we’ve seen in a while, and they make the process as fun as it should be. Whether you’ve got your sights set on the stage or just a family-room jamboree, these programs will give you a solid foundation for six-string success.

The bottom line. Regardless of your age or aspirations, iPlayMusic’s guitar lessons will have you making music in no time.

COMPANY: iPlayMusic

CONTACT: www.iplaymusic.com

PRICE: $39.95 (Beginner Guitar Lessons), $29.95 (Play Music Together)

REQUIREMENTS: G4 or later or Intel processor, Mac OS 10.3.9 or later, 512MB RAM, GarageBand 3 or later, iTunes 6.0.2 or later, QuickTime 7.0.4 or later, 10GB free disk space

Easy to follow instructional videos. Comprehensive lessons. Gets you playing songs quickly. Universal binary.

We’ve never seen a less charismatic puppet.