Guitar Foundation of America
The Guitar Foundation of America website feature a list of sections to the left of the page, as well as the bottom. The text content on the page has many links which allow you to move through the site fairly easily. (7) The load speed was very quick on my broadband connection and should load in a reasonable amount of time on dailup. (6) The content was top quality, featuring a lot of information about the organization, including the programs it sponsors, a list of guitar societies and teachers by state, and new updates that are important to the world of classical guitar. (8) Graphically the site is rather basic but is easy to read and features a large amount of picture content and advertisements. (6)
Guitar World Magazine
The Guitar World Magazine is a very content rich site featuring message boards, interviews, reviews, audio lessons, and links. (8) The site loaded somewhat slow on my connection, which may cause problems for dialup users. (4) The site was very easy to navigate, with many buttons and links. Each link did lead to a new page which meant lots of reloads, but the content was easy to find. (6) The site is very graphically rich, with lots of pictures. The blue background is easy on the eyes and all text is readable. (6)
Guitar Player Magazine
The Guitar Player site loaded slowly which may be a concern for dialup users. (4) The site is very content rich, with many of the same features as the Guitar World site, with the addition of video downloads. (8) The site was a little difficult to navigate. The buttons and links were easy to find, but if you were looking for corporate information it was more difficult. (5) The graphic content of the site was great. From animated gif banners to the simple but easy to read background, the site was easy on the eyes. (7)
Guitar One Magazine
The Guitar One site features little content other than a sneak peek at the current issue of the magazine. There are some downloadable MP3s and some online lessons, but the majority is focused on the magazines current issue. The few downloadable lessons are very good though. (5) The page features lots of graphics, with many pictures of the current issue (6) but these graphics are large and cause for a very slow load speed on my system. (3) The site was easy to navigate, with a navigation bar located at the top of the page. (6)
Harmony Central
The Harmony Central site loaded very slowly. (4) The site has excellent content, featuring in depth gear reviews, very good lessons, a large amount of music news, software downloads, and much more. (9) However, navigation was a bit trouble some, as the user is required to click a large amount of links into narrower and narrower categories of information. (4) Graphically, the site was very plain. Few pictures to speak of with mostly text. While this keeps the site from being distracting and presents the information effectively, it is a bit bland and all the text gets a little overwhelming on the eyes. (4)
Florida State University Department of Music
The Florida State website has lots of great content for anyone interested in their music program, including in depth information about degree programs, departmental policy, and faculty and staff. (8) The site was easy to navigate and had listed button links to each area within the department, inlcuding admissions information. (8) The pictures were fairly plaing with nothing flashing. The dark red background made the site very easy to look at and read. (7) The site did load a little slow, but was not too bad. (6)
Peabody Institute
The Peabody site load very quickly. (8) Graphically, the Peabody site doesn't have much in the way of eye candy and the mix of gradient blue, orange, and white looks awkward. I found it distracting. (4) The content of the site is good. There is lots of information for students regarding all the programs, campus life, and more. (7) The navigation is a little annoying and requires clicking lots of links and a little bit of time to find what you are looking for. The search function helps. (6)
CyberFret
The CyberFret page has lots of information, with a large amount of articles, lessons, and instruction. (7) The navigation was simple, with the articles and lessons indexed by category in a menu on the lefthand side of the page. (7) The page loaded quickly. (7) The site had too many banner advertisments, little graphic content, and the combination of colors was tiring. (4)
Classical Guitar Lessons
The site features minimal content. The lessons have some good information, but beyond that it doesn't offer much. (4) The graphical content is horrible. The background of a footstool sitting on the floor is distracting, and the text colors are awful. There are really no asthetically pleasing pictures. (3) The navigation is simple enough, but merely links to documents within the page or offsite sources. The links are also poorly presented. (5) The page loaded quickly. (6)
The Fender site is one of the most beautiful sites I have seen in this evaluation. It has a slick black and red theme with lots of pictures of the companies products, arranged in an appealing layout. (9) The site is very easy to navigate with a site menu that stays conveniently at the top of the screen and a variety of menus link to subsections. (8) The content is excellent, providing all sorts of information about Fender guitars, amplifiers, dealers, and has an online store. (9) The site loaded very quickly on my connection, but the flash interface may take a few moments on dialup. (6)
The Ernie Ball/Music Man site features everything from information on the guitars and strings to an Ernie Ball radio station. There are links to company history, contact information, an online store, and much more. (9) The site has a nice layout that calls for no scrolling with rich high resolution images, and a beautiful gray and red design. (9) The site is easy to navigate with the menu bar at the top and no scrolling. (9) The site does load slowly. (5)
The Paul Reed Smith site loaded very slow, even on a cable connection. (3) The site is not very flashy, with a imple black design.This makes the site very easy on the eyes.However, the layout is not consistent on all pages. The images are high resolution and look excellent. (7) For the most part the site is easy to navigate with the site menu at the top of the page, but the inconsistent layout means sometimes you must do scrolling. (6) The content is excellent and gives plenty of information about the company and its products, but not much else. (7)
The Finale site offers a single stop for all information regarding the software. It has an online store and a huge knowledge database which assists users. (9) The color scheme is a bit akward but keeps the text readable. There aren't many images or eye candy though. (6) The site is easy to navigate with the menu at the top and plenty of sub-menus. (9) The site loaded very slow. (3)
The GSP site is a valuable resource for guitarists, with an extensive online catalog covering a host of products. It is a convenient index of published guitar works as well as an online store. The content is excellent. (9) While there is lots of scrolling involved at times, I found the site rather easy to navigate. (5) The site loaded very quickly. (9) The graphic content of the site is rather plain, with a white and gray layout that is easy to read. There are very few images or eye candy. (5)
The Guitar Salon site offers large amounts of information about a huge variety of classical guitars and makers. All this excellent content makes for a useful index, or a point of purchase. (9) The site is graphically rich, with images of nearly all the products offered. (9) The site loaded incredibly slow and would be a waiting game for anyone on dial up. (3) The navigation of the site is slow and involves much scrolling and lots of links. (5)
The Musician's Friend site is slow in navigation, requiring many links and a reload of the page with each click. (5) The site loaded very slowly. (4) The content is excellent, with more information on the products offered than anyone could ask, including professional and user reviews. (9) The site is graphic rich, with images for each product that are zoomable, rotatable, and high resolution. (9)
The Guitar Notes site has a horrible color layout with nearly no images. The combination of bright colors strains the eyes. (3) The navigation of the site is like an index and is very slow. The page reloads with each click and has lots of scrolling. (3) The content is decent, but is essentially a huge links page with no original content. (5) The site loaded quickly. (7)
The Guitar page at About.com has content mostly suited towards a beginner. The links, reviews and articles do have some general interest. (6) Graphically the site is very minimal and has the standard About.com setup. The majority of graphic content is ads. (5) The site loaded at an average speed. (5) Navigation is slow and requires a reload with each click. (4)
The Guitar Tricks site is very graphically appealing with a nice color scheme. However, the colors sometimes obscure the text of the links. There are few images other than those of the instructors. (6) The content features lessons submitted by instructors and ranges from quality pedaogical material to merely a collection of riffs and licks. (6) The site navigation menu offers too many options and redundant links. (5) The site loaded very slow. (3)
The LAGQ site is very graphic rich, with lots of eye candy: pictures of the group in performance, promotion shots, and more. The red and orange theme is nice, but wears on the eyes after a while. (7) The content is excellent and features lots of information about the group, including concert and cd reviews, tour info, biographies, and more. (8) The navigation of the site is easy and is arranged to avoid scrolling. (8) The site loaded a little slow, but not bad. (5)
The David Russell site has a plain color scheme but features plenty of pictures of David. (6) The naviagation of the site is easy with the site menu, but always requires a reload and often a fair amount of scrolling. (6) The content is excellent and offers everything a fan would want. The content also includes video, audio, and tips and articles from David. (8) The site loaded in an average time. (6)
The Scott Tennant site has excellent navigation with a top site menu, though it did have a seemingly pointless entrance page. (7) The site has a simple blue/white color scheme. The site is very minimalistic with little eye candy other than a few pictures of Scott and LAGQ. (5) The content is good, but their isn't much, its a very bare bones site. (6) The site loaded quickly. (7)
The guitar department page at USC very basic with matter of fact information at a glance. The content gives a rough outline of the different degree option, but links to further information. However, the site has excellent biographies and information about the faculty. (6) The graphic layout is based on the schools colors, but doesn't work well as a webpage. The site does have pictures of each instructor. (5) The site is easy to navigate with internal links and a constant site menu with some scrolling. (6) The page loaded at average speed. (6)
The Petrucci site has a nice black background with a very modern looking banner at top. The two clash a bit but its not distracting. As far as eye candy, the site features lots of pictures of Petrucci in many different settings, as well as pictures of gear. (8) The content does a good job of detailing Petruccis career, including biographies, tour dates, reviews, and a user forum. It would be nice if he posted articles and tips like on the David Russell site. (7) The navigation is very basic with a little scrolling and a site menu on the left. (6) The site loaded a little slow, but nothing too concerning. (4)