Critics' Choice

Fay Maschler

quote With a single dessert and just two glasses of wine our bill was kept in check - but the effort of doing so was not much fun quote

Babbo Film

Andrew O'Hagan

quote This is a film with beautiful performances and a visual style that urges you towards reflection quote

Bright Star Theatre

Henry Hitchings

quote Although the first half of Kwei-Armah’s production is pacy, funny and intelligent, the energy level then drops off quote

Seize The Day

Reader reviews

Film

Squiz, Islington

quote I loved this film from start to finish. Take the girlfriend, tell your mum - I'd see it again tomorrow and will buy the dvd. quote

An Education Theatre

Joe, London

quote I saw this last night and can't remember the last time I was so moved in the theatre. quote

This Much Is True Restaurants

Hiroshi Sugiyama

quote I have been to many of London's so-called best Japanese restaurants and none have been as good as the food that I've had at Aqua Kyoto quote

Aqua Kyoto

Teach yourself guitar sites

By Tim Ingham, Metro Last updated at 00:00am on 02.02.04

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It's one of the most oft-failed New Year's resolutions: 'I'll teach myself how to play an instrument.' If yours is on the wane, these sites should help you put down the air guitar and get strumming again.

Guitarists.net

A great resource that boasts of step-by-step guides to get visitors started, chat forums, and software downloads including recording programmes. Its winning hand, however, is the tablature (an easier alternative to the boring task of reading music) database. Every tune you could wish for is there, from Kenny G to Justin T, and the sheer choice of the 32,000 songs on offer should maintain interest. www.guitarists.net

Wholenote

Anything that bills itself as 'the on-line guitar community' is bound to be a bit haphazard in places, but if you're willing to persist then you'll find this is the most detailed site out there. A lessons section gives visitors a choice of a 'basics' option, or a selection of styles they can improve in - whether it be rock, reggae or even bluegrass. A large tablature library is borrowed from the massive OLGA network (www.olga.net). www.wholenote.com

Guitarnoise

One of the most comprehensive online guitar teaching pages, guitarnoise.com invites qualified tutors to submit their own pages. Anything but amateur, the contributors have put obvious time and energy into providing the best advice for everyone from the absolute beginner to somebody looking to start composing their own tunes. There's even advice on buying a new instrument. www.guitarnoise.com Tim Ingham