What is the crowd's opinion of Amazing Slow Downer?

From 3.5 billion comments

Not at all!

You may also want to check out Transcribe! or Roni's Amazing Slow Downer for more specialized software that won't change pitch.

Use this... to transcribe the solos and work on figuring out how he uses them. You'll learn a lot more from that than what some randoms on the internet will surmise.

My advice would be to learn the solos you want to be able to play, no matter how slowly you have to play it to get it right. Practice playing them to a metronome so slowly that you can play it perfectly almost every time, then gradually increase the speed. You'll be surprised at how quickly your speed increases if you practice like this.

Another nice tool for this method is Amazing Slow Downer, which lets you play along with the original song at a speed you feel comfortable with.

My last tip for increasing speed would be to make sure you are picking from the wrist instead of the elbow, and that your wrist is relaxed. It's hard to pick fast for an extended period of time if all the muscles in your wrist and forearm are tensed. Of course, there is no "correct" picking technique for everyone, but this style works for me.

Maybe not exactly what you are looking for but it's a great great tool for learning licks and songs starting slow and working your way up to full speed. I use it a lot. Check it out! http://www.ronimusic.com/slowdown.htm

Not cheating at all. That's how a lot of transcribers do it. There's specific software that might help you like Transcribe! or Roni's amazing slow-downer.

Rock climbing. Start in a climbing gym, maybe even just bouldering. It's the first real serious exercise that I really love. You against the rock. It also brings memory of being a kid and climbing things.

Guitar playing too. Buy a guitar and some tab books of songs you like. Tablature is easy to read for a beginner. Get software that will slow a song down without changing pitch, like The Amazing Slow Downer. Try something with single-note riffs first, then move on to chords. Lessons help, of course, but I find playing along slowly then speeding up works well.

Writing, if you have something to say. Any blog site will do: Tumblr, Wordpress, Blogger, ...

I'm not sure what things really count as hobbies, like exercise for fun. In addition to rock climbing I enjoy inline skating and weightlifting as well.

I'd like to get more into photography and photo-editing. I have a mid-range camera and GIMP, and have mid-range talent and effort at both. If I had more money and time I might get a better camera, Photoshop, and lessons on both.