Are the days of boring old guitar lessons going the way of the dinosaurs? If GuitarQuest is any indication, the future of guitar instruction is indeed epic!

Note: For the purposes of this article, I was granted full access to Guitareo features. As some links are affiliated, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

GuitarQuest Summary

Editor’s Rating

(4.5 / 5)

Designed to give beginners a rocket-fueled start to playing, GuitarQuest is available as its own standalone course for a one-time fee of $197, or as a Training Pack that comes bundled with a Guitareo subscription.

GuitarQuest Course and Membership Offers

As a standalone course

$197 one time

VIEW

Included with a subscription

$127 per year

VIEW

Guitar Quest Takes a Different Approach

Probably the most concise description of what Guitar Quest is and attempts to accomplish comes from within the Guitareo program itself:

Guitar Quest takes you on an adventure as you play shows, shoot music videos, make commercial jingles, and most importantly have a lot of fun making a lot of music. It just so happens you’ll learn all of the basics of the guitar along the way.

Guitareo

If the course description sounds unique – that’s because it is.

Yes, it’s another guitar course aimed at beginners, but I’ve never come across another guitar program that combines entertainment, fun, creativity, theatrics and musicality all in the same package.

Based on the concept of dividing core guitar skills into nine advancing levels, Guitar Quest leads you through a virtual theme park of “Missions”.

Each mission (chapter) in the adventure is broken down into individual lesson videos that leverage Rob Scallon’s insightful, and thorough, approach to teaching.

At face value you may get the impression the course is primarily electric but acoustic guitar is indeed thoroughly injected by the time you reach mission 4: “Campfire Chords”.

From a traditional point of view, Guitar Quest seems to intentionally avoid all conventional elements of teaching guitar. Yet in retrospect, it works!

Having reviewed all sections of the program, I found it still packed a punch when it came to covering the basics of playing and beyond – with a twist. Most of all, it was entertaining and fun.

Who is Rob Scallon?

You may be familiar with Rob Scallon, the madman behind the concept, through his YouTube channel.

As a producer and multi-instrumentalist based out of Chicago, he’s best known for his unique approach to making music with, well, just about anything with strings on it.

With over 400 uploaded videos, many with millions of viral views, Rob’s approach in general could be described as “wacky”. A blend of pop, metal and mayhem sprinkled over just about any cultural inspiration you can think of.

With that kind of background, it’s no wonder Guitar Quest was born this way…

How Much is Guitar Quest?

Guitar Quest is available as its own stand-alone course for a one-time fee of $197, or as a Training Pack that comes bundled with a Guitareo lifetime membership.

While doing research for this article, some forum members mentioned they had started with the Guitar Quest course, then transitioned into a Guitareo membership.

Considering the array of bundled programs, a Guitareo lifetime membership makes a whole lotta sense when you do the math. It’s just a matter of keeping your eyes open and grabbing the offer when it comes around.

What’s the Difference Between Guitareo and GuitarQuest?

First off, it’s important to understand that there is a very clear hierarchy to the entities that govern the courses.

The topmost company is Musora Media Inc which controls a number of music instructional platforms, one of which is Guitareo, and under the Guitareo umbrella we have GuitarQuest.

While Guitareo’s Method course is a well-conceived traditional approach to learning guitar quickly and efficiently, GuitarQuest focuses on the fun side of making music from the get go.

Instead of trudging through an academic, black and white guitar course, you’re plunged into colorful scenarios that illustrate how you can creatively apply your new guitar skills as you’re actively learning.

With its unique spin, GuitarQuest still manages to cover the basics in a very entertaining and practical way.

For a better idea of what Guitareo is all about, you may be interested in reading the complete review here.

How Does GuitarQuest Compare to Other Programs?

That’s a tough question. GuitarQuest is kind of in a league all its own. It’s like asking how does Rick Nielsen’s Uncle Dick double neck Hamer compare to a “normal’ guitar?

But seriously, there are other personality driven courses out there, like JustinGuitar for example, but nothing quite like this. What GuitarQuest lacks in breadth and scope, it makes up for in creative concept and execution.

Inside the GuitarQuest Program

The GuitarQuest course is broken down into nine color-coded chapters or missions:

1. Song in an Hour
2. The Jam Session
3. Music Video Shoot
4. Campfire Chords
5. Selling Out
6. The Punk Show
7. The Recording Studio
8. Play Anything
9. The Final Boss

Clicking on a thumbnail opens another full page containing further subsections for that mission. Each relatively short explainer video then walks you through the topic covering it in logical bite-size pieces.

Example: Chapter 1 – Play a Show

This section, as expected covers the basics.

The aim is to get enough info into your head and under your fingers to be reasonably familiar with the guitar.

The ultimate goal is to be able to pull off a performance; a “SONG IN AN HOUR” – from scratch.

Thanks to Rob’s approach yes, it is possible.

Further Chapters and Observations

As the course progresses, students are introduced to more and more branches of the musical tree.

Where most of us would expect to start with the roots and focus on strictly guitar related elements, GuitarQuest manages to weave in more complex topics very early on.

For instance, song structure is covered in Chapter 3, chord changes and transitions in Chapter 4, palm muting and vibrato in Chapter 5 and so on.

The course even covers where to find guitar tabs, a little theory and practical exercises. Finally culminating in Chapter 9 “The Boss”, a pseudo-Misirlou mashup that puts it all together.

Along the way, Rob is able to take elementary guitar principles and turn them into very musical constructs in their own right.

My Personal Thoughts on GuitarQuest

After reviewing a majority of popular guitar courses currently available, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like GuitarQuest.

For a new student, the entertainment factor is very high. Rob Scallon is very personable with a great sense of humour and teaching style that’s concise and entertaining.

The complete series is quirky, tongue-in-cheek (at times cheesy), yet extraordinarily educational. Moreover, it’s a qualified study on teaching guitar outside the box.

But beyond the exceptional concept, presentation and execution of the course there are a few caveats to consider:

1. GuitarQuest relies heavily on one person’s ability to carry the show.
2. If you don’t gel with Rob’s personality, you may have a hard time getting the value you expect.
3. Some students may find the leap to creativity a little beyond their means.

Negative points aside, I feel the pros outweigh the cons – by a long shot.

In terms of sheer creative output, GuitarQuest is a testament on how you can use modern ingredients and mix them together to cook up an entirely new recipe for learning guitar.

The result? No more boring lessons!

Editor’s Rating 4.5/5

The post GuitarQuest Review: No More Boring Lessons first appeared on GuitarNiche.

What’s the Best Way To Learn Guitar?

Is Learning Guitar Easy?

Everyone has their own style of absorbing information therefore the best way to learn guitar is a matter of what works for the individual. Using the right tools and resources, learning guitar can be a very rewarding life-long experience,

The problem is, learning to play an instrument takes time, effort and patience – qualities that seem to be in short supply. The best guitar lessons will provide proper technique and good tools to carry you through the process.

Is it easy? I would say after teaching hundreds of students with incredibly diverse learning styles, most definitely yes – plus your options, tools and methods have become more accessible with technology. You just need to find the best approach for the individual.

Outside of the piano, guitar is the one of the most popular instruments due to its user friendliness, plus it’s cool. Imagine a DJ doing windmills across a double turntable deck slung low to his knees… ah… no.

 But it is possible.

As technology moves forward, you have that many more options on where to find the best guitar lessons – especially youtube.

Beginning guitar students in their early stages need a lot of guidance. Good techniques developed when you’re first learning will last through your entire musical career.

Conversely, bad habits developed early on will hinder a player from improving properly as they move forward through their music education. Instruction and guidance from qualified teachers will always trump the fast-food type of learning vehicles.

The best way to learn guitar involves the same principles used for many other instruments:

• Private Lessons
• Group Lessons
• Online Guitar Lessons
• YouTube Videos
• Guitar Books

Are Private Guitar Lessons Worth It?

H

ands down, the best way to learn guitar, private one-on-one individual lessons with a professional instructor.

Until we have live streaming 3D in-house full sensory remote representation – and it is coming, guaranteed – private lessons will still be the best way to learn guitar.

The unsurpassed way to learn proper technique is by sitting across from an instructor who can demonstrate proper form, technique and even faithful sound reproduction.

You’ll learn faster and easier with a private instructor, however, professional real-time human interaction will always come at a relatively stiff premium.

The immense benefit though of being in the same room at the same time with someone who shares the passion for guitar. That in itself is infectious in the best way.

Is 

Learning Guitar In Group Lessons Better?

Group lessons are certainly one of the more cost effective ways to learn guitar compared to private lessons, but they have their drawbacks. On one hand, group lessons are great because you still have interaction with a teacher.

But the teacher will have to split their attention with all the other students in the class and you may not benefit from their undivided attention. The class will also progress according to it’s curriculum, again leaving an opportunity for some students to fall behind.

Nonetheless, group lessons are still a valuable way of learning to play the guitar – even under extraordinary circumstances.

One of the benefits of group lessons is the ability to learn from your peers. Sometimes learning in a group provides students a unique opportunity to learn from each other through example.

The teacher may have to give attention to a student, however, another student could give pointers on a passage you’ve been struggling with.

A good teacher will also play along with you giving you more opportunities to improve your technique and playing skills with others. In that sense, the social element provides a wonderful balance.

In either case, whether the lessons are private or group, it is imperative that the guitar is in good repair. A good setup will save tons of time and aggravation for all parties.

What’s The Best Way To Learn Guitar Online?

There are hundreds of online guitar tutorials for beginners on YouTube, lesson websites, and forums, but there are many factors to consider before choosing what is right for you.

Are you looking for an online guitar teacher or more broadly, just the best way to learn guitar online? Furthermore, do you plan on paying for the service, or would you rather learn for free?

Of course, there are many more factors such as ease of use, lesson diversity, and song guides that will also have influence.

But are online guitar lessons effective?

Let’s take a look at a variety of options from YouTubers, tab sites, online lesson sites, and other web pages, to see which option is the best way to learn guitar online.

Who Has the Best Online Guitar Classes?

Is it YouTube?

While YouTube isn’t an organized, structured learning platform like most guitar lesson sites are, it does have one of the largest collections of videos available.

However, it will be up to you to search for and determine which are the most helpful or best quality. If you’re willing to do the work,

YouTube may be the best choice as it simply is a warehouse for any and all videos guitar related, including many video lessons also featured on popular websites like JustinGuitar.com or JamPlay.com.

For those looking specifically for an online guitar teacher, someone who they can build familiarity and continuity with, YouTube is limited to only a handful of highly rated and largely viewed personalities that you will have to choose from.

What about online guitar lesson sites?

While there is a ton of variability from site to site, we can generally include TrueFire, GuitarTricks, JamPlay.com, and many other sites into one group for this perspective.

While the sheer volume of video content may be smaller on these sites than it is on YouTube, it will be more focused and surely higher quality with engaging paths and lesson plans to help get students started.

There is a reason many people consider these sites the best online guitar classes, and it certainly includes the diversity and reliability of the educational lessons available. Unfortunately, most of these sites will cost you a subscription fee however.

Is it forums or tablature sites?

I’ll save you some time, while these are excellent resources, they are best used as complementary tools to your guitar learning experience be it online or via a real live instructor.

Forums can give you great insight from other players about techniques, scales, or gear that may help take your playing up a notch but there will be few, if any lesson videos on these sites.

Any videos that are available will also likely be found on YouTube and referenced as you play.

 Best Option: Guitar Lesson Sites

Who Can Teach You the Most Songs?

Does YouTube have the most songs?

When you consider over 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, the numbers are staggering! But when you look at immense variety of material, guitar-related songs for instruction represent the smallest of fractions.

Similar to the video lessons discussed above, song lessons are an important feature of your guitar learning experience. Songs are a great way to practice rhythm, playing techniques, chord progressions, or scales.

Songs are especially helpful when used to show how distinct skills learned in past lessons can be used in a musical setting. YouTube will have tons of options as stated before, but will they all be the best?

Will they all include tabs? Likely not and you’ll be left trying to zoom in on chord fingerings and neck positions in some cases.

One pro for YouTube though is that many online lesson sites are limited in song selection by licensing costs or resources to produce the video lessons.

YouTube is filled with both many highly rated instructors and die-hard fans capable of teaching you songs from any artist, genre, or style.

Do guitar lesson sites have many songs?

Just one established guitar lessons site can have many hundreds of songs, plus you get the benefit of thousands of extras in accompanying tools and resources. Therefor the numbers become very significant indeed.

What the lesson sites like Fender Play or JamPlay may lack for in options, they make up for in detail and quality. Most, if not all, video lessons will come with tablature or musical notation written out on a screen next to the video.

And videos often feature multiple screens showing close ups of how the instructor fingers the chord and where on the neck it is played.

Most importantly, these sites also guide you towards song lessons that illustrate important guitar or bass playing concepts that help you develop skills you can translate into harder songs later.

Furthermore, many sites feature live lessons, private lessons, or just one online guitar teacher, that will be able to help you focus in on song or technique options not generally available on the site.

What about forums, other websites and tablature sites?

Tab sites, like Ultimate-Guitar.com or songsterr.com, start to be more competitive with the other options here as they have user rated tabs, chords, and notation options for almost every song ever written.

Songs are contributed from amateur players and fans all around the world and are a great way for you to test out the skills you learned from your YouTube, lesson sites, or other online guitar tutorials for beginners.

But once again, this work best when partnered with your online guitar teacher or lesson plan.

 Best Option: Qualified Lesson Sites

Who Offers the Best User Experience and Extras?

Is It YouTube?

YouTube has come a long way in this regard thanks to one big feature, you can slow down or speed up the playback speed of each video lesson.

This makes watching tabs or song covers much easier if you’re looking at how the musician is physically playing the notes.

However, YouTube pales in comparison to the streamlined lesson plans, help options, and tools of subscription lesson plans.

Things like online guitar tuners, notes sections, and chat help functions simply aren’t available here, losing them points in this online guitar lessons review.

Is It Guitar Lesson Sites?

So many of these great lesson sites feature even great tool boxes or linear learning paths that are easy to access, follow, and pick up where you left off.

Videos can be slowed down or sped up, tabs pop up next to the screen, tuners and chord finders are built in for easy access. Better yet, they often have links on your homepage to pick up where you left off mid lesson plan or mid video.

Also, because they are designed specifically for guitar lessons, the user interfaces and webpages are easy to navigate and have helpful links everywhere on your personalized page.

What about forums, other websites, and tab sites?

Unfortunately, these online options once again can’t compete with the video lesson options.

With the sheer number of easy guitar lessons online from YouTubers or lesson sites, there is no reason to solely rely on tab pages or forums where toolboxes aren’t necessary, and help isn’t moderated by experienced instructors.

 Best Option: Online Lesson Sites

Considering Your Options, What’s The Easiest Way To Learn Guitar?

Popular Online Lessons May Offer The Best Way To Learn Guitar

Times are changing and that’s a fact. But then, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. Oui?

The Internet and modern technologies have opened up great new ways of learning guitar, or any other instrument, and will continue to do so.

Online guitar lessons, such as an industry leader Guitar Tricks, clearly provide the best balance of convenience and cost to learn to play the guitar.

With a premium account you have the ability to ask questions, interact and gain feedback on your technique and progress.

The issue here comes down to feedback.

With entirely hands-off modern tools such as video, audio, or text, they all have the same drawback – they are all one way dialogues.

Want a better experience? Pay the price and get playing better, faster and with fewer headaches from the millions of questions you’ll have. 

Learning to play the guitar is an adventure.

There are plenty of people who pick up a guitar and learn to play. Regardless of the form of lessons you decide to choose, your progress solely depends on you.

The more practice you put in, the faster your progress and the better you will get. Most importantly, learning to play should be fun.

YouTube Videos May Be The Best Way To Teach Yourself Guitar

There are tons and tons of videos on all types of guitar subjects. From playing a single note to a full on orchestrated composition. You have to sort through a ton of thumbs to find the the best YouTube videos or best channel on youtube to learn guitar.

Some YouTube instructors are very modestly gifted and just trying to help, others are absolutely stunning, blowing your mind with their skills.

And then there’s cat videos…

You get what you pay for

There are countless videos with teachers instructing students who are eager learn guitar for free. With your guitar in hand, you can sit in the privacy of your own home and follow along with the instructor in the video. Easy peasy – and you get what you pay for.

As an anecdote, I once needed to brush up on a particularly intricate fingerstyle piece which had become a bit rusty. So I took the easy route and turned to YouTube to find the answers to my missing formations in the hopes that the process could be expedited. After over an hour of fishing I found that not one video was accurate, not a single one – I was dumbfounded.

Without representation from the original artist, that is, a video that lets you see exactly how THEY did what they did first hand, the whole experience is a question mark.

But again, that’s in the context of reproducing someone’s pre-existing material. Naturally, without original authorship, we have to deal with interpretation.

In a nutshell, YouTube makes it easy to learn how to do just about anything. But how do you know who is delivering the best online lessons?

Thankfully, over the past few years the better online lessons services have setup very good youtube channels. They tend to populate their channels with a very good mix of free lessons combined with offers to join their programs.

The problem is, you may wind up spending an enormous amount of time trying to find the best guitar lessons that fit both your learning style, and your budget.

Btw, Guitar Niche DOES have a YouTube channel. It may not feature lessons on how to play guitar specifically, but it does feature great, qualified content on how to maintain your instrument.

What About Guitar Lesson Books & Literature?

Tried and true, a timeless instructional media.

From the driest educational textbook to the cover of the latest rag that objectifies the female form.

I’ll go so far as to bet there isn’t a single reader here who doesn’t have some form of printed guitar oriented instructional such as Hal Leonard’s Guitar Method or similar print product.

Hal Leonard Guitar Method Book 1: Bk/Online Audio

Hal Leonard Bass Method - Complete Edition: Books...

Music Theory - Hal Leonard Guitar Method by Tom...

We still rely on hard copy as a reference. Something we can leaf through, something physical that conveys the information we seek through brilliant shiny ink on paper.

I don’t think that will ever change, although the storage of such things will continue to evolve – hello Kindle and online guitar books.

In Summary, Which Method is the Best Way to Learn Guitar?

The fact is, there are so many different ways of perceiving new information, the best method for learning guitar is simply a matter of trying. It really doesn’t take too long to figure out which method resonates with your style of learning.

Whether it’s videos, books, subscription services, courses, or private instruction, the point is to try and keep trying. The payoff will last a lifetime.

In Our Opinion, Online Lessons Are The Best Choice

Since we live in a state of constant connectivity, and many of us have the desire to teach ourselves in our spare time, the question is: “What’s the best way to learn guitar on your own?“.

Yes, there may be an extra cost to your guitar learning experience, but the higher quality lessons and tools available should make you play better, and faster.

At the end of the day you’re getting a streamlined, more personalized learning plan that focuses on providing you with top rated guitar lessons.

The alternative is having to search through hundreds of video options from amateur instructors on YouTube. With very little exception, you get what you pay for.

Forums, guitar websites, and tab sites make great additional learning tools for you to pursue more in depth or genre specific info. The downside is that they can’t be relied upon to be the best qualified method to learn guitar.

For the time being, established professional lesson sites remain the best place to learn guitar online. If you find yourself having trouble picking one, be sure to check out our many helpful online guitar lesson guides.

The post The Best Way To Learn Guitar (Top Options) first appeared on GuitarNiche.

We certainly hope you benefit from the information we provide in this article! Just so you know, we may receive compensation if you use the links on this page. If you do, thank you so much!

JamPlay vs Justin Guitar: Who’s Offers Better Lessons?

JamPlay and Justin Guitar are no doubt two of the best online guitar lesson sites available to both beginners and experienced players.

Both sites offer a wide range of lessons for both beginners and experienced players alike. While JamPlay has a wide range of instructors, some famous and some not, Justin Guitar is the work of just guitar player and teacher Justin Sandercoe of YouTube fame.

Even though both sites are great options for online guitar lessons, we here at Guitar Niche pit Justin Guitar vs JamPlay to find out which is truly the best option for you.

JamPlay vs Justin Guitar Quick Comparison:

JamPlay and Justin Guitar In Detail: Breaking Them Down

Before we get started, let’s go over how we’re going to compare and judge the two sites against each other. We’ll be comparing both the features and appearance of the websites as how we imagine a beginner and an experienced player will view them.

For example, an experienced guitar player is more likely to be impressed by number of songs or technical lessons available while a beginner will be looking for an easy to follow set of introductory steps or lessons.

The major criteria, as with all good online guitar lessons, will be how easy it is to navigate each page, how many features and lessons are available, and how easy each video is to follow.

Guitar Teachers and Basic Lesson Plans

No matter how easy the user interface is, the site will ultimately only be as good as the teachers who are teaching the lessons.

The teacher’s ability to communicate the importance of each technique or lesson and how it pertains to the overall lesson plan is vital.

Without being able to see progress on the instrument and through each site’s student path, beginners are likely to get frustrated, or lose interest.

JAMPLAY

Our first impression of the site for this JamPlay review section was that the instructor list features a lot of big-name guitar players who teach either techniques or their own songs.

While it can be really inspiring and motivational to players to learn from their heroes, we feel this feature has more marketing value than teaching value.

The basic lesson play is split into 4 phases:

1. Beginner
2. Genres & Skills
3. Songs, and
4. Songwriting

We really like the flow of this order and think it makes it easy for the student to accumulate skills while constantly using them.

You’re earning them in a new context such as “here is a country riff, now let’s play it in a popular country song, finally, let’s write a song featuring this riff”.

Furthermore, the instructors in the beginner series videos we watched spoke slowly and clearly, demonstrating years of experience teaching the guitar.

However, there are multiple options and pathways for each phase and level which can be confusing or redundant.

For more info their site, check out our complete JamPlay Review >>

JUSTIN GUITAR

To kick off our Justin Guitar review, let’s take a look at the lessons and learning structure. All Justin Guitar lessons are taught by the main man himself, Justin Sandercoe.

While some people may be discouraged by the lack of famous, guitar hero instructors, the familiarity and consistency of having the same instructor can be very comforting to new players.

The lesson plans are well laid out with a nice, descriptive “welcome” page explaining a little bit about the site and module structure.

With labeled beginner and topic options, we found it easy to navigate but somewhat “busy” with the number of options.

The color-coded difficulties are also helpful as it works to break up the wide number of options into smaller, more manageable sub-categories.

The lessons are also further split up under the labels of “beginner”, “intermediate”, “advanced”, and “spectrum”.

For more info on this service, check out our comprehensive Justin Guitar Review >>

Winner: JUSTIN GUITAR

User Interface

When learning guitar, there are enough small things to frustrate and discourage you enough to quite altogether. One thing that can easily make it worse on a student is a hard to navigate website or lesson plan.

Even for experienced players, you don’t want to have to spend too much time trying to figure out to how to find your way around the song lesson pages or figuring out how to slow down the video or where the tabs load from.

JAMPLAY

Overall, the user interface is not difficult to navigate whatsoever, but we wish there was more of an emphasis on getting started with lessons.

Once you scroll down a little bit, the viewer is bombarded with course options that don’t seem to tie in together at all based on genre, style, or difficulty.

Once you get to the lessons tab on top of the site, the four phases are easily laid out and you are directed to the homepage for each phase.

However, as we mentioned before, it can be a little bit overwhelming to a new student as there are about two dozen options, split between acoustic and electric guitar.

This site puts the onus on the student to find out which path is best suited for them and the page layout further emphasizes that.

JUSTIN GUITAR

The home page on Justin Guitar is set up with a much more user-friendly appearance in our opinion with the first thing you see being a 1-minute introduction video and a “beginner’s start here” page with links.

As you scroll down, a screen pops up with interesting stats and numbers representing the site such as the number of songs and lessons available as well as users, subscribers, and facebook likes.

From a strictly aesthetic perspective, the Justin Guitar site is much more modern, interactive, and appealing than the JamPlay web page.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for on the front page, there are helpful drop-down menus along the top page to help guide you towards tools, lessons, and more.

Winner: JUSTIN GUITAR

Lessons Toolbox

Along with all the videos and great teachers that makes these sites great, the real value lies within the tools they offer via the website.

Things like tabs that pop up next to the video, the ability to slow down/speed up the pace, built in tuners, or chord finders are all invaluable to students.

JAMPLAY

JamPlay has a very easy to use toolbox that is located right below the video screen of each lesson. It’s simple to find and shouldn’t be too confusing for students as it has helpful labels and links to multiple features.

Students can hit the clearly labeled “Ask A Teacher” button for additional help, take their own notes in “notes”, and control playback speed with an adjustable clicker among many others.

While we have not been thrilled with their home screen and lesson selection user interface, this is clearly a top-notch video lesson webpage.

JUSTIN GUITAR

For those of you familiar with YouTube video formatting, you may enjoy the Justin Guitar video lessons and toolbox, or lack of a toolbox.

Basically, his site is just YouTube videos with a few additional comments and tabs you can access under the video.

While the video content is no doubt fantastic, many helpful tools like video speed control, note taking, or separate published tabs are not available on the same screen as with JamPlay or Guitar Tricks.

For some, they may appreciate this streamlined platform and with no subscription cost, you are certainly not getting ripped off or losing value. But if cost is not problem, it may be best to opt for a more complete learning package.

Winner: JAMPLAY

Available Song Lessons

Last but not least, if you’re going to be shelling out your hard-earned money to learn your favorite songs, you expect at least some of those songs to be available on the platform.

JAMPLAY

While licensing and tablature rights can get legally tricky, JamPlay still appears to have a questionably low number of songs available for its students to learn; somewhere in the range of 200-300 by our hand count.

Hard rock and heavy metal are well represented, as are The Beatles but overall the selection is lot on many classic and modern rock hits such as guitar lesson staples “Wonderwall” or “Good Riddance”.

Blues and Country are similarly understaffed as a dozen or more of the instructor’s original pieces take up valuable space.

JUSTIN GUITAR

Justin Guitar’s free online guitar tutorials lists over 550 song lessons available, while JamPlay doesn’t list a number, our hand count suggested they had only 300 or so. In addition to having more than JamPlay,

it also has a more diverse selection of genres such as alternative, funk, and reggae.

The same color coding from the general step by step guitar lessons is used here to help users filter songs based on difficulty.

What’s more impressive is how many of these lessons are available with only one instructor, while sites like JamPlay have dozens of teachers and less lessons.

Winner: JUSTIN GUITAR

Final Recount:

(3 / 4)

JUSTINGUITAR WINS 3 OUT OF 4 CATEGORIES

PROS

• • • Free
    • More available song and genre lessons
    • One teacher simplifies things
    • Easy to navigate
    • Live Lessons

CONS

• • • No famous instructors
    • Few in-lesson tools available

(1 / 4)

JAMPLAY WINS 1 OUT OF 4 CATEGORIES

PROS

• • • Familiar, famous instructors
    • Awesome in-lesson tools
    • Live Lessons

CONS

• • • Little diversification in song/genre lessons
    • Lack of streamlined lesson plans
    • $19.99/month
    • No clear “beginners start here” button

In Summary, Which Is The Best Online Guitar Lessons Service For You Personally – JamPlay or Justin Guitar?

Justin Guitar won three out of the four categories, making it incredibly impressive considering it costs $0 per month compared to the $19.95 per month that a JamPlay membership costs – though they do offer a free access trial.

While you can’t go wrong with either, Justin Guitar definitely offers more value and is less risky considering it is free and accessible to all.

While JamPlay packs in more features and instructors, Justin Guitar is a step above in usability and quality.

The post JamPlay vs Justin Guitar [Who’s Better?] first appeared on GuitarNiche.

TrueFire Lessons Review: Key Features

We certainly hope you benefit from the information we provide in this article! Just so you know, we may receive compensation if you use the links on this page. If you do, thank you so much!

Try TrueFire Free Here >>

TrueFire is a video-based guitar lessons website that also offers limited lessons for bass, ukulele, and harmonica.

Started in 1991 and boasting contributions from 600+ instructors, TrueFire boasts that over 2 million students have learned through their system.

Many competitors brag about their wide selection and diversity of song lessons, but TrueFire specifically focuses on detailed technical instruction videos with learning paths guided by the genre of music you wish to play.

Furthermore, the site has many spectacular instructors including top session players and GRAMMY award winners as well as an awesome feature, “In the Jam”, which lets students play alongside pre-recorded rhythm sections.

For a full comparison of available the best online teaching services, check out our complete review of online guitar lessons providers here.

Let’s dig into the site for a thorough TrueFire review.

How Much Do TrueFire Lessons Cost?

TrueFire has multiple options to access their massive catalogue of lesson resources – from one-time downloads to traditional membership structures:

• Free Membership: Unlimited
• Full Access Membership: Free for 30 days
• One-time purchases and single courses between $10 and $60
• Monthly Plan: $29 per month
• Yearly Plan: $149 per year
• Lifetime Plan: $1,499 one-time fee

Who Is TrueFire For?

Some of you may be asking, what is TrueFire and what separates it from the other lesson sites?

Well, the true strength of the TrueFire guitar courses lies in its offerings for beginner and intermediate players.

With over 900 courses to offer and more being added constantly, TrueFire lessons thoroughly explain basic musical theory, or related terms alongside guitar fundamentals.

Also, the site has so many video lessons because many of them are short, only minutes long, opposed to some of the 10 or 20-minute lessons featured on other sites.

From the Creators: LEARN. PRACTICE. PLAY.

Shorter videos help keep the attention of new students who would otherwise get fatigued or frustrated should they struggled.

The video feature is further enforced by the lack of song lessons for newer music, a trait that usually helps engage more experienced players to access other established lesson sites.

While many non-students may turn to these sites for accurate tabs or advanced technique lessons, it would appear TrueFire guitar courses use song lessons as more of a teaching tool for beginners than a specific learning resource.

What’s Included With a TrueFire Subscription?

TrueFire is free to sign up for your first 30 days and when you do, you get plenty of coupons of future lesson downloads.

After that 30 days, you must begin paying to download lessons or features such as the “In the Jam” sessions.

If you’re looking for their All-Access package, similar to what other subscription sites offer, the regular price is $29 per month. But, when on sale at $19 per month, is more comparable to competitors like Guitar Tricks or JamPlay.

With the All Access pass you’re entitled to, like it says, access to all of the website’s lessons and features.

In addition to the lesson plans and song videos, the site boasts an impressive number of complementary lessons meant to add additional skills from top artists such as Jimi Hendrix or Bo Diddley.

Interested in a TrueFire subscription?

Use the code “PARTNER10” and get 10% Off Today! >>

Overview of Features

The TrueFire website itself is broken down into easy to navigate sections;

• Courses
• Learning Paths
• Jams
• Sales (Special Offers)
• Live
• Channels
• Educators
• More (Apps, Private Lessons etc.)

When comparing TrueFire vs Artistworks or TrueFire vs JamPlay, it is important to look at the distinct features of each site.

The Learning Paths section is designed to help you accelerate your playing through focused study plans – without the need to read music, and without “boring” exercises.

One of the coolest features we’ve seen on a lesson website is TrueFire’s “In The Jam” section which features 10 minute, multi-track video sessions, some featuring famous musicians, that allows players to play along with a pre-recorded band.

Featuring a large variety of options including jams like “Modern Groove” and “Soul Jazz”, this is truly a one of a kind option for students to begin practicing improvisation.

Inspiring creativity, songwriting, and improvisation is key, especially has students begin to progress out of the most basic level, to keeping them engaged with the instrument.

The song lessons that are included are on par in quality and useable tools with all other major sites.

Though they’re continually adding new material, generally the songs are limited to mostly older classic rock, jazz, and pop songs which may turn off some younger players.

“Big” Little Extras

TrueFire Channels is a rich community-centric section where you can engage with your favorite artists and educators.

Featuring exclusive self-produced video lessons, the TrueFire Channels section hosts performances, vlogs, video discussion threads, and even private and group instruction.

Lastly, the beginner lessons are built in a linear fashion based on what genre or style of music you want to play such as rock or blues.

Even better, the video lessons have awesome tools like speed up/slow down and discussion forums for the students to chat about the video.

New: Free Lessons Section

While a relatively small fraction of what the entire TrueFire site has to offer, the new Free Lessons feature packs a heck of a lot of value.

With over 6,000 lessons, the free lesson section serves as a great cross section of what could be available should you decide to dive into a complete course.

This means that you get bits and pieces of the same high quality content, but not the full picture.

Truefire Tutorials & How To Access

TrueFire’s extensive video lesson selection can be accessed at TrueFire.com where you will find easy direction to log in or create your own account to access your 30 day free trial.

They even have desktop application, plus a full suite of TrueFire apps for ios and Android so you can take your lessons on the go via your mobile phone or tablet.

For a great introduction to the site and how it works, hit the “About TrueFire” button option on the top right of the website.

TrueFire Lessons Review – Key Points

Top Lesson Site Alternatives

As you’ll find in our other reviews of GuitarTricks, FenderPlay, and JamPlay, there are many different options out there for guitar students looking to learn online.

TrueFire is another awesome choice with its diverse lesson options, streamlined website, and strong toolbox.

A Fan Favorite for Decades: Get GuitarTricks Today >>

A Fresh Approach for Newbies: Get Fender Play Here >>

If You Rock, This Is The Site: Try JamPlay Free Today >>

JamPlay has drawn raves reviews for the number of famous musicians who have recorded lessons on how to play their own songs or techniques, something Truefire has begun to compete with.

Furthermore, TrueFire has the history and student testimonials to go against any of those sites. Ultimately, the choice will come down to what instructors or lesson plans you are looking for.

In The End, Are TrueFire Lessons Worth It?

Ultimately, we believe TrueFire is the most technically impressive of all online offerings. The web page is easy to navigate, which is certainly valuable for attracting and maintaining a base of beginner students.

These two factors, in addition to the diverse toolbox that comes with each video lesson, make it an excellent option for students looking to dive right into the guitar head first.

The lack of present-day song demos and lessons makes the site feel somewhat dated and limited to pure skill learning, but the “In the Jam” feature helps make up for it by inspiring improvisation and creativity in students.

For the sale price of $29 a month, you get a lot of value with the sheer volume of lessons, especially after the first 30 days are free giving you a great introductory period to see if TrueFire is the lesson site for you.

Try TrueFire for Free Here >>

The post TrueFire Lessons Review (Are They The Best Out There?) first appeared on GuitarNiche.

JamPlay Key Features:

We certainly hope you benefit from the information we provide in this article! Just so you know, we may receive compensation if you use the links on this page. If you do, thank you so much!

Try JamPlay.com Free Here >>

JamPlay Guitar Lessons Review: Do They Really Deliver Great Value?

JamPlay is home to one of the largest lists of guitar instructors on the web, including popular performing and studio musicians.

For a full understanding of some of the highest rated providers available to you, check out our complete guide to online guitar lessons.

JamPlay Overview

In addition to the impressive teaching array, JamPlay offers great features like live lessons, chat forums, and a wide variety of technique lessons as well.

A JamPlay membership will set you back about $19.99 per month, but with the huge selection of lessons, it should be easy of guitarists at any level to extract value from their membership.

Let’s take a more detailed look at the song options, lesson plans, and instructors you’re paying for with an extensive JamPlay review.

Who Is JamPlay For?

If you’re asking what is JamPlay?, or is JamPlay worth it?, the answer comes down to your familiarity with the guitar. With an incredibly extensive selection of lessons, JamPlay is a great way to continue your guitar education but has some flaws that make it not necessarily the best option for beginners.

As we’ll discuss in later sections, a limited song selection and busy lesson plan makes it more optimal for student guitarists who have already advanced passed the beginner stages.

Despite some of these shortcomings, the video lesson quality is still top notch, and if you can find the lessons you need, you’ll learn from some the best instructors online.

What’s Included?

For the JamPlay membership cost of $19.99/month, you are certainly getting a lot of value when you consider all that’s included.

Quality concerns aside, there are four phases of learning that includes beginner lessons, skill lessons, song demos, and songwriting help.

While each phase has a somewhat overwhelming number of paths to follow, some students may be grateful for all the options. The song selections are also limited in both number and genres when considering JamPlay vs Fender Play or other competitors.

Specifically, the hard rock and metal categories feature heavily with some lessons being instructed by the musicians and songwriters who made the songs famous.

Furthermore, there is a huge variety of instructors in playing style, musical genre, and instruments (acoustic, electric, bass lessons all included).

If that’s not enough there are free live lessons available with your subscription and an IOS app available so you can take your lessons with you, however the app doesn’t have great JamPlay user ratings on the app store.

Jamplay Features

One of the best features on the JamPlay website is the video lesson portals. With the biggest toolbox of all lesson sites featuring tabs, supplemental notes about the lessons, speed controls, and “ask a teacher” help functions, you can truly find everything you need once you start each video.

Lessons like “classical guitar for the modern guitarist” and “modern grooves and retro rhythms” show off the strength of the site, diverse and educational options spanning multiple styles, but only somewhat covers up for the more lacking features.

As stated before, I hand counted somewhere between 300 and 400 song options, much less than some competitors which can influence song-hungry students when picking to subscribe to JamPlay or Guitartricks.

While modern rock and metal are certainly popular, many of today’s guitarists and music fans play and listen to a wide variety of genres and styles, many of which aren’t featured in JamPlay’s song selections.

Online Tutorials & How To Access

JamPlay is easily accessible via their website, www.jamplay.com, or by searching for JamPlay in your web browser. As stated before, there is also an IOS app which is great for guitarists who want to practice at work, school, or while travelling away from their computer.

All the videos I watched and followed along with, also featured great introductory or beginner sections that introduced the instructor, lesson material, and tools featured along with the video.

JamPlay Lessons Review – Key Points

Alternative Lessons Programs

As you’ll find in our other reviews of GuitarTricks, TrueFire, and ArtistWorks, there are many different options out there for guitar students looking to learn online.

JamPlay is one of many great choices with its diverse lesson options, quality instructors and great lesson toolbox to help you get the most out of each video.

JamPlay has drawn raves reviews for the number of famous musicians who have recorded lessons on how to play their own songs or techniques, something other sites have begun to compete with.

Furthermore, JamPlay has the history and student testimonials to go against any of those sites. Ultimately, the choice will come down to what instructors or lesson plans you are looking for and how easily you feel you can navigate the website.

Conclusion: Is JamPlay the Right Guitar Lessons Program for You?

As we researched this JamPlay lessons review, there’s a lot to like about the service, but in comparison to some of its competitors, it just doesn’t stack up.

One of the most engaging features of these sites is their song lessons and tabs, which can engage even more experienced players.

This helps keep subscribers after they have learned the instrument, or attracting players who aren’t strictly beginners or amateurs.

Compared to other services like TrueFire, the low quantity and limited genre options really hold JamPlay back, as does the difficult to navigate beginner lesson plan.

Personally, we just don’t think it is smart to let the beginner students choose for themselves which path to follow out of a handful of similarly labeled options.

The more traditional, linear options on other sites may be more limited in variability but help give students a quick and easy intro before allowing them to branch out.

You certainly can’t go wrong with JamPlay and its high quality video lessons, but be sure to make sure it is the one for you by taking advantage of a free trial when possible.

Check Out JamPlay Here >>

The post JamPlay Lessons Review (Are They Still Good Value?) first appeared on GuitarNiche.

Key features at a glance:

Try Fender Play Free Here >>

Learning Guitar Online with Fender Play: Read This First!

We certainly hope you benefit from the information we provide in this article! Just so you know, we may receive compensation if you use the links on this page. If you do, thank you so much!

Fender Play Overview

Fender Play is a rather new entry into the online guitar lesson competition. While it doesn’t have the rich teaching history of Guitar Tricks or JamPlay, it does offer detailed courses for modern guitar students.

Featuring multiple young instructors, Fender Play is a video-based lesson system that offers students a linear teaching plan based on the style of music you wish to learn.

Fender Play Key Stats:

• Lessons Taken : 55,000,000
• App Store Rating: 4.8
• Development: 30,000+ Hours
• Available Lessons: 3,000 and counting…

Lessons often focus on using popular songs or riffs to teach basic guitar techniques while also introducing players to the different types of Fender guitar lines, pickups, and features.

Follow along as we here at Guitar Niche perform a thorough Fender Play review and let us know if you think it is worth the subscription cost!

Fender Play Paths

Who Is Fender Play For?

Fender Play is unique in the sense that while it is certainly a beginner-oriented site, it generally targets anyone buying or playing Fender guitars.

In fact, almost all new Fender or Squier guitars come with 6 months of free access to Fender Play meaning that even an experienced player like me may hop on the web page to check out specific song or high-level technique lessons.

Fender Play comes from a brand still making history at its grass roots.

The lessons are especially easy to follow for new students and the user interphase is built around a simple, linear lesson plan.

Due to the ease of use and limited song lesson selection, Fender play is ideal for true beginners and more of a non-essential supplement for others.

At $9.99 a month, it is certainly accessible to all players and is much more affordable than the $19.99 per month when comparing Fender Play vs JamPlay or Fender Play vs Guitar Tricks.

What’s Included with the Service?

Before you decide whether this lesson plan is for you or not, you may be wondering: How long is the Fender Play free trial?

Everyone gets a free two weeks period when signing up to look around, check out videos, and become familiar with the set-up which can be really useful when shopping around for the right fit.

If you go out and buy a Fender or Squier guitar to learn on, that two-week trail can get an additional free 6 months of Fender play which can save you a ton of money and add significant value to your new instrument purchase.

Once you’ve signed up there are number of great tools and lessons available to you including guitar, bass, and ukulele tuners, informative articles, gear demos, along with the video lessons.

In addition to enjoying the easy guitar lessons for beginners, you can also skip ahead to browsing their list of popular song lessons including hits ranging from Marvin Gaye to Taylor Swift to The Rolling Stones.

By hand count, it seems there are around 700 song lessons for guitar, bass, and ukulele, however some of these lessons are only the main riff and not the full song.

Overview of Fender Play Features

The best feature about Fender Play has to be in the in depth and easy to follow lessons you’ll find under the “My Path” tab on the left side of the screen.

The “My Path” section walks you through 5 levels of lessons that get more and more difficult as you progress mixing in basic guitar lessons such as chord and scale structures with famous guitar riffs or songs that demonstrate their usage.

One of our favourite parts of these levels was how informative they were about guitar technique such as telling you the importance of strumming right as opposed to only telling you that you need to strum correctly.

You learn how to play music as well as the guitar

The inclusion of famous songs and riffs in the lessons as you learn also should help motivate students and keep them focused on learning how to make music with the guitar, not just how to play the guitar.

Each video lesson has helpful and accessible tabs below the lesson screen for tags, tools, and external links as well as three screen images to help you learn.

One screen focuses on the picking hand, one on the fretting hand, and a smaller one shows the whole video.

Tutorials & How To Access

Fender Play guitar lessons are incredibly easy to access by visiting www.Fender.com/play or simply searching “Fender Play” on your preferred web browser.

Furthermore, this site, like most, requires no downloads and takes up no valuable desktop or application space on your computer.

Conveniently, Fender Play also has an app meaning you can learn on a phone or tablet and take lessons to go if needed.

Fender Play: The Good and The Bad

Fender Play Review – Key Points

Online Guitar Lessons Alternatives

As you’ll find in our other reviews of TrueFire, ArtistWorks, or Guitar Tricks, there are many different options out there for guitar students looking to learn online.

Fender Play is no doubt a great choice with its modern, easy to access web design and streamlined lesson plans, but it does lack some of features of the other sites.

JamPlay has drawn raves reviews for the number of famous musicians who have recorded lessons on how to play their own songs or techniques and all three of those sites have a much longer history of success and peer review.

Ultimately, the choice will come down to what instructors or web page you find most engaging, for me, that was Fender Play.

Final Thoughts: Does Fender Play Offer Good Value?

Ultimately, I find Fender Play to be growing rapidly, as the number of song lessons seems to have doubled since I first visited the site over a year ago.

Fender Play simply has one of the easiest to follow and aesthetically pleasing web sites out of all online lesson options, something that is sure to attract and engage visitors.

Fender Play simply has one of the easiest to follow and aesthetically pleasing web sites out of all online lesson options, something that is sure to attract and engage visitors.

You get a free kick-start, and an affordable subscription

When you combine the two-week Fender Play free trial, 6-month subscription that comes with new Fender guitars, and the affordable $9.99 a month cost, there is just a ton of surplus value here.

The lessons are shot with high definition video quality and feature a young, diverse, and exciting array of instructors that represents the modern-day guitar community phenomenally.

Overall, I think Fender Play has the potential to be the best of all four sites mentioned if it continues to add songs and lessons at this rate making it the most fun and educational site for online lessons.

Get 50% Off Fender Play >> Use Code “learntoplay50“

The post Fender Play Review (Are The Lessons Helpful Or Hype?) first appeared on GuitarNiche.