The 10 Best Guitar Lesson Programs
Where is the Best Place to Take Guitar Lessons?
There are a lot of incredible musical instruments you could choose to learn, but the guitar is a crowd favorite for quite a few reasons. It's easy to tote around and bring a song to life at a moment's notice. It goes beautifully with so many other instruments and if you are able to sing, then you're a walking performance. Whether you're casually jamming with friends, playing at a formal event, or just finding solace by yourself and enjoying a melody, having the talent to play the guitar is invaluable.
No matter if you have a young kid interested in learning to play the guitar or you're getting up in age and still have a zest for developing new hobbies, there are easily-accessible guitar lessons perfect for your level. Even those who have taken years of guitar lessons and play quite a few songs can continue to learn and move up in their skills. Online guitar lessons can meet you where you're at and provide the convenience of learning on-the-go whenever you have time.
Monday, October 14th
2024 Guitar Lesson Program Reviews
GuitarGate
Guitargate was built for people of all skill levels. There are over 6,500 videos and learning resources on their website and it is often updated based on student feedback. You can go through the entire first lesson for free to see what you think of the program before signing up for a premium membership. Premium membership unlocks all content on the site for $299.99/year. Although this is one of the more expensive guitar lesson choices, it comes highly recommended by students and we've seen many praiseworthy comments from people who are thrilled with the content of this program. Guitargate is a smart choice for guitar lessons and has earned 5 stars from us.
Virtu Academy
Virtu Academy specializes in connecting highly trained instructors with students for real-time, face-to-face guitar lessons. You can select your instructor and book either a 30-minute or 1-hour guitar lesson on your own schedule whenever you want one. The platform is extremely easy to use and understand, and all you need is a guitar and computer with a microphone and webcam for your lesson. Virtu Academy offers a trial lesson and 50% off your first booking, so we highly suggest giving them a try if you like the idea of personalized instruction. Virtu Academy has earned one of our highest ratings.
True Fire
As one of the largest and most comprehensive sets of online guitar lessons available, TrueFire has something for everyone. Users can pay by course or subscribe for access to all the features TrueFire has to offer - and with a library of over 50,000 video lessons and a variety of interactive lesson tools, you're guaranteed to never get bored. It's clear to see why TrueFire ranks highly among its competitors.
Guitar Tricks
Guitar Tricks is a great platform that combines the convenience of online video lessons with the option to meet one-on-one with a teacher if you want to. They have over 11,000 lessons that can be accessed with a monthly or yearly membership. It comes with a 60-day satisfaction guarantee that ensures you'll be learning quickly and want to stick with the program or you get your money back. Ratings for Guitar Tricks from students are extremely positive and they carry an "A+” rating from the Better Business Bureau. You're in good hands if you use Guitar Tricks to start learning the guitar.
Artist Works
ArtistWorks is a platform that has tons of lesson plans from renowned guitar teachers. There are a lot of instruments you can learn to play through their program, so the hard part will be narrowing down which lessons to take. You can subscribe for 1, 3, or 12 months for access to your guitar material and video feedback from your teacher. Students can leave reviews about each lesson plan and we found that overall people are really pleased with how effective these lessons are. Although they don't offer a free trial or any sort of guarantee or refund, we're reassured by the positive feedback from students, so ArtistWorks has earned a good rating from us.
Jamplay
JamPlay is a sister company with TrueFire (which you'll also find on our list) and their content is integrated for students to take advantage of with an all-access membership. The platform is for people of all guitar levels, but some beginners complain that the videos move too fast and they aren't able to start at the bottom without getting confused. There are over 70,000 videos on this site and over 1,500 structured lessons, so it may feel a little overwhelming to know where to begin. Luckily JamPlay offers a 14-day trial before making you sign up for a monthly or yearly membership to continue. JamPlay has an "A+” rating from the Better Business Bureau but mixed reviews from students who either love the platform or feel like it is disorganized and doesn't help with natural skill progression. JamPlay has earned a good rating from us, although it isn't one of our top choices.
Fender Play
Fender Play is an online platform with pre-recorded videos you can choose from to navigate your own learning journey. They boast that they have hundreds of popular songs you can learn that will keep things exciting. Their platform has progress tracking and different modes for practicing and feedback to help you build on your skills as you go. They don't show you a glimpse into much of the process unless you sign up for an account. This is also the case with pricing and we were disappointed at how they withheld the cost of the program until we gave our name, email address, and made a password. You can either pay annually for access to their content or month-by-month. Both come with a free trial so you can test it out before continuing on and paying. Fender Play likely has useful material, but won't be the best learning route for everyone, so their guitar lessons have earned an average rating.
Elmore Music
At first glance, you may be turned off by Elmore Music. It's got some website issues and their videos appear to be 20 or so years old. However, we like that there are a lot of video courses available for a one-time payment that you can download and use for life whenever you want. You could also get an all access membership and dabble in all the lessons if you can't pick just one. This comes with a 7-day free trial and all lessons have a 60-day money back guarantee. You won't get one-on-one lessons or corrections or feedback here, but if you just want to learn at your own pace, Elmore Music is an affordable place to learn some tips and tricks. Its outdatedness earns a below-average rating, but it could be worth a peek.
Jamorama
Jamorama is a series of 10 course lessons that teach everything from the basics of guitar to music theory, picking patterns, and more. If you're self-motivated, this fully video-based course would be a good resource to have in your back pocket. It costs a one-time fee of $97 for a lifetime membership. Unfortunately, some students have complained that they've been locked out of their accounts and that technical issues with the site have prevented them from accessing videos. It doesn't seem like there is a strong customer service team behind Jamorama and they aren't actively maintaining the site, so we aren't confident that this will be a good investment.
Learn & Master
Learn & Master once had a lot going for them, but their outdated website with unavailable videos and out-of-stock DVDs dropped them in our rankings. For just $99, you would get over 40 hours of DVD instruction and have access for life. Learn & Master's parent company, Legacy Learning Systems, has an "A+” rating and students seem to have really enjoyed the content here and felt it was effective. We wish that this website were a bit more polished and that there was more inventory of the Learn & Master guitar program, but unfortunately that's not the case at this time.
Continued from above...
There are quite a few platforms that offer guitar lessons online. They all take on a variation of teaching styles, so what works for one person might not be the best choice for another. Maybe you want to work one-on-one with a teacher online for constructive feedback and to hold yourself accountable to someone. Or maybe you're the type of person who just wants to learn behind closed doors on your own timetable and go at your own pace. Luckily, a few companies out there offer free trials to give you a taste of their platform and choose the one that will benefit you most.
From online guitar lessons, you'll learn everything you'd learn in-person with a teacher. Plus, it's usually much more affordable. You'll cover hand positions, how to find different notes and string them together, strum patterns, and how to read music. You can usually choose your favorite songs and learn to play those, which makes the process much more exciting.
We've done a lot of the important research regarding some of the best online guitar lesson options, but we recommend you keep a few things in mind when you're differentiating between companies:
- Cost. Some companies charge subscription fees for their program while others collect a one-time fee for unlimited access to their material. Check if the company offers a free trial for you to take advantage of before signing up for anything. You'll be saving money by taking lessons online no matter what, but you still want to get the best deal possible while maximizing the resources you have access to.
- Quality. Is the company frequently updating their material, adding new songs, and making their website modern and user-friendly? Or are you going to be dealing with a company that created a platform years ago and never touched it again? Ideally, you'll want to sign up with a company that is still putting effort into their company and keeping it up-to-date. This also ensures that you'll have a better experience with customer service if you need to work with them.
- Return policy. If you sign up for a subscription and change your mind about the platform partway through, can you get a refund for the unused portion of your lessons? What about getting a refund for your lessons if you paid a one-time fee for them? Is the company flexible enough that you don't feel completely locked into anything if you aren't learning as much as you hoped?
The experts at Top Consumer Reviews have researched the most important things you'd need to know about choosing a guitar lesson program and ranked some of today's popular options. We hope this information helps you find a company that provides great resources for learning the guitar and builds your confidence as you improve your skills!
Guitar Lesson Program FAQ
Compare Guitar Lesson Programs
Select any 2 Guitar Lesson Programs to compare them head to head
Trending Guitar Lessons News
Related Guitar Lesson Program Reviews
Since you're interested in Guitar Lesson Programs, here are some other reviews you might find interesting.
Newest Reviews
