Looking for online guitar lessons? Awesome choice! Learning guitar online is a great way to go about it. It's so convenient, and a LOT cheaper than private lessons. The only problem is deciding which website to learn from...
Here's a breakdown of the top 2 online guitar lessons websites to make your decision easier:
Overall, if you want to learn to play guitar online, you'll find that trying to learn for free will have its limits. Just about anyone willing to give totally free lessons is either (i) an amateur who isn't qualified to teach guitar, or (ii) will hold the best stuff back so they can try to sell you their course. This what makes up about 90% of the lessons on YouTube...
If you're serious about learning guitar, but want to learn from home to save $1,000's/year compared to hiring a private instructor, then JamPlay.com is your best bet in my opinion.
I've paid for over a dozen guitar courses, and if I could do it all over again, I'd just sign up for the one website that has everything we need to improve with guitar:
1,000's of high-quality video lessons
Huge community of dedicated guitarists
24 professional instructors
Tuners, chord & scale libraries
Awesome support (fast, helpful answers)
Sign up for 30 days of unlimited access to 1,000's of online guitar lessons, for less than the cost of a 30-minute lesson:
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Video Tour of the Top Online Guitar Lessons
Want to see the best online guitar lessons for yourself? Here's a video walkthrough of each of the most popular websites:
After playing guitar for 12 years, here's what I recommend: learn some songs with free guitar tabs, check out YouTube on occasion if there are specific things you want to learn, and if you're serious about learning guitar, sign up for JamPlay.com. It's $19.95/month, but it's more than worth it, and WAY cheaper than private lessons...
5 Traps to Avoid with Online Guitar Lessons
Taking guitar lessons can be really fun, but there's always some work involved. Traditionally (up until a few years ago), taking lessons meant finding an instructor, scheduling a time out of your busy schedule to meet every week, then paying $10-$35/30-minute lesson, which works out to over $1,500/year!
Luckily, for anyone learning guitar today, things are much easier. You can sign up for online guitar lessons, take lessons from home (whenever you want), learn from multiple instructors, and pay less than 10% of what private lessons cost!
While taking lessons online can be amazing, there are definitely some traps to avoid:
Taking lessons randomly from too many teachers
Trying to learn specific songs without mastering the fundamentals
Wasting your time taking lame "free" lessons
Investing in too many courses and spreading yourself thin
Paying for guitar lessons made my marketers (not musicians)
Alright, so let's breakdown each trap, and how to go about avoiding them. Oh yeah, and it's important to say that I fell into some of these traps myself, and the vast majority of people searching for online guitar lessons do too.
Trap #1: Taking lessons randomly from too many teachers
Since the Internet is so massive, there are literally 1,000's of websites, blogs, videos, and tabs to learn from. It can all be really overwhelming, and just like anything else in life, it's best to focus on fewer high-quality options than too many all at once, spreading yourself thin. Remember: "Often, he who does too much, does too little".
Trap #2: Trying to learn specific songs without mastering the fundamentals
This is really a huge trap for all beginners, but it's even more difficult to avoid with online lessons. It's so easy to be consumed by reading tabs of your favorite songs, ignoring the fundamentals. This was my biggest problem for a long time, and it really held me back. If you do this, you'll find yourself having a tough time advancing, being able to write your own music, and having less fun playing with other people. To avoid this, focus on the basics, then gradually build up with techniques, and slowly add more songs to your "set list".
Trap #3: Wasting time taking lame "free" lessons
Some people are completely fine spending $200, $500, or even $1,000+ on a guitar, then insist on getting "free" lessons online. It's crazy! This is the worst trap of them all, because it wastes valuable time. It's like buying a car, then trying to avoid paying for driver's education classes to get your license! Of course there are some great free lessons out there, but it's crucial that you are careful, because the overwhelming majority of them are only free to lure you in, just so they can sell you their $100 DVD course or whatever. Remember: "nothing in life is truly free".
Trap #4: Investing in too many courses and spreading yourself thin
On the opposite extreme, some people get so pumped up by the idea that online guitar lessons are so cheap compared to learning with a private instructor, they go a buying spree, and never end up truly learning from any of them. It's important to select 1-2 courses/websites that you can devote your time & energy to, because this will allow you to actually follow their methods and grow as a guitarist.
Trap #5: Paying for guitar lessons made by marketers (not musicians)
In every industry, there are business owners that are pure, and business owners that only in it for the money. The guitar lessons market is no different. It's easy to fall for horrible courses since they look so good on the outside, but don't do it! That is precisely why I made this website: to help people avoid getting scammed and wasting their time & money on guitar courses that aren't worth it.
Bottom line: Invest in great lessons, use them, become a great guitarist.
Online Guitar Lessons Conclusion
Well, I hope this page helped you decide find the best guitar lessons possible. Learning online is an awesome choice, and can save you lots of time & money, if you avoid those traps!
If you're just getting started, play around with YouTube and Ultimate Guitar to see how you like it. When you're ready to invest in much higher-quality online guitar lessons, sign up for a 7-day trial to JamPlay.com and give it a shot (enter the coupon code 86C6CC to save 25%):
Enter this code to save $4.99 on your 1st month with JamPlay: