There are a lot of guitar courses that you can find online these days. I have been playing guitar for over 13 years and I am astounded by the great resources resources made available for guitarists now, so amazed that I decided to take the time to review four of my favourite guitar courses. I personally recommend them to all of my students. Note that I said guitar courses, not guitar music books. This is because these are the whole package, not restricted to just books.

These guitar courses all contain intructional videos which is absolutely essential for learning guitar. Many of these courses also contain books, play along tracks, very useful software and other goodies which will really give you an advantage over traditional guitar music books. These courses help make learning guitar fun! Which is what it should be all about anyway, learning from a book alone can be a very dull experience. I speak from experience. All of these courses are perfect for the beginner and I’ll specify which ones are better for advanced players in the reviews below.

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Quick Learn And Master Guitar Review:

Learn and Master Guitar is definitely the best guitar course I tested. Although it is the most expensive one I tried, it is well worth the investment if you are serious about learning how to play guitar. The DVD video lessons are very thorough and give you step-by-step instruction from beginner all the way to advanced. I was able to follow along with each lesson without getting lost at all. Along the way, you will learn all the conventional and modern guitar playing techniques.

Learn and Master Guitar comes with a variety of printed materials. The workbook contains all the songs and lessons from the video lessons. This lets you go over things and practice at your own pace. You also get a set of 5 Jam-Along CDs. These allow you to play along with a real band and incorporate the same songs you hear in the lessons. They are really fun to play, and it is a great way to practice.

Lastly, the online content is very good as well. You will get access to the forum which has a great, active community. You can ask questions, and you will get answers right away. The teacher of the course Steve Krenz even is online all the time so you can personally ask him questions as well. For those who want to learn from the best guitar course available, Learn and Master Guitar is the course to try.

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Quick Guitar Tricks Review:

If you like to learn online, GuitarTricks is a guitar playing course you should take a look at. GuitarTricks is a premium membership site that contains more than 3500 guitar lessons, taught by 45 professional guitar instructors. Lessons are suitable for all different levels and a variety of guitar styles. This makes it great for both guitar beginners and experts alike. Lessons are offered both in video and mp3 format.
GuitarTricks offers a wide variety of lessons and the site is very well organized so you can find lessons by topic, style or influence. What’s cool about GuitarTricks is that it also allows you to download all the videos on the site onto your own computer. The GuitarTricks community is also very good. You will get access to their giant stable of experience guitar instructors and professional guitarists. The GuitarTricks forum is a fun place to hang out, and a useful way to find and get answers to any guitar related questions you may have.

GuitarTricks is the best guitar course available online. You can’t beat the huge selection of lessons available, and it will take you years to get through all of them. It is constantly being updated, so you are always getting fresh lessons to learn from. Even if you are not sure about getting the premium membership, try out their free basic membership to see what they offer. You’ll get access to 24 free lessons, and access to the forums. It’s a great way to try GuitarTricks out and see if it helps you learn to play guitar.

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Quick JamPlay Review:

I had a hard time deciding where to slot JamPlay and Guitar Tricks in my top picks, because in my opinion they are really both quite good. JamPlay is packed with over 480 hours of video guitar lessons, and you have a diverse selection of 44 guitar teachers to learn from. New guitar content is being added all the time, so you will never get bored with the same old guitar lessons. One feature I especially enjoy are their 12 hours of live webcam sessions where you can learn to play guitar in real-time in front of one of the JamPlay instructors.

JamPlay is a very well organized site, and it’s super simple to find the guitar lessons you are looking for. Lessons are set up so you can work through and entire set of lessons with a single teacher. And if you don’t like a particular teacher? Just choose another one to learn from as many of them teach the same material which is quite nice.

JamPlay’s production quality is excellent. Every lesson is very professionally done, and you get high definition video, multiple camera angles, and picture and picture shots when needed. It’s really easy to follow along with your teacher and it really makes learning guitar fun.

JamPlay is an excellent guitar site and I think you will be impressed by the online guitar lessons available on the site. While it’s a little bit more expensive than GuitarTricks at $19.95 a month, it’s still great value for the type of education you will be getting and you will definitely learn how to play guitar much better as a member.

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Quick Jamorama Review:

For those looking for an affordable, yet comprehensive course, Jamorama may be the best guitar course for you. The course is a nice combination of ebook, video, audio, and software, put together into a well-structured guitar teaching course. Jamorama is a great course for absolute beginners and it will teach you how to play guitar in and easy to follow way.

Ben Edwards teaches the course, and he is a very good instructor. His explanations are clear and concise, and you will have no problems following along. The course uses high quality video, and has a professional polish to it.

The games that Jamorama comes with are quite fun to play as well. The GuitearIt software is a fun way to train your ear to recognize the guitar chords. I found it to be very effective. Jayde Musica Pro is another game included in the Jamorama package and it got me reading music very quickly.

Jamorama, in my opinion is the best guitar teaching course under $100.

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The Learn and Master Guitar course is the top selling guitar learning course in the market today, and has been for the past several years. In this Learn and Master Guitar review, I will share why I feel it’s the best guitar course I’ve tested, hands down. While it is the most expensive course I have bought, it is a worthy investment for anyone serious about learning to play the guitar.

Learn and Master Guitar is taught by Steve Krenz, who is a trained musician with an advanced degree in music and many years of professional playing experience. The entire course consists of 20 high quality DVDs, 5 Jam Along CDS, a 108 page workbook and a wide variety of supplementary material. Customers will also get access to the online forum where Steve is actually an active member and will answer your questions.

I was very impressed by the entire Learn and Master Guitar package as all the material is very well thought out and professional done. The DVD video lessons are very watchable and the step by step instruction is very easy to understand and follow. Steve does an excellent job explaining and demonstrating the relevant topics that he is going over. Learn and Master Guitar is well suited for guitar players of any level, as it starts from the very basics and ends with some very advanced techniques. Along the way, you’ll learn the necessary guitar fundamentals, basic chords, various strumming methods, how to read music, master guitar scales, and much more.

My favorite part of the Learn And Master course are the Jam Along CDs. These allow you to practice playing the guitar along with a real band. You get to play the same songs that you learned in the lessons, but it is actually a lot more fun to play. For your convenience, the Jam Along tracks can be played at different speeds (slow, medium, and fast) which allows you to increase the pace as your guitar skills improve. I’ve noticed a great improvement in my timing after using the Jam Along CDs and they are really a great way to practice.

When you aren’t in a convenient place to watch the video lessons, you still have access to all of the Learn and Master Guitar printed materials. The included workbook gives you access to all the songs and lessons that you see on the videos. It’s another way to practice and is a good change of pace to the video lessons.

Finally, I think you will really enjoy the online content as well. The online forums are very active and if you ever have any questions, this is the place to go. Like I mentioned earlier, you will see Steve Krenz on the forums all the time, and it’s a great way to tap into his wealth of guitar knowledge. Learn and Master Guitar comes with a full, 60-day money back guarantee so you are protected if you don’t happen to like the course. However, I personally loved using the Learn and Master Guitar system and I highly recommend it as the best way to learn to play the guitar.

If you are trying to learn guitar online, Guitar Tricks is one of those sites you need to check out. Guitar Tricks has been producing video guitar lessons for more than 10 years and was one of the first guitar membership sites to offer online video. The site hosts more than three thousand online guitar lessons taught by 45 different expert guitar instructors. Whether you are a beginner or expert, Guitar Tricks has lessons suitable for you.

For beginning guitar learners, Guitar Tricks has created a Guitar Fundamentals learning program. The course is split into two parts and when you have completed this self paced course, you will be able to read music, play chords and understand basic song structure. You are then ready to tackle the Intermediate lessons where you will learn how to play different styles of guitar, like blues country and rock. All the different techniques are demonstrated to you and you will learn many guitar tips and techniques that will make you a better guitar player. Once you have reached a more advanced level you then have the ability and the freedom to learn any of the guitar styles and techniques that you are interested in.

Guitar Tricks offers several different lesson formats. They have short licks, multi-part tutorials and full blown courses. All the videos are in beautiful HD format and the quality is quite amazing. With so many lessons, you might think it would be hard to find what you want. However, Guitar Tricks allows you to search lessons by topic or even by artist style. If you want to play like Jimi Hendrix then go look him up!. Also, if you have a favorite Guitar Tricks instructor, you can search by their name as well and bring up all the lessons they teach. Although all the content is available online, each of the video guitar lessons can be also be downloaded right to your computer. The provided video player allows you to loop through specific sections of a video which is great for practice.

In addition to the diverse selection of lessons, there are a couple of other important parts of the Guitar Tricks site as well. First the Guitar Tricks community is really excellent and the forums are a great place to get your questions answered. There are thousands of members, and the content that is archived there is amazing. The other thing I really liked was the Guitar Tricks Jam Station. The Jam Station allows you to simulate playing along with a real band. It is a really useful learning tool and with more than 150 tracks and counting, you will always have something new to practice to.

All in all, Guitar Tricks is an excellent membership site suitable for guitar players of all levels. If you are curious to see what the lessons are like, check out the video guitar lessons that Guitar Tricks has let me post on the site. Plus, if you sign up for their free membership, you will get access to 24 more free lessons to get you started. Once you have sampled all the content, a Guitar Tricks membership will cost you just $14.95 a month. If you have seen the price of private guitar lessons, you know this price is a steal. If you are truly serious about teaching yourself the guitar, then do yourself a favor and check out Guitar Tricks today.

Guitar Tricks Pros
+ Enormous library of video guitar lessons
+ Wide variety of instructors to pick from
+ Free trial video guitar lessons let you test before you join

Guitar Tricks Cons
- Some of the older lessons aren’t in HD

I recently got a chance to try out JamPlay, and I am thoroughly impressed by the site. For those who haven’t heard of it yet, JamPlay is a guitar membership site that offers high quality video guitar lessons with a variety of instructors. The site hosts a wide variety of content (more than 20,000 minutes worth) and you’ll find all the lessons you need to learn and master the guitar. Let me go into some of the pros and cons of the site in this JamPlay review.

JamPlay Lessons

JamPlay divides its lessons into three phases. Phase 1 is for beginners while intermediate and advanced guitar learners may want to jump in at Phase 2 and 3. Phase 2 focuses more on specific genres and styles of guitar while Phase 3 is centered around learning to play actual songs. In Phase 1 you will the guitar basics and fundamentals. The lessons start of assuming that you have no previous experience, so absolute beginners can start off here. After the first couple of lessons, you will understand how the guitar works, and how to play your guitar properly. Once you’ve advanced past the very basics, you’ll then start learning other beginning guitar essentials including proper posture, basic chords, strumming techniques, scales and much more. All in all, the beginner lessons do an excellent job of setting you up for the future phases.

JamPlay Videos

Each of the video lessons are filmed in HD, so the quality is excellent. Most lessons are around 40 minutes in length and are divided into chapters for easy navigation. If you ever want to repeat any part of a lesson, it is quite easy to move back and forth. The lessons also include useful supplementary material that you can review after each lesson, and there is a place for you keep your own notes to refer to at a future time. You can also manually track your own progress on each lesson. This integrates with the Progress Report feature of the site which tells you at a glance which lessons you’ve started, mastered, and still need to work on. This is a nice way to make sure you stay disciplined with your guitar learning.

JamPlay Instructors

One unique aspect of the JamPlay site is that the instructors have filmed their own sets of lessons independently. Since everyone’s learning style is different, it is great to have to choice to find a teacher who’s teaching style is compatible with your way of learning. I recommend before start out, to browse through the first couple of lessons from each teacher and find the instructor that appeals to you the most. It is also possible to mix and match and if that works well for you. JamPlay has an impressive stable of 30 experienced guitar instructors. A few of them have over 30 years of guitar teaching experience so they definitely know how to teach you properly.

Guitar Playing Made Fun

The other part of what makes JamPlay unique are its social networking features. You can make your own profile, share your interests like favorite bands and make new friends on the site. By participating in the JamPlay community, you will feel a lot more involved and will help your motivation for learning. The site also includes a very active forum, where you can get answers to your questions or just plain hang out. There’s also a daily webcam sessions with a particular JamPlay teacher which allows you to interact with the instructor over streaming video in a group chat environment. This is a really fun feature that I don’t think any other site offers.

Final Thoughts

Compared to a similar guitar membership site like Guitar Tricks, JamPlay does cost a little more per month ($19.95 to $14.95). However, the monthly fee is still quite modest, compared to what you would pay for private guitar lessons. Another downside with JamPlay is that you have the be online with a good broadband connection to enjoy the best possible experience. As far as I can tell, there’s no way to download the videos to your computer for offline viewing.

If you are serious about learning to play the guitar and enjoy the idea of being part of a guitar learning community, you should definitely give JamPlay a serious look. At least check out the free lessons they offer on the site to see if you like it. JamPlay suitable for guitar learners of all levels, and it’s definitely a fun and enjoyable way to learn the guitar.

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JamPlay Coupon Codes

23CD773626 – Save 10% off your subscription, for any length of subscription.

Jamorama is a great choice for teaching you how to play guitar effectively. It is a very comprehensive course that contains everything you need to learn to play the guitar. Jamorama is ideal for beginners as it starts teaching you the very basics, but by the end of the course you’ll be playing at a near advanced level. The creator of the Jamorama course is Ben Edwards and for those who may not know, Ben actually played in a successful band in Australia called “Degreesk” which toured internationally. Ben is a great guitar teacher and you will be learning the guitar using his step by step method. His style of teaching is very easy to follow and you won’t get frustrated by the pacing.

I like the fact that Jamorama lets you download the lessons as you go, or all at once if you like. This lets you practice with Jamorama whenever and wherever you want. The included video lessons are high quality and they were really helpful to me to hear and see exactly what I needed to be doing. Unlike other guitar courses, the guitar playing drills aren’t boring and repetive and Ben does a good job of making them fun to play.

My favorite aspect of Jamorama are probably the Jam Tracks. You get 26 different Jam Tracks and they are ideal for helping you practice your strumming, chord changes, and develop good rhythm habits. The included software games are also pretty good. They teach you how to read music, recognize chords, and transcribe songs from the radio. Plus, they are quite fun as well.

What you will get in the Jamorama package:

• 2 Ebooks, Jamorama Beginners and Jamorama Advanced.
• 12 months worth of lessons
• 148 video lessons and exercies
• 26 Jamorama Jam tracks
• Bonus GuitEarIt – Ear training Game (value $49)
• Bonus Jayde Musica Pro
• Bonus Guitar Tuner Pro
• Bonus Jamorama Metronome

Jamorama is the perfect guitar learning course for the beginner guitar player. It contains everything you need to start learning the guitar right away. Once you’ve completed the Jamorama course, you will be able to play all the popular songs of any music genre like a professional using proper guitar playing techniques. At only $39.95, Jamorama is a great price for anyone on a budget. Ben is also so confident in Jamorama that he even offers a 60 day, 100% money back guarantee. So if you are really serious about learning the guitar, you really have no reason not to check Jamorama out.

Buy Jamorama And Learn Guitar Like A Pro!