Justin Guitar Lessons For Beginners
Ellington Walford
Exactly as the name suggests, online guitar lessons are lessons that you access via the internet, either through a browser or a dedicated app. These usually come in the form of video lessons. For the purposes of this guide we are mostly looking at online guitar lessons that require a subscription to access the full suite of lessons and features.
If the content in your online lessons is delivered in a clear and professional manner then it absolutely is possible to learn via remote lessons. The key is then to build on those skills by playing with other musicians, playing live and recording. In our opinion, these are the best ways to develop your talent and forge your own voice on the guitar. You could always choose the hybrid approach which is to support your online learning with semi-regular face-to-face lessons.
We go into more depth on the pros and cons of online vs face-to-face guitar lessons here.
Enjoy your first month of Guitar Tricks for a single buck at this link and start improving your playing for way less than you'd pay for a cup of coffee. You'll get a free gift as part of the deal, too.
TrueFire also offers lessons taught by industry-leading teachers, Grammy Award-winning artists and world-class touring musicians. In case that wasn't a good enough reason to sign up, you can save 30% off an All-Access subscription and all courses with the exclusive code GWTF30.
The great news is that most of the best online guitar lessons services we recommend here offer a free trial of anywhere from 7 days up to a full month, so you can try a few for size before you commit to the right one for you. Most are easy to cancel too, so if you really don't get on with a particular service, you're no worse off.
Being able to learn from the comfort of your own home is a huge benefit as well, as the online nature of these lessons means you can work them around a hectic school or work schedule. You can also learn on a laptop, tablet, or smartphone, meaning even fewer excuses for not nailing the A-minor pentatonic scale!
When Fender entered the education game it was no surprise that it would make it box-office, with high production values, lessons that featured popular songs, and a host of teachers who are totally at ease in front of the camera. Not to mention a great interface whether you're accessing it via a desktop or the dedicated app.
For added peace of mind, Guitar Tricks offers a 60-day money back guarantee, so if you're not completely satisfied with the service in your first couple of months and you request a refund before your 60 days are up, you will get your money back.
TrueFire might be a little more expensive, but like ArtistWorks Guitar, it really packs in the features. There is a similarly storied faculty. Want to have a blues lesson from Robben Ford? Well, why not.
Speaking of speed, there is a Slo-Mo and Looping feature that will help you take control of those parts that are giving you the most trouble, and we can all attest to the value of slowing parts down and mastering them there before bringing it up to tempo. Kudos to anyone who takes the lifetime membership after the free trial.
Right now, TrueFire is also offering MusicRadar readers 30% off their first or next TrueFire purchase. This promotion includes All Access subscriptions and all courses. Just add the code MRTF30 at checkout to claim your discount.
The plans are tiered so that the longer you sign up for them the more you can learn, but even the most basic package includes unlimited access to lessons, the music theory workshop, and the Video Exchange Library, and users can make up to five video submissions to their designated teacher for assessment.
Arriving late against larger competitors, Gibson Learn & Play has been around for a few years now, finally hitting its stride in terms of content maturity. Perfect for those who like their rock, blues, and metal, this app offers a lot for beginner players picking up the instrument for the first time.
JamPlay offers a dizzying amount of content and a number of apps to help you learn while on the move. There are over 100 teachers available, with the likes of Lita Ford and Steve Stevens on the electric guitar faculty, and Mark Kroos and Kaki King on the acoustic side.
Lessons are delivered in 4K video, with interactive tab among the abundance of resources to help you make tangible progress. There is also an online library of chords and scales, and you can chart your progress easily enough.
Orange Amplification were ahead of brands like Fender when it launched its own online course and now works with Online Music Exams to offer recognised accreditation covering Grades 1-8 for rock guitar.
The syllabus is designed to be worked through alone and at a pace best for you, or alongside your tutor. Downloadable and streamed online lessons include videos and notation with the Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced courses taking students from beginner level to Grade 8.
Guitar playing is really fun, once you get over that initial hurdle of learning to play. Unfortunately, that hurdle can be quite daunting without the right instruction, which is where Yousician comes into play.
The JTC set-up is hugely impressive. Prices for the packages start from $/25 per month, with a number of add-on features such as the eponymous Jam Tracks. Instructors include the likes of Jeff Loomis, Guthrie Govan and Jess Lewis.
All of us here at MusicRadar had to start somewhere, so we've got a lot of experience with guitar lessons, both in the real world and online. A few of our writing team are also guitar teachers in their own right, so we have a unique perspective on what makes a truly great online guitar lessons platform.
When choosing what we believe to be the best online guitar lessons available right now, we combine our hands-on experience, user reviews and testimonies and engage in lengthy discussions with our editorial colleagues to reach a consensus about the top products or services in any given category.
First and foremost, we are musicians, and we want other players to find the right product or service for them. So we take into careful consideration everything from price, features, and quality of content, to ease of use and lesson structure to come up with a list of what we can safely say are the best online guitar lessons on the market right now.
Before entering the paid courses, its worth mentioning that the free courses with Justin Guitar also include all of the 17 ukulele lessons, not forgetting the acoustic and electric guitars.
However, for those who want to take their learning further beyond the free lessons, you can check out the store. Beyond the free lessons, there are various one-time purchases, along with multiple monthly subscription based rates as well, which you can find below.
The lessons are divided into categories like beginner, intermediate and advanced. This makes it easy to find the perfect lesson for your skill level.
Justin tackles the usual challenges of tucking the pinky under the ring finger while fretting the F shape for the first time, along with getting you into the mood for shredding with some alternate picking and hammer-ons.
Grade 3 gets serious pretty soon with playing melodies, triads and learning to sing as you play. Justin also goes into the art of transcribing and jamming, which naturally leads to the art of conscious listening for guitarists.
Towards the end of Grade 4, you start to make choices regarding where you want to go with your guitar playing, as the courses are dedicated to a certain style and topic and are quite comprehensive in nature.
However, strangely enough, the last two courses in Grade 4 happen to be the Intermediate Foundation courses, which I found to be quite confusing. You would ideally expect these to be right up at the top or have a dedicated path laid out to them.
You can start developing some of those classic licks that have made guitarists like Mayfield and Hendrix so famous. You will learn how the concepts of the Pentatonic scale along with Major scale soloing taught earlier, exist within these licks.
The camera is positioned directly in front of the teacher, making it easy to follow along. However, there is a slightly angled close-up camera also used when the bends and other details warrant a close-up view.
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