Reviews of the best guitar courses on the Internet

Learning to play guitar takes hard work. The only place that success comes before hard work is in the dictionary. No matter how much God-given ability you have, you are not exempt from hard work. If you really want to learn how to play the guitar or any instrument for that matter, except for maybe the Kazoo, you must develop a habit of practicing.

Learning guitar requires good teaching. There are some good guitar instructors and some bad ones. Before spending your hard-earned money on just any person who claims that he or she can teach you to play guitar, check this person out. It’s a good idea to ask for references. A good teacher should be able to provide these for you. Another option, and certainly a cheaper one, is to teach yourself via online courses. Some of the best guitarists I know were self-taught. If you are a self-motivated type of person, I would highly recommend this option to you. There is a plethora of resources to help you learn how to play guitar. I researched and gathered here the best of them:

Jamorama is probably one of the best guitar lesson programs out there right now. They have built a reputation for putting out really great lessons and provide excellent support to their clients. Their course is especially suited for Beginners.

What You Get: 148 Video lessons (most for exercise) * 250+ pages of step-by-step lessons, 216 chord shapes to master, 8 major styles of music and 55 unique strumming patterns, 26 professionally recorded JamTracks * 1000s of lines of tablature.* 5 exclusive computer games and ebooks.

The Good: Jamorama is probably one of the best guitar lesson programs out there right now. They have built a reputation for putting out really great lessons and provide excellent support to their clients. If there is one program that the competitors are trying to knock off, it would be Jamorama. But what makes them so good? Their instructors are the best out there. They couldn’t find better guitar teachers. Sure there are a lot of great guitar players out there, but teaching it to beginners or intermediate skilled players is entirely another thing. Their instruction is top notch as are the video and audio production of the sites. They really make an extra effort to provide great video instruction. They are never boring. The next thing that makes the great is that they provide tons of resources for players – from chords to sheet music they know exactly what the guitarist needs. They also provide a great backend support system – you don’t feel lost when you put your credit card away and that is a great plus to people. They simply have a great support strategy that is hard to beat.

“I think for a newbie this course is a great way to start. It is a course packed with logic and awesome tips.” – Ricky Ogima.

The Bad: It’s not a virtual video course, so it requires much text reading. They do not provide on-line support with webcam instruction as some other sites do. Therefore, while most of their songs are modern, some people who want to learn the very latest music may have to look elsewhere. The lack of physical music sheet to download or other webcam support may also drive a few people to look for other, even though more costly, services.

The Conclusion: You cannot go wrong when you have high quality instruction, great videos, and relevant easy to follow steps to learn to play the guitar. For about $50 you get the whole package and at this price it pretty much beats out most competitors right off the bat. There are no more up-selling or extra hidden fees which is great because who wants to pay more once you get locked into a program? They also have fantastic instructors which provide a lot of great hours of instruction at all different levels. Jamorama provides good lessons and a lot of information for the read. Jamorama is certainly worth the value.

Best Price: Jamorama Has Special Limited Offer Now! It only cost $49.97/standard, $99.95/deluxe, $149.95/hardcopy.

Playing guitar is very fun and rewarding; however it will take hard work and patience. If you really desire to play, keep dreaming about playing your favorite song or riff and keep this vision in front of you. This goal will keep you motivated and determined on those days that you just don’t feel like practicing. If you have been dreaming of playing the guitar,
GO FOR YOUR DREAMS. THERE IS NO BETTER TIME THAN THE PRESENT!

Order Information: * Jamorama comes with a 100% 8 Week Money Back Guarantee. * Jamorama Course is available from Jamorama.com. And their official site is the only place where you can buy Jamorama.

Gibson’s Learn and Master Guitar

If you are looking for the best DVD guitar course that money can buy, your search may be officially over. Gibson Learn and Master Guitar arrives on the scene as the most comprehensive video course that has ever been introduced to the market to date. Though what else would you expect when Gibson Guitars ® teams up with a leading online education company, Legacy Learning Systems, whose DVD courses are highly regarded for their excellent quality. As I went through this DVD course, it felt as if I had my own personal guitar instructor. True, this course costs a little bit more than most of the other guitar lessons out there, but it’s well worth the investment. Learn and Master Guitar can take someone who doesn’t know the first thing about the guitar or music for that matter, and turn them into excellent guitarists. The course covers everything you’d expect it to such as reading music and tablature, chords, strumming, fingering, picking, lead guitar soloing, theory, sliding, tapping, ear training and so much more! Learn and Master Guitar is available only as a shipped DVD course; not as a download. Video and course material production quality is the highest that we’ve ever seen for guitar learning instruction. Learn and Master Guitar was developed by Steve Krenz and Legacy Learning Systems based out of Nashville, Tennessee. Steve Krenz is an amazing instructor and has a very warm and friendly teaching style. Steve also touts an impressive resumé. He’s a professional recording artist, guitar teacher, holds a degree in music, and tours the globe teaching music and speaking at workshops.

The Gibson Learn and Master Guitar course comes with a whopping 25 training disks, and a 107 page accompaniment lesson book. 20 of the disks are DVDs, which have 2 teaching sessions apiece. The other 5 disks are Jam Along CDs that contain full band accompaniment on all the songs and audio presented in the DVDs. They are all professionally mastered and composed. One really cool feature they added to the jam-along CDs is that they recorded the guitar in the left channel, so you can turn it down and go solo with the band if you want just by adjusting the balance in your speakers. It’s worth saying again that the quality of this material is unmatched by all the cheaper guitar courses you’ll find out there. The course is well organized and easy to follow. The DVDs have an accompaniment lesson book, which contains all the examples, exercises, and songs you’ll be playing.

Best price: some may think this guitar course is a little pricey at $249. However for a limited time it is now available with 40% discount at only $149.  We’re absolutely certain that if you get it, you’ll find that it’s worth every penny. Order Learn and Master Guitar today. Learn and Master Guitar has a risk-free 60 day money back guarantee. Still, If you’re the type of person that doesn’t want to spend more than $50 for a comprehensive guitar course, or you prefer online course to DVD course, you may find that Jamorama is a good  alternative.

JamPlay

JamPlay Online since 2007 JamPlay offers the largest catalog of guitar lessons online. They have over 40 instructors on staff and at last count over 480 hours of high definition lesson videos and there are new lessons added every day. Unlike traditional private guitar lessons or even guitar dvd courses JamPlay provides students with the ability to learn from a variety of teachers who each specialize in their own style and technique. This means that when ever you’re learning something from JamPlay you know the instructor is an expert in that area. Because of the huge catalog of lessons available JamPlay is suited for guitar players of all skill levels from beginner to advanced and even kids. Lessons are offered in a variety of styles including: blues, rock, jazz and country as well a specific song lessons and beginner acoustic and electric lessons. You can get an idea of what’s available by watching a few of their free guitar lessons on the JamPlay website.

My Experience: As an intermediate guitar player I’ve really enjoyed being a member at JamPlay for the past several months. The long list of topics and styles covered by their 40+ instructors is enough to keep any beginner, intermediate or even advanced guitarist busy. JamPlay has their lessons divided into three different sections: Phases 1, 2 and 3. Depending on your current skill level will determine which phase you should start at when you join. Phase 1 encompasses all of their beginner acoustic and electric guitar lessons, and there are about a dozen different guitar teachers to choose from. You select the teacher you want to learn from and then begin following their series of lessons. While I did go through some of the beginner lesson content much of it was a refresher for me. I went through both an electric and acoustic beginner guitar series by two different instructors. The lessons ranged from 10 to 40 minutes in each series. At first I felt that 30-40 minutes was getting a little long for an online lesson video until I found their progress tracking feature. The progress tracker allows you to set your progress in a lesson almost like a virtual bookmark in the video. If you’re unable to complete a lesson in one sitting you’ll be greeted by your progress tracker next time you login reminding you that you started a particular lesson but did not complete it. JamPlay is the first site I’ve seen with this type of bookmarking feature, I’ve found it very useful not just for marking where I leave off but also reminding me about lessons I’ve started and not completed.

Downsides to JamPlay?

JamPlay has a really solid offering for guitar players of all skill levels. The down side is that all the lessons are online and you need an Internet connection to watch them. For the web savvy generation I’m sure they won’t mind one bit but some may still prefer watching a video on their TV. If that sounds like you then a guitar lesson dvd might be a better option. Another downside is that unlike Jamorama’s course,  here you need to pay each month as you go.

New! For the benefit of our readers, we have negotiated a special, limited time discount with Jamplay:
10% off all subscriptions (monthly, quarterly, yearly) – Enter Coupon code 33C6CE when checking out. OR:
25% off monthly (first billing only) – Enter Coupon code 1BA1E2 when checking out.

Conclusion: Jamorama is  no doubt the best value for money for an online course with one time payment. For the traditional CD Course, Gibson’s Learn&Master Guitar is a great choice, as well as a great gift for family and friends.  JamPlay is a good choice for those looking for pay as you go  online course.