Online guitar learning is becoming increasingly popular. Not only because of the Corona crisis, which complicated our social contacts, but also thanks to quality resources of lessons enabling effective practice at home. In this post, you will find the best 11 best online guitar courses (websites and apps) not only for beginners but also intermediate and advanced musicians.
Each of these courses has something specific, some include “general” guitar lessons, others focus on a specific musical style. Thanks to information about these guitar learning websites and apps you should be able to make your own opinion. By comparing them, you can get a better overview helping you to make the right choice.
The correct answer to this question is: it depends. Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. When we talk about effective learning of a musical instrument, we need to realize that the basis is a quality source of knowledge. Some prefer private guitar lessons with an experienced instructor who will show them what and how to play. The disadvantage is the fact that you might not like the teacher’s method and the higher price of private lessons.
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With online guitar courses, you can learn at home and whenever you want. On the other hand, many students lack the social dimension and guidance of the teacher. Courses that include pre-prepared video lessons, as well as the possibility of consultation with an instructor, can be a great solution. You will find more in our list of the 11 best guitar courses.
Anyway, if you are one of the people who want to learn according to your pace and preferences, and you have enough self-discipline and enthusiasm, these educational products can significantly help you improve your guitar playing.
Great starting point for guitar beginners
If you are looking for easy-to-follow video lessons for beginners, Guitar Tricks is a great choice. In addition to step-by-step tutorials, in which you will learn the basics of guitar, chords, music theory, and playing rhythmic accompaniment, you will find helpful tools for practicing scales, guitar chords and reading tabs.
The learning path is logically structured and progresses from general skills to playing riffs and progressions typical for blues, rock, and other styles. Guitar Tricks works as a cloud-based app for desktops, iOS, and Android devices. Video Lessons include Jamtracks, which are great for practicing what you’ve learned.
Easy-to-follow lessons for beginners
Helpfull tools
Wide song tutorial library
Well-structured content
Wide song tutorial library
Learning path for beginners and amazing artist courses
Jamplay has a similar structure to Guitar Tricks. Complete Beginners will go through a series of lessons that will teach them the basics and then they can focus on a specific musical style. In addition to technique courses, you will also find many song tutorials that will teach you to play guitar parts of famous songs.
There is also a rich offer of music genres, of which there are 20 in Jamplay. Learning is made more effective by interactive tools for practicing scales, chords, guitar tuner and you can also have fun playing guitar training games.
Jamplay also includes several Artist Series courses prepared by great guitarists such as Steve Stevens (Billy Idol band), Dave Weiner (Steve Vai band), Bumblefoot (Guns and roses), or Mark Lettieri (Snarky puppy).
Learning path for beginners
Great artist series courses
Chord, scale finder and other tools
Live events and bonus lessons
Large community of guitarists
Some styles contain only 1 course
Midi sound in interactive lessons
The most comprehensive guitar learning platform with over 40 000 lessons
This website was founded in 1991 and to this day has become the most comprehensive source of online guitar lessons in the world. In more than 40,000 lessons you will find practically everything: courses for newbies, great lessons in blues, rock guitar, fingerstyle, classical guitar, flamenco, metal, music theory, or courses for bass guitar and ukulele.
Like Jamplay, Truefire allows you to purchase individual courses in addition to a monthly or annual subscription. In addition to high-quality videos that can be played in slow motion or a loop, interactive fretboard and notation, which are the best among educational guitar websites, will also help you practice.
Huge amount of guitar lessons and courses
Style variability
High-class instructors
An option to buy only selected courses for lifetime
Comlicated interface for beginners
Sophisticated online guitar courses for the discerning
These courses are mainly characterized by the quality of the content and great instructors who are among the top in their style. Artistworks offers 10 specialized guitar courses, each of which contains approximately 100 video lessons. Here you will find a curriculum from GRAMMY-nominated guitarists Bryan Sutton (Bluegrass) or Paul Gilbert (Rock), as well as a beginner’s guide for acoustic guitar by David Butler, or fingerstyle, jazz, and classical guitar courses.
These guitar lessons are suitable for all skill levels, but several of them are ideal for intermediate guitarists who want to learn a specific style. Artistworks courses have a firm place among the best online guitar lessons websites.
Top guitar instructors
Specific courses for bluegrass, jazz, country, rock and classical guitar
Great course for beginners (acoustic guitar)
High content quality
Higher price
Easy-to-follow guitar learning system for newbies
If you are looking for easy-to-follow acoustic guitar lessons, Jamorama is a good choice. Instructor Mark McKenzie explains in a very simple way how to play guitar chords, riffs, rhythm patterns, and how to improvise. Thanks to detailed video tutorials, you will also learn how to play guitar parts in several famous songs.
Unlike Guitar Tricks or other platforms, Jamorama does not include features such as looper, slow-motion, or interactive fretboard, and has only one instructor. Nevertheless, this course was able to help many beginning guitarists get their playing to the next level.
Easy-to-follow lessons for beginners
Clear interface
Lifetime pricing
Limited content
Missing slow-motion, looper, and other functions
The best place to learn classical guitar
If you prefer classical music and want to learn to play the guitar, Tonebase is the ideal solution. This platform is often used mainly by future or current students of conservatories or music academies. But you can find here also a course for beginners.
Top instructors from prestigious music institutions explain many technical details of guitar playing, but also detailed studies of well-known compositions, e.g. from Giuliani, Tárreg, Villa-Lobos, or the great composer Leo Brouwer, who by the way is also one of Tonebase’s instructors. Tonebase offers 90 days money-back guarantee.
Great for classical guitarists
Video studies of famous classical guitar compositions
World-class instructors
30% Discount for guitar students and educators
Courses limited to one genre
Cool guitar learning app not only for teens
All courses mentioned in this list work for desktops and mobile devices. However, if you are looking for a simple and affordable application for iOS or Android, try Fender Play.
A well-known guitar manufacturer has prepared a series of guitar courses for beginners and intermediates. This step-by-step guided learning system is very well structured and prepared by experienced teachers.
The application is especially popular among young people who want to learn to play the guitar from the beginning. In addition to the guitar, you can also learn to play the ukulele and bass guitar with Fender Play.
Great for iOs and Android devices
Clear and modern interface
Easy-to-follow lessons
Low price
Lack of courses for intermediate and advanced guitarists
Limited content
The most comprehensive FREE guitar lessons
The differences between paid and free guitar courses (eg many Youtube channels) are usually striking. Free lessons are often of dubious quality, they do not follow each other, they lack structure and quality content. However, Justin Sandercoevi managed to build a renowned website (and apps) with more than 1200 free lessons for beginners and intermediate guitarists.
In addition to video lessons that focus on guitar technique, chords, solo playing, or music theory, you can also learn to play many famous songs.
Tons of free guitar lessons
Structured content
Blues, fingerstyle, jazz guitar courses
Just one instructor
Jamtrack Central (JTC Guitar) offers guitar courses for all skill levels in many styles. The advantage is well-structured content, where you can filter everything that interests you. Courses can be purchased individually or paid for with a monthly subscription and access to all courses. This guitar learning platform is especially characterized by a modern interface, advanced filtering, and searching for lessons.
JTC Guitar also offers a great app for interactive notation and guitar TABS.
Guitar courses in several genres
Modern design
Interactive notation and guitar TABS
Ease-of-use for beginners
Gospel and funk online guitar guide
Hear and play is a site known especially to pianists. In addition to piano lessons, however, it contains 2 guitar courses suitable for musicians who prefer gospel, jazz, and funk. Gospel guitar 101 video training is a course from Bobby Griffin, which will teach you from the beginning to play jazz and gospel harmonies and chord progressions, improve rhythm and playing technique.
Hear and play advanced guitar 301 video training course contains licks, riffs, and solos typical of R&B, funk, and gospel. Both courses are very affordable and can be purchased as a download version or a DVD.
Great for guitarists who want to learn to play gospel, funk and R&B
No monthly fees
Quality instructors
Lack of music theory
Video quality
Exceptional courses (not only) of Brazilian jazz guitar
If you are inclined to jazz and want to improve in bossa nova and Brazilian, Open studio jazz will help you. 4 courses from Romero Lubambo focus on techniques and progressions specific to Brazilian music.
Thanks to other courses from Peter Sprague, you will learn the basics of jazz playing and several arrangements of famous songs. All courses are focused on acoustic guitar.
Great for intermediate who want to learn to play Brazilian guitar and jazz
Quality Instructors
Limited lessons
Maybe I’ll say ok, those courses look good, but how to find the right one for me? Usually, a good solution is to combine your preferences with intuition. For all the mentioned websites and courses, we state for which level they are determined, what genre prevails, what is the price and scope. If you compare this information to your preferences and simply add intuition, you should get one or two favorites. Most courses offer free trials or free lessons, so you can try them before you buy.
In our list of 11 best online guitar courses, we tried to put websites and courses that excel in their content quality, are something specific and verified by thousands or millions of positive user reviews. Of course, there are more quality guitar courses. Let’s mention just a few that didn’t make it to our letter:
Gibson’s Learn And Master Guitar are successful guitar courses that are only available on DVD and CD. The Express Guitar offers very affordable guitar lessons with a good price-performance ratio. Orange Learn is an accredited online guitar course in the UK and US.
If you want to know other options, watch our website, where we regularly add other interesting online courses in the category of online music courses/guitar.
Learning to play the guitar at home can be both fun and effective. If you combine quality guitar lessons with your determination and effort, you can make great progress in a relatively short time. I hope this list of the best guitar courses has helped you choose the right source of knowledge. Or at least know the options that will help you become a better player. If you have experience with any of the mentioned courses, we will be happy if you share comments with us.
What are the best online guitar courses? And how they can help you to learn the guitar? Read all you need to know about online guitar lessons and learning the guitar on your own.
Do you mind the slow progress with your musical instrument? Is the energy missing to continue? Read 7 tips on how to stay motivated to learn a musical instrument.
