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Best Online Guitar Courses For All Skill Levels And Genres (2024)

When it comes to learning guitar online, one finds it difficult to navigate the plethora of courses and lessons that are available on the internet. This article aims to help you choose the right way to learn guitar according to your preferences. We have selected what we think are the best online guitar courses and have tried to describe what they excel at and for whom they are ideal. 

A guitar beginner who wants to learn how to play by chords their favorite songs and guitar riffs will prefer a different course than an experienced jazz guitarist who wants to expand their horizons. This text will help everyone find guitar lessons according to skill level, preferred genre, and learning technology. 

Affiliate disclosure: This article contains affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. This comes at no additional cost to you and helps support the creation of free content. 

Why learn guitar online?

Learning guitar online has revolutionized music education, offering unparalleled convenience and flexibility. Imagine mastering your favorite chords and solos without leaving the comfort of your home. Online guitar lessons provide access to a vast array of teachers and learning materials, catering to all skill levels and musical tastes. From beginner strumming to advanced techniques, there’s something for everyone.

Remote learning also allows you to set your own pace, making it ideal for busy schedules. No more commuting or rigid class times. Additionally, online platforms often offer interactive tools and resources, such as video demonstrations, practice tracks, and online communities, enhancing the learning experience. With the ability to learn from anywhere with an internet connection, online guitar lessons have broken down geographical barriers, making music education more accessible than ever before.

Read also: Teach Yourself How To Play The Guitar! (7 Tips)

Our pick of the best online guitar lessons

Truefire - best online guitar classes overall

We are starting our list with a platform that offers a huge amount of learning material for all. The first place among other courses, in our opinion, deserves for:

  • Skill levels: Courses and learning paths for beginner, intermediate, and advanced guitarists
  • Genres: Guitar lessons focusing on different genres such as pop, rock, jazz, blues, funk, classical, fingerstyle, acoustic, bluegrass and more
  • Pricing model: you can buy individual courses or use an affordable subscription with access to all courses
  • Learning path: You can choose your learning path according to genre and skill level. Lessons are organized logically and progress from easier tasks to more challenging ones
  • Content: With video lessons, you will learn playing technique, tone production, music theory, scales, chords, a variety of song lessons, guitar riffs and
  • Educators: Truefire courses are prepared by top guitarists and masters of their genre. Let’s mention Tommy Emmanuel, Steve Vai, Pat Martino, Bill Dickens, and many others
  • JamTracks:  you will play with well-recorded backing tracks while learning
  • Access: In addition to the website, Truefire offers access to courses via the iOS and Android app
  • Free trial and free courses: If you want to try before buying, Truefire usually offers a 14-day free trial as well as a bunch of free guitar courses.

Read the full Truefire guitar review

As you can see, Truefire is a great online learning platform with a comprehensive choice of learning material for every beginner or experienced guitar player. On the other hand, the huge library of lessons can be overwhelming for some. That’s why we recommend Truefire, especially for adults and for those who want to learn a specific genre.

Guitareo - best for beginners

Even though you enjoy playing and learning the guitar, sooner or later you will come to the point that you need a certain amount of discipline to practice regularly. Maintaining your stamina is not easy, which is why it’s a good idea to choose a course that can keep you motivated and moving forward. 

Such is undoubtedly Guitareo, which is ideal for novice guitarists. The learning is fun, has a clear structure, the lessons are prepared by top teachers and you will learn the right guitar settings, guitar technique, rhythm, chord playing, and guitar solos, in addition to a lot of well-known pop, rock or country songs. If you want to play guitar from scratch, Guitareo seems to be a great choice. 

Read the Guitareo review

Jamplay - best online guitar lessons for kids and teens

Although, like Truefire, Jamplay offers impressive online guitar courses for all skill levels and various genres, it stands out for its comprehensive learning program for kids and teens. It teaches them the basics of playing this musical instrument in a fun way and manages to keep their attention with the way it teaches. 

Children will gradually learn how to play simple guitar chords and scales, read music, and strum easy songs. Jamplay online lessons will be appreciated not only by children but also by their parents. In addition to access via the website, you can also try the Jamplay app for iPad.

A great addition can be the Simply Guitar app, which by working like a game, using visual stimuli and interactive learning can keep a child at the guitar for longer. Speaking of kids and teens, the Guitar Hero game for PlayStation can also get their attention. It’s worth trying because it can help to build a relationship with music and guitar while having fun playing a game. Rocksmith+ from Ubisoft is another guitar game to try.

Guitar Tricks - best for acoustic guitar

When you’ve searched the internet for suitable online guitar courses for beginners, you’ve surely come across Guitar Trick – probably the most popular online guitar learning platform with over 4 million students. It has gained popularity mainly because of its well-structured lessons for beginners and intermediate players, plays along with jam tracks, useful tools, as well as a wide supportive community of students. Guitar playing with backing track is easy and fun, as well as learning with video lessons which you can slow down or loop. 

Guitar Tricks offers a variety of lessons for acoustic guitar to teach you how to play blues, rock, and country styles. So for those preferring unplugged guitar sound, this course can be very beneficial. Every lesson is easy to follow and guided by great guitar teachers. Although the platform also offers lessons for intermediate and advanced players, we recommend it more for beginner and perpetual guitar players.

If you’re interested in learning to play bass guitar as well, Guitar Tricks is a good place to start. We recommend trying the 14-day free trial to help you see if Guitar Tricks is right for you. You can even try it longer since the first month of Guitar Tricks comes with a money-back guarantee. If you decide to continue with a paid membership, which is going to cost you around $20 per month which is a great price in comparison to one-to-one lessons with a teacher. 

Pickupmusic - best for learning different styles

Pickupmusic’s online course, which offers lessons for both acoustic and electric guitar divided by genre and skill level, also has great reviews. Except for several beginner lessons, the website also offers learning pathways and master courses for intermediate or advanced players.

What we think Pickupmusic shines in are the courses for individual genres. If you want to learn to play pop, rock, funk, blues, jazz, neo-soul, gospel, country, metal, or acoustic style, you should consider Pickup music. During the two-week free trial, you can also try individual courses as well as useful tools and explore a lot of support materials. 

Fender Play - best guitar learning app

Many courses mentioned in this article are based on video lessons with backing tracks and sheet music. This approach can be somehow old and boring for young people who spend hours behind the screens of different devices. A good solution for them seems to be the Fender Play app for iOS and Android. You can sign up for a free trial and try the learning process for free. 

Practice mode and Feedback mode allow users to play along with the backing track. Short lessons can hold attention and allow you to better structure your lesson plan. With song-based classes, you can learn to strum more than 1000 hit songs by chords. In addition to guitar lessons, Fender offers bass and ukulele lessons.

JustinGuitar - best for free lessons

Justin Sandercoe is a well-known name in the guitar community, as this enthusiast and great teacher has prepared several free online guitar lessons organized by skill level on his website. Today, you can still find plenty of free learning material on this site, but the paid JustiGuitar+ app offers a more comprehensive learning experience. The app is aimed at beginners and thanks to the easy-to-use lessons and exercises is a great guide for novice players.

On the website, you can also find other useful tools such as the metronome, chord library, tempo calculator, or strumming machine. If Justin’s style suits you, you can arrange a time and take advantage of a live lesson, but this option is very expensive.

JTC Guitar - best for rock and metal

JTC (JAmTrack Central) Guitar offers probably the most comprehensive hard rock and metal lessons around. If you like hard sound and play leading guitar in a band or just at home, JTC Guitar will provide you with a great source of inspirational lessons from top metal guitarists.

The website works as an online shop with guitar courses divided into different styles and subjects. In addition to genres, you can filter courses by subject such as improvisation, rhythm, chords/harmony, etc.

Read the JTC Guitar review

Tonebase - best for classical guitar

When looking for expert guitar lessons in classical music, you shouldn’t miss Tonebase. These intensive courses from guitar masters like Leo Brower, Zoran Dukic, or Xuefei Yang are intended for advanced guitarists who want to master their technique and expand a classical repertoire. Pro guitar players will appreciate lessons focused on specific classical guitar pieces.

You can also find classes for intermediate classical guitar students on Tonebase. If you want to try Tonebase, you can go for a 14-day trial or some guitar lessons are available for free. 

Read the Tonebase review

Preply - best for in-person lessons

In our top picks of guitar lesson platforms and websites, we have to reserve one place where you can find a guitar teacher for one-to-one lessons. Although Preply is primarily focused on teaching foreign languages, it provides a selection of nearly a hundred guitar teachers.

The great advantage of private online lessons is real-time interaction with the teacher, and a customized selection of songs and exercises according to your preferences and possibilities. You can work with your teacher to develop your guitar skills and playing technique.

You can find one of your kind using the filter, where you determine the time that suits you and the price for the hour. The advantage is the possibility of booking a trial lesson and meeting the teacher before you start teaching.

Flamenco Explained - best for flamenco

We’ve also included a great app and website focused on learning flamenco guitar in our list. Flamenco Explained offers quality lessons in this specific genre that will teach you the finesse, the way to play, and the typical phrases. You can download the app for both iOS and Android devices.

Read the Flamenco Explained app review

Some other online guitar lesson websites

How to choose the right guitar course for me?

Choosing the best option can be confusing. It is always good to consider the skill level, age,  preferred genre, type of guitar (acoustic, electric), technology, teaching method, and price. The good news is that many online guitar lesson platforms mentioned in this article come with a free trial or free lessons. In this way, you can easily try the ones that caught your eye and choose according to the characteristics of the course and your intuition.

Conclusion

I hope that by coming this far, you’ve gotten a better idea of ​​what the best online guitar lessons have to offer. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced guitarist, the choice is large and it is up to you which option you prefer. In conclusion, I wish you lots of perseverance, motivation, and enthusiasm for playing the guitar and lots of fun learning to play this wonderful musical instrument.

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