What Are The Best Online Guitar Lessons? JamPlay or GuitarTricks? A Comparison
There are quite a few different online guitar lesson websites to choose from and I’ve taken the time to use them all.
There are two particular websites that stand out above all the others I’ve tried. They are JamPlay.com and GuitarTricks.com.
 Visit JamPlay.com |
 Visit GuitarTricks.com |
Both sites have a solid amount of content to learn from, use multiple instructors by style and skill level and provide a support forum where you can ask specific instructors questions based on their lessons.
So which site offers the Best Online Guitar Lessons?
Let’s take a detailed look at how each website stacks up against each other.
Lesson Content
Both JamPlay and GuitarTricks offer a ton of content to their members. In fact I think it’s hard to choose a winner between the two of them.
One area that JamPlay has an edge over GutiarTricks is in their video quality. JamPlay’s video lessons are recorded in HD quality, and some of GuitarTricks stuff is a little less then stellar. I’m pretty sure this is because GuitarTricks has been around a lot longer then JamPlay so they haven’t redone some of their videos.
Both sites have their lessons divided up into sessions/series for you to follow. This is important so that you can easily stay on track while you’re learning. Online guitar lesson sites that don’t group their lessons together are often not as effective at teaching beginners or intermediate players new skills.
Both JamPlay and GuitarTricks have book marking/tracking systems in place to measure your progress as you move through a lessons series.
There’s a bit more supplemental material available right inside each lesson with JamPlay. They offer supplemental content and easy access to other learning materials on their site that could help you learn.
Example: Links to chords, notations and tab.
Instructors
Both JamPlay and GuitarTricks have a wealth of qualified instructors. GuitarTricks has over 60 different instructors while JamPlay has 34.
I agree that it’s important to have different instructors teaching specific styles and techniques. After all one teacher cannot be an expert in all areas. How ever I don’t know how much benefit you as a student would get having 60+ odd teachers to choose from over 30+.
The quality of instructors at both GuitarTricks and JamPlay is top notch. Both websites have gone out and found great teachers to film lessons for their website to ensure you’re getting the best guitar lessons possible.
Online Support
Most online support for online guitar lessons comes in the form of online forums and discussion boards. Both sites have great support boards that are member specific. You can ask specific questions to specific teachers on both sites. So if you get stuck you can ask the actual teacher from the lesson you watched about your problem.
JamPlay has gone one step further with the online support concept integrating video question and answer to their site.
Video Q&A’s are just like they sound. You ask the teacher a question and they create a video for you to answer that question. Sometimes an answer just can’t be explained by typing it when it comes to the guitar. This feature over comes that barrier.
Also on a daily basis JamPlay has several live webcam lessons. These are great for asking questions. While it may not always be the exact teacher you’re learning from right now all the instructors are knowledgeable.
Bonus Materials
When I talk about bonus materials I’m talking about extra features that come with having a membership to either JamPlay or GuitarTricks.
With your membership to GuitarTricks you’re given access to 200+ backing tracks you can play along with while practicing, an online metronome and a tuner.
These are solid bonus items that all guitar players can use from a beginner onward.
JamPlay also includes backing tracks, a metronome and a tuner but they have also included chord and scale libraries, guitar games and of course the live webcam lessons I mentioned in the support section.
JamPlay offers a few more extra features then GuitarTricks.
How Much Does it Cost?
Not that it always has to come down to cost, but it’s an important point to consider.
GuitarTricks is $14.95 a month, no long term contracts and you can cancel anytime.
JamPlay is $19.95 a month and they offer discounts if you join for quaterly or annual memberships. I have also been given a 25% off discount for first time members of JamPlay. If you enter coupon code 275B25 when you sign up you’ll only pay $14.95 for your first month.
Which is the Best Online Guitar Lessons Site?
It’s hard to crown just one of these services the “best” online guitar lesson site. Both are providing great content to beginner and intermediate guitar players, and both will help you improve your playing with some time and practice.
I feel JamPlay is a little more advanced with it’s live webcam lessons, video Q&A’s and additional bonus materials. Of course they’re only of benefit to you if you take advantage of them.
I‘m going to suggest you give JamPlay a try for a month using the 25% off coupon I mentioned above. It makes your first month of JamPlay the same price as GuitarTricks. If you’re not completely satisfied you can cancel after your first month, but I have a feeling you’ll stick around for longer then that.
Get started right now and you can watch your first lesson in 10 minutes or less. Click the button below.
