A List of the Best Guitar Learning Websites

Learning to play the guitar, and being able to play the axe and kill a solo like your favorite rock stars is a LOT of fun! However at the same time, it requires patience, effort and a great deal of hard work. Luckily, there’s no shortage of online resources that will allow you to do just that.

Online guitar learning comes with many advantages, the biggest of which is convenience. It allows you to learn how to play the guitar (or work on a specific part of your guitar-play) whenever you want and wherever you want.

If you’re a newbie who’s looking to learn to play the guitar, or if you’re an experienced guitarist who’s looking to take his guitar-playing skills to the next level, here’s a list of online resources that will help you achieve what you want to:

1.  GuitarTricks

One of the best guitar-learning websites on the internet, Guitar Tricks has a whole host of free guitar lessons, as well as tons of premium content.

Free lessons includes stuff from beginner and advanced lessons, lead lessons, as well as thythm and technique lessons, all with their impressive panel of guitar instructors. There are a total of 24 free lessons available on the website.

If however you get the full-access membership for $14.95-a-month, you instantly get access to a massive library of guitar lessons (more than 5000 and counting!), unlimited access to tutorials, and a whole host of other goodies.

Their faculty includes dozens of instructors, each of whom specializes in a specific genre of guitar-playing.

Lessons are divided into different categories – there’s a lot to choose from for total beginners, as well as experienced, seasoned guitarists as well. You can structure your lessons in any way you want. Or you could skip the lessons and go straight to learning songs, all of which are divided according to genre, as well as one’s guitar-playing proficiency.  There’s a bunch of songs to choose from too!

Highly recommended!

2. JustinGuitar

Looking for free lessons? Well look no further! JustinGuitar offers an impressive library of 500 lessons – all of which are totally free (568 lessons at the time of writing, to be precise).

A lot of the lessons are audio and/or video-based, which means that a lot of work has gone into the creation of these lessons. Lessons are arranged according to specific music genres and skills levels, as well as according to chords, scales, rhythm and arpeggios, aural training and other aspects of guitar-play.

The website works on what it refers to as an ‘honor system’, which essentially calls upon the users to make a donation if they can afford to do so, or buy a product from the store. Doing so allows Justin Sandercoe to keep the lessons free.

The lessons are pretty good, and for a website that gives you in excess of 500 free lessons, it is a truly outstanding online guitar-learning resource. Make sure that you donate whatever you can, so that these lessons remain free for everyone. You can donate using PayPal, Bank Transfer or Cheque.

3. Jamorama

One of the biggest guitar learning websites on the internet, Jamorama claims to be one of the best step-by-step guitar lessons on the internet!

Jamorama is a great resource for beginner guitar players in particular, and caters to both acoustic as well as electric guitar players. It allows new guitar-players the perfect opportunity to learn to play and master the guitar from the comforts of their home, and at a pretty good price too!

Lessons are presented in 3 ways:

(a) via a newsletter, which includes gear reviews, instructional/how-to articles, videos, free lessons, and goodies such as discounts and promotions,

(b) a beginner-to-advanced course, spread over 250+ pages, which claims to be better than others because it takes you through the process of learning the guitar by taking them through each step, and guides beginner and inexperienced guitar players through the process of learning the guitar by telling them what to learn next,

(c) a beginner-to-advanced hardcopy course, which is essentially the same course, but can be had on a DVD which is shipped straight to your door.

All lessons are available in digital format, and can be downloaded on one’s computer. These lessons take you through the basics of playing the guitar, to learning guitar skills like strumming, picking, bending, arpeggios and a lot more. The lessons are aimed at helping guitar players learn songs, play with other musicians, and be able to play whatever they want to.

The entire course, including more than 250  lessons, around 150 video lessons, and tons of bonus stuff – all of which is aimed to take you from being a newbie to an advanced guitar player – costs $49.95, an amazing value-for-money deal, especially when you consider that this is a one-time cost without any monthly fees to pay!

4. JamPlay

Another pretty great online guitar-learning resource, JamPlay is pretty jam-packed in terms of lessons, instructors and other goodies.

For starters, JamPlay, unlike some of the other online guitar-learning resources, is not only aimed at beginner guitar players only. It’s massive library features more than 2000 video lessons for beginners and advanced guitar players, covering all genres and all guitar-playing styles and techniques.

All video lessons are available in HD, and are presented in a structured manner as they’re divided into different categories – including genre and skills-building lessons, song lessons, and lessons exclusively meant for beginner guitar players. You can choose to go straight to lessons for beginners, or instead learn a skill, a sing or a guitar-playing style.

And if that isn’t enough, JamPlay features more than 50 experienced, professional guitar instructors as well. You can opt for any one of the instructors from a set of acoustic or electric guitar teachers, or better yet, learn specific songs and guitar-playing techniques from performing artists. How cool is that!

Highly recommend you check JamPlay out, you certainly won’t be disappointed! Membership starts from $19.95 per month, and yearly membership costs 140 bucks – a great deal at a great price, considering what you get in return. 

How to Become a Better Guitar Player

Want to be a better guitar player, improve your guitar-play and become a more skillful, talented guitar player, but don’t know how to do it?

The following set of tips should be immensely helpful:

1. Understand that you’re in it for the long-haul: Learning to play the guitar is not easy by any means, but excellent at it is a real test of one’s will, perseverance, dedication and motivation. It requires a lot of hard work, and of course, time. Learning to play can take months, and being really good at it takes years. – years of practice and sweat. Make sure that you understand this (I know, it is easier said than done!). Results will never be instantaneous, and it will, at times, be a frustrating journey. Just keep the big picture in mind when the frustration kicks in.

2. Practice, Practice, Practice: As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, dedicating proper time to practicing is essential. This means trying new stuff, and going where you’ve never gone before with your guitar-play. Try doing something different and something new with your guitar-playing every week, like playing the same licks you’re familiar with in a different position on the fretboard. In the golden words of Satriani, ‘make your fingers go to new places, playing the same stuff will only take you so far’. Work on your technique and areas where you feel you’re weak.

3. Quality, not Quantity: The number of hours you put into practice is irrelevant, what really matters is the quality of your practice and playing sessions. Use the time that you have at your disposal – even if its as less as 20-30 minutes every day – to get somewhere? Are you using that time to improve yourself as a guitar player, instead of simply jamming or playing your favorite solos again? As short as your practice-time might be, try making it as productive as you possibly can.

4. Go for a Good Guitar Course: Learning the guitar with a teacher, as opposed to learning it on your own, has many advantages. Sure, a lot of people take the self-taught route and are fairly successful doing so. However if this were true, just about everyone out there would be a great guitar player. As Tom Hess puts it, ‘It will take far too long to reach your goals without a good guitar teacher. A good teacher can/should save you years of aimless guitar practicing, by teaching you HOW to reach your goals faster and better.’ Also remember that lessons are not just for beginners, many online guitar courses offer a ton of pro-level lessons as well, designed specifically for guitarists with different proficiency levels.

5. Use Metronomes: Metronomes are awesome. If you’re not using one already, I highly recommend getting one as soon as you can. Playing and practicing with a metronome will allow you to measure and gauge your guitar play, and allow you to play in a more accurately and evenly by allowing you to work on one of the fundamental aspects of your guitar-play: timing. Start off slow, and try working your way up. And if you can’t buy/don’t want to buy one, use one of the widely available ‘virtual’ metronomes available online (such as this one). Pro-tip: speed isn’t all that there is to guitar-play, slowing down every once in a while might be immensely beneficial for you! For instance take something that you’re very familiar with, and try playing it much more slowly, using the metronome.

6.  Record and Review: one of the best advice anyone will ever give you, is to record yourself while playing, and use it to review certain aspects of your guitar play later on. Use a webcam, a camcorder, a digital camera, or a phone cam to record all your practice sessions. Watch it, and more importantly, listen to yourself playing. Watch how (or if at all) you improve over a series of recordings, and identify specific areas where you might need more work. Put the videos up on your blog or Facebook page as well!

7. Aural Skills – Try working on your aural skills, with the aim to try learning the songs by ear. It’s not an easy skills to acquire by any means, which is why tabs sheets and notes are so important in the music biz. Try ‘listening’ to your favorite guitar players playing (such as when delivering a solo), try to figure out what they’re doing, note by note, try to dissect their technique and listen to any and all of the small details in their guitar play. Try emulating it exactly how they played it now, WITHOUT looking at any tabs sheets. Try incorporating what they do and how they play in your practice. Try replicating a song the exact same way as they played it. The ability to ‘listen’ is probably one of the biggest assets any guitar player can have.

8. Avoid Procrastinating: When it comes to guitar practice and becoming a better guitar-player, procrastination is, by far, your biggest enemy! Tom Hess puts procrastination only second to fear as a guitarist’s worst enemy to ‘move forward and getting the results you want’. Avoid, at all costs!

9. Play and Practice with Others: Seek out guitar players in your neighborhood or in your vicinity, and jam with them. Regardless of their skills level, watch and play the guitar with these people and try doing it as often as possible. After just a few productive sessions, you’ll be amazed at how much you can pick up by simply watching others play. Share notes, experiences, tips and tricks with each other. Take it one step further and try starting a band. It will surely be a great learning experience for you. In the golden words of Gary Moore, ‘a lot of people can play great in their bedroom, but you’ll make more progress playing with other people. You don’t develop a sense of rhythm playing solo’.

10. Find the Ideal ‘Practice Space’: Try finding the perfect space to practice the guitar – somewhere quiet, away from distractions, where you can ideally put in a few hours of quality practice time. And a place where the loudness of the amp and the sound wouldn’t be a problem for anyone else. Perhaps you could look into converting that extra room in your apartment into a studio? Also look into equipping your room – comfortable seating, a place to put your notes and laptop on (a stand for the tabs), speakers, wiring (with enough electrical outlets)… the whole deal.

11. Get a Better Guitar: Last but certainly not the least by any means, make sure that you use a guitar that you’re totally, one-hundred-percent comfortable with. Maybe it’s time to change that cheap axe you’ve been using since you started off, or maybe it’s time to upgrade to something better. Do your research before buying a new instrument. There’s a ton to choose from, make sure you make an informed decision. Getting a better instrument could instantly translate to a marked (and noticeable) improvement in your guitar-playing. More importantly, make sure that you take good care of your instrument – change the strings regularly, keep it in-tune at all times, and clean and maintain your instrument on a regular basis. 

How to Find the Confidence to Perform on Stage

Whether you’ve been performing on-stage for a while, or if it’s your first time, performing live in front of an audience can be a daunting, nerve-racking experience.

Stage fright and lack of confidence is a more common occurrence than most people seem to think. Here are a few solid ways of improving your stage presence, and finding the confidence to perform on-stage:

Be Well Prepared

‘Doing your homework’ always pays off. You should be well-prepared for a gig, and know the songs that you’ll be playing inside out. Practice as much as you can, and start practicing the solos, keys, chords and scales at least a few days before the performance. Practice, as they say, makes perfect. If you head into a gig well-prepared, you’ll automatically feel more confident, relaxed and at ease, and it will also allow you to deliver an error-free performance. If you’re the guitarist in your band, practice extensively with the band. Start practicing in the garage at least 20 days before, and see if you can have the stage a couple of days before the performance so that you can put in a few on-stage hours and familiarize yourself with stage where you’ll be performing.

Tune and Prepare Your Guitar

Preparing your guitar for a gig is as essential as being well prepared yourself. First off, make sure that the guitar is well-tuned. Replace the strings with a set of new ones – this is especially important if you play your guitar often. Old, crusty strings will not sound very good in front of the mic, and might even break during a performance, which can be downright embarrassing. Change your guitar strings after 3-4 weeks of using them.

Prepare your Equipment

This includes everything that you’ll be using during the gig – including your amp, cables and your spare guitar (yes, always carry a spare guitar with you!). Check all the jacks and volume and tone knobs on your amp, give it a test run before hitting the stage. Use good quality (slightly more expensive) cables, as the quality of the cables that you use will determine how good you sound on-stage. And trust me, if you sound good on the stage, it will automatically inspire a lot of confidence!

Plan and Prepare all Aspects of the Gig

Sit down with your band to decide upon a list of songs that you’ll be playing. Decide upon your playlist, right from the first track to the last. Iron out details like who will introduce who, and how band members can engage the audience in between the songs. Planning all major and minor aspects of your performance beforehand – planning in advance – allow you much more control over your performance and know what your next move will be. For instance if you know which song the band is supposed to play next, you’ll be able to know when to change guitars, or make the required tweaks in the effects pedal.

Stick to your Forte

Stick with performing what you feel most comfortable performing. Play it safe, and refrain from pushing the envelope too much by doing something on-stage that you’ve never done before. Stick to your strengths, and do what you know to do best. For instance pick songs that you know well; songs that you love to play – you’re probably so familiar with playing these songs, you’ll be able to deliver a smooth, flawless performance on stage.

Be Cool When Your Err

The cold, hard truth is that no matter how well-prepared, ready and primed you might be for the performance, every guitarist will end up making the odd mistake or two during the gig. Trust me when I say this, the worst thing that you can do when this happens is to draw any attention to it. In all probability, the no one in the audience even noticed it. Continue playing like you normally would.

Focus and Concentrate

This applies particularly after you’ve made a mistake. It is not only important to remain focused during the performance, but also to regain your focus immediately after you’ve erred, so as to not make one again. Concentrate on your music, and plan in advance in your head. Don’t think about what the audience might be thinking of you or your performance; it will only distract you from what’s really important – putting in the best performance you possibly can!

What do you usually do to deliver a confident on-stage performance? Leave us your comments!

The Significance of Practicing the Guitar

The best way to get better at doing something, to be able to do it effortlessly, nail it and perfect it, is to practice it daily.

Hard work always trumps natural talent in my book. With enough hard work, you can be the best at what you do. This is why athletes train regularly, every single day of the week. And this is precisely why every guitarist should practice playing the guitar on a regular (preferably daily) basis.

This is one of the first things a teacher tells his students: the importance of practicing the guitar daily. Even if you’re an experienced and seasoned guitar player, who’s been in the business since forever, you still need to practice playing the instrument on the daily basis.

How big and successful a musician/guitarist you go on to become depends on the amount of time you dedicate to practice – how often you practice, and the number of hours you put into it.

It is important to note that playing at your local bar, or performing on-stage on a daily basis is not ‘practice’. Practicing, per se, refers to learning to do something new, something that you haven’t done before. It requires you to step out of your comfort zone. Practicing means learning to play something complex and learn it from scratch. It refers to working on your technique and acquiring new skills while honing your existing ones. Practicing means challenging yourself to improve, do better and learn something on a constant and consistent basis!

Often times, you’ll come across guitarists who have achieved a certain level of competence, but cannot seem to go beyond it. They might be immensely experienced, with a decade or two of experience under their belts, however their guitar play remains mediocre or ordinary, to say the least. They play the same songs, same riffs, same chords, and the same solos. This sort of complacent attitude and shoddy guitar-play usually stems from a lack of practice.

As you grow older, you’re burdened with a growing list of personal and professional responsibilities. Life gets busy, and there’s less time to do the things that you need to do. You’ll discover that practicing on a daily basis becomes more of an issue.

One of the best ways to overcome this problem is by developing a practice regime.

Set aside at least 10 or 20 minutes in your day, which are exclusively devoted to practicing the instrument. Do it early in the day (as soon as you get up), late at night (right before you turn in), after you get back from work, or during the lunch break at the office, for instance. Use it as a way to relieve some stress, and be alone from the rest of the world, sort of like a bit of ‘me-time’. Not only will this help you relax and escape the worries and tensions of the world, it’ll also allow you to put in some solid practice time.

Keep a log of all your practice sessions including the amount of time you’re putting into it, regardless of how long you practice. Review you practice session at the end of the week in order to determine how you can improve, what you can do to get better, while strategizing ways of increasing your practice time.

Determine what you’ll practice during your time every day. As I said before, try stepping out of your comfort zone and pushing the envelope a bit. Yes, you’ve practiced the solo from Nothing Else Matters a hundred-and-one times now, there’s no point trying to play it again. Instead, why not give Master of Puppets a go today? It has a tricky solo which might be a bit difficult to master, but with enough practice, you’ll eventually be able to do it, learning a bunch of stuff in the process and taking your guitar play to the next level.

Use your practice time to build your muscle strength. Playing the guitar or learning to do so is easier said than done, and it is as much of a physical test as anything else. Playing the guitar requires a lot of wrist and finger strength, and impeccable hand-eye coordination. You are required to move your hand and your fingers around the fretboard quickly and accurately. You can learn how to master this during your practice sessions.

The time that you set aside for your practice sessions depends solely on you. 10-20 minutes a day is the bare minimum – more, if you possibly can. Remember that there’s no such thing has ‘skipping it today and making up for it tomorrow’. That beats the whole purpose of daily practicing.

Learning to play the guitar is a frustrating process, as I’m sure you already know (or will soon find out if you don’t). You knew what you were getting into. Getting frustrated is something that you’ll certainly experience – your frustration might stem from the fact that you might not be making the kind of progress you were hoping to, or you might not think you’re good enough or if you’ll ever be as good as someone you idolize. The truth is that (a) ‘progress’ is not something that happens overnight and I hate to break it to you but you’re pretty much in this for the long haul, and (b) your idols weren’t born with those sort of skills; I suggest you look up some interviews on Youtube where you’ll discover that it took them years and years of hard work and practice to get where they are today! Playing the guitar became a part of them, a part of their lives. But above all, they are where they are today because the loved playing more than anything.

Squidoo has a great article on how to practice the guitar effectively. I recommend all budding and old guitar player go through this. Just remember that greatness isn’t achieved instantaneously. Keep practicing in a daily basis, challenge yourself to do better, and pretty soon you’ll see a marked improvement in your guitar play, which will make you a kickass guitar player, build confidence and become more disciplined and committed.