Beginner Guitar Lessons Comparison

Want to learn how to play guitar, but don't know where to start? We had the same problem, so we bought the best beginner guitar courses, then reviewed, rated and compared them all side-by-side to make it easier for other beginner guitarists to choose.

In the table below, we have compared the best beginner guitar lessons.

Check it out and see which course is right for you:

Guitar Lessons	JamPlay	Guitar Tricks	Learn and Master Guitar	Beginner Guitar System	Jamorama
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Rating Our custom rating considers all of the guitar lessons' features, tools, quality, support, and personal & user reviews to save you time!	Rating: 98.2%	Rating: 95.8%	Rating: 82.1%	Rating: 72.3%	Rating: 69.6%
Lesson Format Since guitar lessons are offered in many different formats, we classify each one we review to distinguish between them quickly (online lessons are our favorite).	Online Videos & Community	Online Videos & Community	20 DVDs, 5 CDs, Book & Forum	DVDs & Book or Online	PDFs, Videos & Software
Video Quality If these lessons offer video instruction (and we hope they do), this gives an idea of how well-filmed the videos are.	Extremely High	Very High	Very High	Very High	High
Total Lessons The number of lessons offered by this community/instructor (and the total lesson time if available).	3,106 Lessons 880 Hours	5,000+ Lessons	40 Lessons 20-30 Hours	42 Lessons 20+ Hours	148 Lessons ~32 Hours
Teachers One benefit of Online and DVD lessons is the ability to learn from multiple instructors with different backgrounds, genres and skills.	48 Teachers	45 Teachers	1 Teacher	1 Teacher	7 Teachers
Full Review This table compares the top 5 guitar lessons. Click Read Review to learn more about one option.	Read Review	Read Review	Read Review	Read Review	Read Review
Beginner Does this product/service offer beginner guitar lessons? This is the most common level, crucial for getting started at any age.
Intermediate Do they also have lessons beyond the beginner level? Once you've mastered the basics, you'll want intermediate lessons.
Advanced Some teachers even have lessons designed for advanced players that have moved through beginner and intermediate lessons.
Song Lessons Want to learn popular songs on the guitar? Some instructors work hard to get license deals to teach you specific songs step-by-step.
Live Lessons The most efficient way to learn guitar is in-person live lessons. Some premium services offer live lessons through webcam & chat.
Tuner Will buying these lessons give you access to a free guitar tuner?
Chord Library Chords are the building blocks of all guitar playing. Having a chord library where you can easily look up specific chords is essential.
Scale Library Scales are great exercises and can expand your soloing horizons. Scale libraries organize them by key and style to save you time.
Forum Forums are a great resource to get answers to your questions from instructors and other students quickly and easily.
Private Q&A Though getting public answers on a forum can be really helpful, sometimes asking a question privately is more helpful.
Delivery Delivery refers to how you will receive your guitar lessons and how long it will take to get access and start learning guitar.	Instant (Online)	Instant (Online)	3-14 Days	5-7 Days or Instant	Instant Download
Price The current price of guitar lessons (not including any coupon codes, trials or discounts we find for you.)	$19.95/month	$14.95/month	$149 + S&H	$97 + S&H	$49.95 or $299
Cost/Lesson Price divided by total lessons. Note: We assume 12 full months of membership for online lessons.	4.8¢ per lesson	4¢ per lesson	$4.06 per lesson	$2.31 per lesson	34¢ per lesson
Best Deal To help you save money, we find deals and coupon codes for each of the guitar lessons we review.	Get 25% OFF your 1st month!	14-Day Free Trial	$149.00 + S&H	$97.00 Digital Only	$49.95 Digital Only
Guarantee The guarantee tells you how long you can try these guitar lessons and get a full refund of your money if it doesn't work out.	7-Day, 100% Money Back	60-Day, 100% Money Back	60-Day, 100% Money Back	90-Day, 100% Money Back	60-Day, 100% Money Back
Visit Site This button takes you to the official website to check out their guitar lessons and get started.

Beginner Guitar Lessons

Congratulations! If you are reading this guide you have probably just invested in your first guitar, borrowed one from a friend, or are at least considering playing guitar. Playing a musical instrument is one of the most rewarding things you can accomplish in life, and the guitar is one of the most popular picks.

If you do not have the time or money to pay for a private lesson, it’s a great time to be alive. The 21^st century has opened up a number of different avenues to learn to play guitar, some free and many extremely affordable.

While some musicians are self-taught, it is very difficult to learn guitar without at least a little guidance. Thus, if you are fairly disciplined and organized, top rated beginner guitar lessons will give you the only thing you lack, expertise and knowledge, needed to plant your feet in the right direction.

Beginner Guitar Lesson Topics 

Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals. Beginner guitar lessons, regardless of price paid, all share a common theme – the emphasis on beginner fundamentals. At first some of this stuff might seem a little boring, but if you put in the work you’ll see later on why the topics were covered in the first place.

Beginner guitar lessons typically start out with the correct posture and hand/finger placement for playing the guitar as well as basic maintenance of the instrument. While this information may seem like a given do not skip over it lightly. Proper care of the guitar, along with correct posture, ensure a long career.

Once you know where and how to hold/care for the instrument its time to get to the basics. Now its time to explore the world of scales and chords! Depending on the guide, one might begin with scales then chords, or vice versa, but just know that they go hand-in-hand.

Learning scales and chords will teach you where the left hand (assuming you’re right handed) needs to go and how it needs to form these shapes. Consequently, the second part of your beginner guide will focus on the other hand, your right, teaching you practical lessons about holding the pick as well as strumming techniques.

Some beginner guitar lessons might dive into a few intermediate techniques (like hammer-ons, pull-offs, etc) but the vast majority of the guide will stick to the sheer basics.

Types of Beginner Guitar Lessons

Beginner guitar lessons are available in just about any format you need. If you are a visual learner consider getting something that is either shipped in a DVD/CD package or features videos with lessons accessible online. If you prefer a more old-school method, plenty of great books exist.

Almost all of these guides are composed by at least one seasoned guitar player. But unlike the old days, it’s no longer necessary to just get advice from one guitarist. In fact, some of the top rated guitar lessons come in the variety of a website where you can tap into multiple different lessons, from multiple different instructors in multiple different genres.

Common Beginner Mistakes 

Once you learn a few basics the biggest mistake is to get ahead of yourself and jump ahead. We all pickup guitar to one day play songs, but skipping ahead or moving too quickly over early chapters will get you in trouble.

When you’re instructed to play a short strumming passage with upstrokes and downstrokes, and, after a few days you got it down pretty good, the biggest mistake is to rush through it in every practice thus forward.

Playing too quickly usually leads to bad habits, many of which can take years to change if you get too deep into the process. Learn the right way to each technique from the get-go and it’s really hard to go wrong. 

Things to Avoid

Some beginners just assume that marathon practice sessions will make them overnight rockstars. In reality, it’s much better to play every day (if possible) for a short amount of time as opposed to only playing a couple times a week for several hours.

When you are a beginner, you are developing a few muscles that you might have never used much. As a result, marathon sessions get your arms and hands (not to mention brain) tired after awhile. When you get tired you get sloppy and develop bad habits. Daily, short (30-60min) sessions, meanwhile, will keep you fresh and focused. You’ll notice improvement much quicker, and likely want to keep playing because of it.

After a month of practice you may be tempted to finally jump ahead and learn a couple of your favorite songs on guitar. There is nothing wrong with this approach, it may actually rekindle some early passion for learning guitar, but do not focus too much on only learning and playing guitar tabs. Yes, they’re readily available on the Web but there is more to playing guitar than just learning Pink Floyd songs. 

Tips for Success

Learning guitar is a lot like learning a sport. You will only get good with practice, practice, practice. But not just any type of practice! It’s not always about the time spent practicing nor the speed in which you play. In fact, slow and steady eventually wins the race. 30 minutes of completely focused practice easily beats out 2 hours of sloppy, distracted free practice.