Guitar Tricks Review: Pros & Cons and In-Depth GuitarTricks.com Review

Intro

Wondering about Guitar Tricks? Many guitarists ask us if the lessons, tools and forum are actually worth the subscription price.

“If you can watch videos of free guitar lessons, what’s the point of paying money?” Actually, if you’ve tried learning guitar on YouTube, you already know how hard it really is. The quality of instruction is usually very low, and they’re all trying to pitch their paid lessons anyway.

We have bought, tested and reviewed all the most popular guitar lessons online, so check out our detailed Guitar Tricks review below to see if it’s your best bet for learning guitar.

Disclosure: We are compensated by some guitar lessons creators when our readers buy their products through our unbiased guitar lesson reviews. This is what keeps this site 100% ad-free, so thank you for your support!

Video

Want a free glimpse of the members-only area? Watch our video Guitar Tricks review below:

Did the video make you think of a question or comment? We’d appreciate your feedback at the bottom of our review. If you like what you’re seeing so far, click here for a 14-day free trial, and let us know what you think!

Features

One of the biggest benefits to taking online guitar lessons is the rich feature set you’ll get with a membership compared to buying books or DVDs. GuitarTricks.com offers the following features to their members:

- Over 5,000 video guitar lessons
- 45 professional guitar teachers to learn from
- Online metronome and guitar tuner
- “Jam Station” with 150 backing tracks
- Personalized instruction (Track your progress and bookmark favorite lessons)
- Active community forum with over 200,000 posts
- “Ultimate Chord Finder” – online or downloadable software (PC only)
- “Ultimate Scale Finder” – online or downloadable software (PC only)
- Guitar technique reference library
- Video player with option to loop sections you want to focus on

Instructors

With 7 core professional instructors, and 38 other teachers, Guitar Tricks has 45 pros to learn from.

Skills and genres range from incredible soloists to singer/songwriters, and classical acoustic to classic rock, which means you’ll be able to find your favorite lessons easily.

Highlights: Lawrence Katz, the lead guitarist for the “Mighty Mighty Bosstones” and Lisa McCormick, a soothing teacher with a Masters in Education.

FAQ

Q: Can I try it out before I pay any money?

A: Yes. They have a free membership with limited features, or you can get the full effect with a 14-day free trial of a premium membership.

Q: What happens if I don’t like it after I sign up and pay for a membership?

A: They offer a 60-day money back guarantee, so you can email them to get a full refund.

Q: What is their pricing like?

A: Guitar Tricks charges $14.95/month, or you can pay $129/year to save $50.

Q: How many lessons can I take?

A: There are over 5,000 video lessons, with more added regularly, and you have unlimited access to all of them as a premium member.

Q: Do I need to install anything special to take lessons?

A: No. As long as you can watch YouTube videos, you have everything you need to watch lessons on GuitarTricks.com. However, if you want to download their software tools, you have to have a Windows computer (though these tools are online as well).

Q: Is Guitar Tricks better than private lessons?

A: That depends. Having so many instructors and such a huge library of video lessons to learn from can be much more convenient and useful. It’s tough to replace in-person live instruction, but it’s awesome being able to rewind the videos until you get them down, and it’s nice not having to drive to lessons.

Compare

Still curious about your other options? Compare Guitar Tricks to other popular lessons:

Compare the best online guitar lessons
Compare all beginner guitar lessons
Compare courses that offer song lessons
Guitar Tricks vs JamPlay

Other guitar lessons you might be interested in:

JamPlay.com – Rating: 98.2% – Price: $14.95/month – Type: Online Membership
Learn & Master Guitar – Rating: 74.2% – Price: $149 + S&H – Type: DVD & Books
Beginner Guitar System – Rating: 72.3% – Price: $97 + S&H – Type: DVDs & Book or Online

Properties

Guitar Lessons
Overall Rating Our custom rating considers all of the guitar lessons' features, tools, quality, support, and personal & user reviews to save you time!	Rating: 95.8%
Price The current price of guitar lessons (not including any coupon codes, trials or discounts we find for you.)	$14.95/month
Cost/Lesson Price divided by total lessons. Note: We assume 12 full months of membership for online lessons.	4¢ per lesson
Coupons We are constantly on the lookout for the best deals on guitar lessons, and this is where we share them with you. :)	Free Trial (14 Days)
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.	60-Day, 100% Money Back
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
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)
Visit Site This button takes you to the official website to check out their guitar lessons and get started.
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.
Video Quality If these lessons offer video instruction (and we hope they do), this gives an idea of how well-filmed the videos are.	Very High
Lesson Length Most private guitar teachers do 30 minute blocks, but some topics don't require that much time. This shows the range and average.	10-75 minutes?
Total Lessons Some courses out there have less than 50 lessons, which isn't much to build on. Look for at least 100 lessons, preferably over 1,000.	5,000+ Lessons
Instructors One benefit of Online and DVD lessons is the ability to learn from multiple instructors with different backgrounds, genres and skills.	45 Teachers
Lesson Quality Our personal rating for how well-made, organized and helpful these guitar lessons are overall.	Lesson Quality: 97.9%
Value for Price Value for price is our way of comparing lesson quality, features, tools and support with the cost of these guitar lessons.	Value for Price: 99.3%
Ease of Use How easy does the creator make their guitar lessons to use? Are the videos easy to follow? Are the tools helpful or too complex?	Ease of Use: 96.8%
Support Support refers to how much help you will actually receive as a customer. Will the teacher(s) and students answer your questions?	Support: 96.7%
Lesson Variety Variety is the spice of life. Don't get dragged into boring lessons that all follow the same formula. More lesson variety = more fun.	Lesson Variety: 99.6%
Entertainment We personally evaluate each lesson for many logical ratings, but it's also important that you'll be entertained while learning.	Entertainment: 98.7%
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.
Guitar Tabs Tabs are a great way to learn to play songs with notation that's easy to understand. Tabs + Video song lessons is your best bet.
Jam Tracks Jamming is the one of the coolest things to do when you learn guitar, and jam tracks are the perfect way to practice first.
Live Lessons The most efficient way to learn guitar is in-person live lessons. Some premium services offer live lessons through webcam & chat.
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.
Printable Every once in a while, it can be great to have print-friendly lessons when you need some material on a page in front of you.
Downloadable Online lessons will sometimes give the option to download supplemental material for later.
Best Deal We do not sell guitar lessons; we are a free guitar lessons review service. This link goes to Guitar Tricks

Full Review

Summary
Rating: 95.8/100. With 5,000+ video guitar lessons, a solid toolset, and 45 teachers, Guitar Tricks is definitely worth trying out. Tip: They offer a 2-week trial, so if you decide you don’t want to pay after your trial, it’s easy to cancel.

Pros:
- Over 5,000 online lessons
- 250+ detailed song lessons
- 45 professional teachers
- Chord and scale libraries
- Jam Track software included
- Wide variety of genres taught
- Intermediate lessons: Skills & Techniques
- Active forum with students and instructors
- Most affordable guitar lessons online

Cons:
- Computer and Internet connection required
- Paid subscription only for premium content
- Mostly focused on beginner-level lessons
- Somewhat cluttered interface (see screenshots below)

Introduction

Way back in 1998, long before the days of YouTube (remember that?), a guitarist named Jon Broderick decided to make a website to help others learn to play guitar online.

This was a revolutionary thing at the time, and while many others have followed suit, you could say GuitarTricks.com is sort of the grandfather of them all.

After signing up and trying it out, we feel $14.95/month is a great price for what you get. There’s a ton of content included for that price, and the trial and 60 days to decide if you want your money back make it worth a shot.

Alright, let’s get into our full Guitar Tricks review…

Lesson Format

Since there are so many lessons on the site, they created a page called “Core Learning System” so it’s easy to figure out where to get started:

Most people will want to start with Level 1 Guitar Fundamentals, but jumping ahead to the 2nd level will be fine if you’re an intermediate guitarist.

Either way, we recommend you make sure you have laid a solid foundation with Level 1 before taking Level 2 lessons.

After the fundamentals, you’ll be ready to dive into Rock, Blues & Country.

Don’t worry: if you’re looking for other genres, they also offer lessons for Acoustic, Metal, Classical, Surf, Jazz, Rockabilly, Funk, Bluegrass and World.

Every phase is focused around the videos, and they are all divided into easy-to-follow sections.

Instructors

There are 45 total guitar instructors, 24 of which teach the majority of the video lessons.

Unlike some lessons we’ve tried, all of these instructors are talented musicians that know enough to teach.

Plus, they all come from different musical backgrounds, giving you a good variety to learn from.

Our personal favorites are Anders Mouridsen (Blues, Rock & Acoustic) and Douglas Showalter (Rock, Acoustic & Metal).

Gallery

Want a free sneak peek inside GuitarTricks.com? We took screenshots of our account to show you some of the highlights without even having to sign up for a free trial…

Homepage

The screenshot below shows what you’ll see when you first log in to your Guitar Tricks account. It’s a little cluttered, but once you realize they’ve just broken it into the Core Learning System, genres, a video playlist and tutorials, it’s pretty easy to find your way around.

Instructors

The Instructors page allows you to view lessons broken down by teacher in case you want to focus on everything your favorite pro has taught. If you find yourself learning really quickly due to one teacher’s style, try their other lessons before moving on to another from this page.

Lesson

This is what the lessons page looks like. We like the “Previous” and “Next” arrows and sidebar navigation that make it really easy to figure out where you are in a series of lessons. Also, Guitar Tricks has a unique feature in their video player; you can select a portion of the video to loop and it will play repeatedly so you can focus on that once part to master it.

Song List

The gone lessons page has a long list of all the songs they’ve secured licenses with artists to teach to their members. We wish the list was longer to be honest, but it’s still nice to see some solid selections like “Stellar”, “Sweet Home Alabama”, “Harder to Breathe”, and “Magic Carpet Ride”.

Jamstation

The “Jam Station” is a learning tool with over 400 pre-made tracks to practice with. They really vary the styles of the track selection, but Blues definitely has the most since that’s the most popular genre people choose to while learning soloing techniques.

Guitar Tricks Review Conclusion

We have tried virtually every major guitar community and home study course online, and Guitar Tricks ranks 2nd, just behind JamPlay.

Here is a quick checklist to see if Guitar Tricks is the right option:

If you would prefer to try before you buy, they have a 14-day free trial
If you want more video lessons, Guitar Tricks has over 5,000 (they’re both growing every week)
If you want to save $5/month, they only charge $14.95 for unlimited access

If you’re definitely ready to take guitar lessons online, both communities have a lot to offer. If the points above aren’t that important to you, and you just want the highest-quality experience possible, JamPlay is your best bet.

If you want to save money and still get a great value, then start your 14-day free trial of Guitar Tricks.

Guitar Tricks Review Conclusion

Hopefully we have helped you figure out which guitar lessons to invest in with our Guitar Tricks review.

Do you have a question about Guitar Tricks? Want to submit your own review? Please feel free to contact us and we can help you decide if Guitar Tricks is right for you.