JamPlay Review
Thinking of signing up for JamPlay, but worried about wasting your money? We have spent countless hours testing every online guitar lessons service, including JamPlay.com, to help you figure out which one is best for you and your guitar goals.
Our personal tests (and tons of user feedback) have shown JamPlay to be a solid alternative to more expensive private guitar lessons because of their high-quality videos, awesome 24/7 support from 45 professional teachers, a killer tool set (tuner, chord library, scale library, games, quizzes, progress meters and jam tracks), and live webcam/chat sessions.
We’ll take you through the Pros & Cons, Format, Instructors, Tools, a Video walk through of our personal account, and more in the in-depth JamPlay review below…
Want to see inside our account without having to pay? Watch our video JamPlay review below:
Have a question? Like our video? We would love to hear from you in the comments section at the bottom of this page. If you like what you see in the video, and you’re ready to sign up, don’t forget to use the coupon code. Click here to save 25% off your order, and have fun inside the JamPlay members area!
JamPlay.com is one of the most feature-rich guitar lesson services we’ve reviewed. Here is a quick summary of the features you’ll get with a membership:
- Learn from 45 professional guitar instructors (video lessons, forums, Q&A, and web chat)
- Unlimited 24/7 access to all lessons, tools and the community forums
- Over 2,800 HD-quality video guitar lessons
- Tools: Tuner, metronome, chord library, scale library, tabs, jam tracks and learning games
- Live web cam lessons with private chat room Q&A
- Friendly-formats: Web-based, printable and downloadable
- All skill levels: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced lessons
- Learn songs: Step-by-step walkthrough videos of popular songs
- Charts, tablature and photos of correct form for every chord
Most guitarists learn to play from one teacher, which limits their growth to the skills, preferred genres and bias of that instructor. This also backfires when your teacher is in a bad mood, sick or just feeling lazy on the day of your lesson.
A JamPlay membership gives you access to 45 professional instructors with about 1,200 years of combined experience playing guitar, meaning you can tap into their wide array of skill sets, knowledge and time.
Each teacher is pre-screened by the JamPlay staff to ensure they not only can play extremely well, but they can break down the information to convey it clearly to even the newest of beginners.
That said, even the most advanced players can learn more from these talented guitarists.
Many of the instructors you’ll learn from make their living not only teaching guitar, but touring and selling albums as professional musicians, making them passionate about playing music. This means they’re excited to help you have fun becoming a better guitar player.
Q: How much will this cost me?
A: $19.95 for a monthly membership – $49.95 for a quarterly membership – $139.95 for a one year membership
Q: If I don’t like it, can I get my money back?
A: Yes. You have 7 days to try JamPlay. If you’re unsatisfied, contact them for a full refund, no questions asked.
Q: How does JamPlay.com compare to private lessons?
A: As opposed to learning from one person in 30-minute increments, and being forced to remember everything you’re taught, JamPlay’s video lessons allow you to learn at your own pace from 45 unique instructors. In other words, rewinding the video until you’ve mastered the lesson is incredibly helpful.
Q: How many lessons will I have access to with a membership?
A: JamPlay currently offers over 2,800 high-definition quality video lessons.
Q: How many instructors are there?
A: There are 44 instructors to help you improve your guitar playing at JamPlay.com, with more on the way.
Q: System requirements?
A: If you have a computer and an Internet connection, then you are good to go.
Q: How long does it take to take one lesson?
A: On average, their video lessons last about 18 minutes (ranging from 5-82 minutes each), but you can rewind as much or as little as you need to master the lesson.
Q: Is there a limit to how many lessons I can take each month?
A: Nope. You get unlimited access to all of the videos and tools, 24 hours/day.
Q: Can I learn actual songs with JamPlay?
A: Yes. They have spent ridiculous amounts of money to get licensing deals so they can film step-by-step videos teaching you popular songs on guitar.
Q: Can I get a discount to try it out?
A: We found a JamPlay coupon code that saves 25% on your first month. Click the deals button on the right to get the discount automatically, or check out the mini-site we made about it.
To learn more, read their full frequently asked questions page.
Still not sure if JamPlay.com is right for you? Compare it to other popular options side-by-side:
- Compare the best online guitar lessons
- Compare all beginner guitar lessons
- Compare courses that offer song lessons
- JamPlay vs Guitar Tricks
If that’s not enough, here are a few more solid guitar courses you may like:
- Guitar Tricks – Rating: 95.8% – 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 | Rating: 98.2%
|
| Price | $19.95/month |
| Cost/Lesson | 8.2¢ per lesson |
| Coupons | Click to Save 25% |
| Guarantee | 7-Day, 100% Money Back |
| Lesson Format | Online Videos & Community |
| Delivery | Instant (Online) |
| Visit Site | |
| Beginner | |
| Intermediate | |
| Advanced | |
| Song Lessons | |
| Video Quality | Extremely High |
| Lesson Length | 5-82 minutes Average: 18 minutes |
| Total Lessons | 2,927 Lessons 824 Hours |
| Instructors | 45 Teachers |
| Lesson Quality | Lesson Quality: 99.7%
|
| Value for Price | Value for Price: 98.9%
|
| Ease of Use | Ease of Use: 97.9%
|
| Support | Support: 98.3%
|
| Lesson Variety | Lesson Variety: 97.9%
|
| Entertainment | Entertainment: 99.4%
|
| Tuner | |
| Chord Library | |
| Scale Library | |
| Guitar Tabs | |
| Jam Tracks | |
| Live Lessons | |
| Forum | |
| Private Q&A | |
| Printable | |
| Downloadable | |
| Best Deal |
Full Review
Summary
Rating: 98.2/100. We’re hard to please when it comes to guitar lessons, but JamPlay has very little to complain about. Of all the courses and online communities we’ve reviewed, JamPlay definitely gets our #1 rating.
Pros:
- Over 2,800 video lessons
- 24/7 Access Online
- 45 Professional Instructors
- Great supplemental learning tools
- Active community forum
- New lessons added weekly (5 on average)
- Live web cam lessons and Q&A
- Well organized lesson library
- Tuner, metronome, chord & scale libraries
- Lots of popular step-by-step song lessons
Cons:
- Lesson access only with subscription
- Not the cheapest option available
- Computer and Internet connection required
JamPlay History
In 2006, JamPlay.com was created by three guys that are passionate about playing guitar and building the biggest & best members-only community for guitarists online.
Since it was founded, JamPlay has undergone many design and structural changes to help even the most inexperienced players easily navigate the members area.
The major advantage with this website over many others like it is the quality of the lessons, the instructors, the forum/community, the tools, and the website itself.
Lesson Format
Worried that you’ll feel overwhelmed with almost 3,000 lessons? Don’t be. Let’s break them down…
All of the lessons are really organized into three Phases:
Phase 1: Beginners
Phase 2: Genre & Skill Building
Phase 3: Learning Songs
We have talked with dozens of members in the forums, and this is one of the things that everyone seems to love about JamPlay.com.
Each phase is also broken down into simple sections:
Beginners
- Pick Acoustic or Electric guitar
- Choose Instructor with lessons for that type
- Take lessons in chronological order and record progress
Genre & Skill Building
- Pick Genre or Skills section
- Choose focus area (Blues or Rock, Lead or Songwriting)
- Go through series in chronological order
Learning Songs
- Pick a song you want to learn
- Watch the step-by-step video until you master it
This format is great for beginner, intermediate and advanced guitarists alike, because it allows them to take lessons in any order they want, but it still recommends an order chosen by the pros and tracks their progress.
Instructors
No matter how cool a lessons website is, the most important thing is the quality of instruction. Just like in school, a nice building can’t compete with great teachers.
This is why the founders of JamPlay strive to find excellent professional guitarists that want to teach others.
There are currently 45 well-qualified instructors, which means you won’t be limited to one person for support and learning.
One of the worst things a beginner can do is limit their knowledge to one genre, skill or song style.
Learning from 45 different teachers with a wide variety of backgrounds ensures members can conveniently learn from people who make a living playing guitar in genres such as:
- Rock

- Blues
- Jazz
- Fingerstyle
- Metal
- Classical
- Bluegrass
- Country
- Funk
- Celtic
- Hawaiian
These are all the genres in Phase 2 of the lessons you’ll find in the members area (most have 100′s of lessons each), and that doesn’t even include the skill building section!
Our favorite part of JamPlay.com is the support the instructors provide in the form of private messages, the forum, answers to questions on video lessons pages, and live web cam lessons 12 hours/day.
Tools
Another feature included with a membership is a custom-made tool set for guitarists. Of all the web-based lessons we’ve tested, the majority at least have basic tuners, metronomes, and chord charts. Here are the tools JamPlay offers:
When we first started playing guitar, we felt lucky to have chord chart posters in our bedrooms. Those lucky enough to be learning today get a dynamic, searchable chord library grouped by chord family! On top of that, you can save your favorite chords from the library or directly from lessons pages.
Many musicians will tell you the fastest way to get better is to master a few commonly-used scales. They are great exercises, and really help to further your understanding of keys for improvising and soloing. JamPlay’s scale library makes learning scales easier with diagrams and videos of pros playing every note for you.
There’s nothing that breaks a beginner’s confidence more than people cringing when they play because their guitar is out of tune. It’s impossible to sound good out of tune no matter how good you are, so as a nice touch JamPlay added an interactive tuner to their site with every major tuning you’ll run across when learning songs.
Simple but useful, the metronome has been used to help musicians keep time while practicing since the days of Bach and Beethoven, and with good reason: Keeping time is crucial when playing any instrument, and guitar is no exception. Select your tempo and an accent beat, click play, and get practicing.
A great way to improve your soloing skills is to play along with backing tracks, or “JamTracks” as they’re called at JamPlay. This, combined with their Riffs & Licks Library, makes for an awesome way to mimic practicing with others on your own so you don’t have to worry about messing up in front of other people.
Games are a unique offering with this website, and a proven method in education to improve retention with memory-intensive activities like playing guitar. These custom-built games are a fun way to challenge yourself and other members to help you remember music notation, the fretboard, specific notes and pitches.
At the request of many members (including ourselves), the guys at JamPlay made an iPhone app so we can watch lessons and use all of the tools above right on our phones, which is awesome. The tuner really comes in handy when you’re on the go, and the chord & scale libraries are great to have in your pocket.
Video Review of JamPlay.com
Screenshots not doing it for you?
See inside the members-only area without having to pay in our detailed video review at the top of this page.
Is JamPlay for You?
In a word, probably. Whether you’re just getting started or you’ve been playing for years like us, JamPlay.com has a lot to offer if you want to take your guitar playing to the next level.
As our #1 rated option of all the guitar lessons we’ve bought and tested, JamPlay is a fantastic deal.
Here’s the link to sign up with a 25% off JamPlay coupon code.
Conclusion to our JamPlay Review
We hope you enjoyed our detailed JamPlay review, and that our evaluation helped you figure out if it’s right for you.
Still not sure? Have a question about JamPlay.com? Want to submit your own review? We’d love to hear from you!










Hey! We're Kyle & Brian, the creators of Lessons Review. Our goal is to help you find great guitar lessons.
10 Comments
Thank you for your work. Thanks to you, I purchased a membership with Jamplay!
You’re welcome Sarah!
We’re glad to hear our research and reviews helped you out.
Thanks for coming back to the site to let us know.
Have fun with JamPlay,
Kyle & Brian
I”m a complete beginner and I’ve got it narrowed down to jamplay and guitar tricks …. looks like jamplay is a better option but just by a hair. Thanks for the review.
Hey Chris,
Thanks for stopping by! You’ll definitely enjoy JamPlay, and you’re right: they’re really close.
If you’re still on the fence, one cool idea we’ve seen some people do is to:
1. Sign up with the 25% off JamPlay coupon
2. Do the 14-day trial of Guitar Tricks
That way, they could test them both out for $14.96 and stick with the one they like best.
Most people we have talked to that tried them both ended up going with JamPlay, but it doesn’t hurt to take them both for a spin since it’s so cheap.
Have fun learning guitar Chris!
Kyle
Thanks for the review of JamPlay guys.
I bought a subscription right after reading what you guys wrote and viewing the free lesson from Mark Brennan on their website, I have a ton of books and DVD’s including Fret Board Logic and Gibson’s Learn and Master Guitar and none of it works as good for me as JamPlay.
The best thing is that if the teaching methods of one teacher isn’t getting through to you, the methods of one of the other 44 will. Worth every penny if your serious about learning.
That’s great to hear Steve, and thanks for coming back to share your experience with us.
We love hearing that our review is helping other guitarists like us find the right lessons for them.
Enjoy JamPlay!
Hello,
Thank you so much for taking the time to review these sites, and for sharing your opinions with us. It is really very helpful.
After reading your reviews I am certainly leaning towards JamPlay. Before finding your site I was leaning towards WorkShopLive, and I was wondering why you didn’t include this site in your reviews. Please let me know your thoughts.
Thanks again!
Regards,
Mike
Hi Mike,
You’re welcome man!
We’ve had a lot of fun doing it, and have a list of more lessons to test out and review, including WSL. We decided to pick the most popular programs first, but we’re buying and trying more all the time.
Let us know if you have any other questions and enjoy JamPlay,
Kyle & Brian
After reading several reviews and finally finding yours I was sold on Jamplay.
I’m a 61 year old retired fart who last played guitar 40 years ago.
I love the online community stuff, someting you dont get with Gibson’s offering.
Thanks for your accurate and unbiased review.
Hi Keith,
You’re so welcome man! That’s great to hear.
Enjoy your membership,
Kyle