You keep hearing how easy it is to learn to play the guitar – especially acoustic guitar. And if you read anything on guitar lessons for beginners, they all promise to have you playing quickly and at least passably on a handful of songs. That is why I took the time to compare some guitar lessons for beginners.
How can you sort out the hype from real value? And what method – online or DVD – is better for beginners?
I know so many people who want to be guitar players, too. Every time I play for people, at least one person says, “I wish I could play the guitar.”
But to learn to play any instrument, you have to start somewhere.
I became interested in various guitar learning methods when a friend, who desperately wants to play acoustic guitar, asked for my help. Since I play guitar, I said I’d try to find a course or lessons that I think would be good for beginners. I had a few things I looked for in guitar courses:
- Experienced teachers (professional guitarists as teachers)
- Course materials with books and videos
- A reasonable price
- A money-back guarantee.
Oh yeah, and it can’t be boring! I’ve been looking at several guitar programs and online courses. It takes a long time to look at all this stuff! I ended up with a couple of options and I thought I’d share this info with others, in hopes of saving time, frustration, and purchase mistakes.
After doing some research and comparison shopping, two courses seem to stand out from the others.
My lst choice is for DVD lessons – Learn & Master Guitar was created by a reliable company, Legacy Learning Systems. It’s taught by a professional guitar player and teacher. I also happen to agree with their motto: quit messin’ around with guitar and learn to play for real! They have a choice of basic or expanded courses of either 10 DVDs or 20 DVDs (plus 5 CDs). If you are trying to get your parents to help pay for guitar lessons, show them this one! It’s got that “official” feel. The course has won awards in the categories of Education and Use of Music. (Just don’t tell them it’s really fun – make them think it’s like going to college to learn guitar.)
As a player, I like that the course is planned out so you know exactly what to do and what to practice. The set includes videos to see and hear the guitar lessons, plus printed materials for reference note-taking, and exercises; they’ve covered all the basics. They also have jam tracks where you play along with a real band.
Learn and Master Guitar’s course also has an excellent support community of other students you can join. There’s a student support website with free online support. They promise that if you are not completely satisfied, just return the course for a full refund.
What I like about the DVD method is its professional, yet user-friendly approach, its good production quality, and the fact that you can view it flexibly – on a PC, DVD player, TV, etc.
My 2nd course I like is the Jamorama Guitar course. It’s taken online, so no DVD set is involved. That has its pros and cons. So, what makes this one stand out?
Jamorama met all my requirements and more. The folks who created it are experienced at teaching music lessons and have several successful courses, with this new one for learning acoustic guitar. I like the variety included in their lessons: 44 chapters and 252 pages of lessons you download from online. Taught by Ben Edwards, this course is one of the most popular “learn guitar” courses ever sold on the internet.
Now is a good time to buy and download Jamorama Guitar Lessons, since all these bonuses are free!
- Jayde Musica Pro – Learn to Read Music Game
- GuitEarIt! – Ear Training Game
- Advanced Learning Techniques for Guitar
- Guitar Tuner Pro Software and How to Tune Your Guitar
- Jamorama Metronome
- SongPond – Video lessons for your favorite songs
You can try this and if you don’t like it, you get your money back (with no questions asked). And, it looks like a lot of fun. This course can take you from NO guitar skills to reading guitar tabs and playing songs!
Decisions, Decisions - Both of the courses are great ways to learn to play guitar. Use the links to go read about the features and differences between these two and then decide which is right for you!
Let me recap what you need to decide to get started learning to play guitar:
You want to start right now: Get Jamorama – Jamorama lessons and software programs are online and you can download and can start your guitar lessons in the next 5 minutes!
You want your course on DVDs and CDs to use with or without a computer: Get Learn and Master Guitar.
(Get ready for another pun.) Don’t “fret” over all this if you don’t plan to do something about it. But if you don’t try, you will never know. (Hint, hint… stop reading about it and start guitar lessons. You’ll want to thank me if you do!)
Tags: compare, guitar lesson DVDs, Guitar Lessons for Beginners, guitar video lessons, Jamorama, learn and master, learn to play, online lessons, Play guitar
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