Guitar Tricks Online Guitar Lessons
Pros
- Clearly Structured Beginner Curriculum
- Step by Step Video Lessons, Songs Broken Down Into Components
- Clearly Structured Website Easy To Navigate
- Huge Number Of Popular Song Lessons
- Free Trial Period
Cons
- No Live Features
Stop the Press! – Review Rating Upgrade
New Web Video Player
Gitar Tricks are listening (see quote in bold) and as a result I have upgraded my Review Rating of this awesome Online Guitar Training Program. My previous review highlighted problems with the Video Loop Feature and the lack of Speed Control I am so happy that Guitar Tricks have released an immensely improved Video Player with faster video loading time, more accurate and reliable A/B looping and added a Video Timeline Preview that displays thumbnail images of the video at various points as you hover over the timeline. Another feature of the new player is the ability to adjust the speed via the Slow Motion feature.
Follow this link for all the details about the Guitar Tricks New Video Player.
Guitar Tricks Review – More Than 7 Reasons To Have Fun?
Welcome to I Really Like Guitars. In this Guitar Tricks review I want to share my reasons why I use Guitar Tricks. Why I signed up and why I only recently renewed my subscription for another 18 months.
I am sure that this GuitarTricks Review can show you how you can have fun learning the guitar. How you can learn it in the fastest possible way. And how you can continually become a better guitar player too.
You need to be aware that this is a biased review. It is biased because I only recommend products that I like. As you may have guessed, I Really Like Guitars and I Really Like Guitar Tricks too.
Why You Might Be Interested in this Guitar Tricks User Review?
- Are you new to playing guitar? Do you want to find out whether Guitar Tricks is any good and the right match for you?
- Did you stop playing guitar for a while? Are you thinking about taking up playing again?
- Do you want to improve your guitar playing skills? Are you looking for inspiration?
- Do you want to learn to play great songs the way they were intended to be played?
- Do you want to play modern guitar styles without wasting time on trial and error?
- Do you want to learn from professionals using the best teaching methods available today?
Read on to see how Guitar Tricks can help you succeed whatever your objective may be. Find out for yourself how this program provides the best online guitar lessons. But first let me tell you a short story.
My Guitar Tricks Short Story
I learnt to play guitar in my late teens, mainly because it was cool and the girls seemed to like hanging out with guitar players. I started off with a couple of weekly lessons with an elderly lady who managed to teach me some basic chords. After that I continued learning from friends because, imagine this, there was no internet at that time and no cool dudes who knew how to teach to play pop and rock guitar. Well, I strummed my acoustic hard and moved into playing folk and some bluegrass and had fun basking with friends on weekends and during school holidays.
After a while I was doing okay on my acoustic, or so I thought at the time. However, what I really wanted, was to be a Rock Star! I got myself a holiday job, saved up and bought the best electric guitar that I could afford. I teamed up with a drummer, a bass player and another guitarist and it got really loud …… for a little while.
I became more and more frustrated with as my playing did not mach my ambitions at all. I tried to listen to records to figure out what was being played. I tried to come up with the proper techniques on how to play the riffs that I could hear. I tried to make my guitar and my playing sound the way it should. But, even after long hours, it always felt like I did not quite get there. What I really wanted, was to be a Rock Star!The written music available in the music stores was expensive and incomplete. There was nobody around who could make me understand what a power chord was, how to mute individual strings while letting others ring. I was locked in my open chord basic folk guitar strumming background. I knew that I needed a totally new approach to become the lead, riff and chops playing blues pop and rock guitar player I wanted to be. And there was no way that I could see how to simply snap out of my predicament…….
But, before I go on about what happened next, let me tell you a little about Guitar Tricks…….
This is what You Get with Guitar Tricks
For Beginners
- You can learn all the basics in the step by step Guitar Fundamentals Core Learning System
- You get popular songs arranged to match your skill level
- You can find practice exercises designed for beginners
- You get tips on tuning and maintenance
- And that’s all ………. because …….. You’re ready for next level!
Check out below what is in store for experienced players.
For Experienced Players
- You can expand your style specific skills with the Rock, the Blues and the Country Style Learning Systems
- You can boost style specific skills with exercises related to twelve different genres such as Blues, Funk & Soul, Jazz, Metal, Rock, Bluegrass, Acoustic, Classical
- You find specific technique exercises for Alternate Picking, Bending, Finger Picking, Hammer-Ons, Pull-Offs, Pinch Harmonics, Natural Harmonics, Hybrid Picking, Legato, Palm Muting, Slapping, Slide – Bottleneck, Strumming, Sweep Picking, Tapping, Touch, Trills, Vibrato, Whammy Bar
- Artist Studies are available that explain the specific playing style of a guitar hero or band like Van Halen, Albert King, AC/DC, B.B. King, Chet Atkins, Iron Maiden, David Gilmour, Eric Johnson, Freddie King, George Lynch, Jack Johnson, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Pass, John Prine, Keith Richards, Metallica, Megadeth, Randy Rhoads, Ritchie Blackmore, The Edge, Tony Rice, Wes Montgomery
- General warm-up, finger and speed practice exercises and specific ones for Rock, Country, Blues, Metal and Classical are available together with Scales, Chords and Arpeggio exercise lessons
- General and genre specific gear and sound information lessons and demonstrations can help you make your guitar and amp sound like the real thing.
Guitar Tricks 2023 User Interface Upgrade Walk-Through Youtube Video
The Story Continued…..
Now, as you may remember, I was really frustrated and did not find a way how I could become the guitar hero I wanted to be. As a result I nearly gave up on playing the guitar all together…..
Fast forward twenty years and along came an email form Line6 introducing me to Guitar Tricks……….
I signed up for the Free GuitarTricks Trial and the first lesson that I checked out was titled something like “Blues Style Level 2 – How B.B. King Starts The Blues”. You wouldn’t believe it. Shortly after starting this lesson I felt that my playing sounded the way it should be sounding. It sounded kind of the same as how B.B. King sounded. I was over the moon. This was simply an amazing experience and I never looked back. Today I am almost sure that I would probably be a Rock Star today if Guitar Tricks would have been around 20 years earlier ;-).
That lesson was presented by Anders Mouridsen. He has become by far my favorite instructor on Guitar Tricks.
Meet My Favourite Guitar Tricks Instructor
Check out this Youtube Video and meet my favorite Guitar Tricks instructor Anders Mouridsen.
7 Reasons Why I (Continue To) Use Guitar Tricks
1 – One Stop Shop
With Guitar Tricks I get everything I need in one place. The core learning systems for beginners, for blues rock and country, the songs, the genre specific exercises, an active user forum and a series of tools. I specifically like the Jam Station tool. It includes a number of backing tracks in different keys and tempos for most of the genres being taught on the Guitar Tricks platform. With Guitar Tricks I get everything I need in one place.Other useful tools included are a scale finder, a metronome, a chord finder and a fingerboard trainer. Guitar tricks is continually improving. A new interface has just been added that makes it look more modern and very attractive. The core learning system lessons are also updated on an ongoing basis. This allows them to incorporate the latest teaching methods and keep the lessons modern and relevant.
2 – Songs Galore And Original Arrangements
According to the official information Guitar Tricks has more than double the number of song lessons than any other guitar learning site. It goes on to say that there are more than 600 but I feel that the number could be even higher by now because new songs are added regularly. The songs available on Guitar Tricks are the ones that I want to learn, oldies and modern songs from major artists like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Eagles, Blink-182, Extreme, Good Charlotte and many more. Check out this list of Guitar Tricks Artists. Did I mention that lots of songs have a beginner and an advanced level lesson? I just love that the advanced level songs are taught based on the original arrangement and not some vague resemblance used to avoid copyright issues. This is because Guitar Tricks has licenses for teaching the original songs.
3 – Inside Tips and Tricks for Sound and Technique
Songs are taught in great detail with lots of tips and tricks. A great example of this is the famous riff of Sweet Home Alabama. In this piece Anders Mouridsen shows how adding ghost notes on the C and G bass notes are making the riff funkier. This for me was the missing ingredient to make it sound right.
Having all these detail readily available in tablature, and video is speeding up the learning curve. No more listening and guessing, the tabs show it all and the video, explanation and play along make this a great full service experience. And to top it off, most song lessons also include a section on gear and sound.
4 – Instructors Are Working Professional Guitarists
The GuitarTricks instructors are working professional guitarist and great teachers. With more than 45 instructors you have plenty of choice to find the ones you like best. There is a structured, best practice, teaching approach to every lesson, song and the entire curriculum which beats the hap-hazard approach of picking free lessons on YouTube. I also like that the I can learn not just what something does but WHY it does it and how to apply it to other parts.
5 – There Is Always Another Challenge
There is a weekly newsletter that features lessons from different genres and difficulty levels. Whenever I open that newsletter I feel compelled to try out that featured lesson. I believe that this is a big reason why my guitar playing is improving so quickly. I am continuously trying out different styles and techniques and I get better overall while doing this and having fun.
6 – Available When And Where I Want
Guitar Tricks is available 24/7, anytime and anywhere I want to use it. It is browser based and I can get to it from any computer, even when I am away on vacations. There are different video resolutions that can help with adjusting to a slower internet connection or to watch the lesson on the go on a mobile phone. There is also an iPad app available for free, and no need for additional in-app purchases, that gives access to the core features of Guitar Tricks.
With this high availability I can immediately check back with the program if I am unsure whether I am getting it right when practicing. I can play along to the backing track while practicing and I can continue with new material if I feel that I am ready to do so. All of this is simply not possible with a local instructor on a 30 minute per week basis.
7 – Very Affordable – Special Deals
Think about what a local instructor would cost you for 30 minutes a week. Now check out what Guitar Tricks will charge and compare this to how much you can benefit!
At the time of writing, the annual membership is $179.00. This makes it a very low $14.91 per month. If you prefer to pay monthly you can get started with $19.95. There is also a special deal, discount coupon code that will make it even cheaper for the first month. Check further below to find the 60% discount coupon code for the first month’s subscription.
And it does not stop there. Often there is a Free Gift available when you sing-up for a full access membership. Check it out right now!
Once you have signed up as a member you will get great discounts on renewals. I have just renewed my subscription for another 18 months and was able to lock in the old membership fee prior to the price increase.
Guitar Tricks in Numbers – Info-Graphic
You can click on the Info-Graphic below to open a larger version in a new window.
Drawbacks of GuitarTricks.com
The one major drawback of Guitar Tricks is the almost overwhelming amount of material that is available. There is a chance that you get distracted into trying out many different styles and techniques. You may find yourself jumping around from song to song and lesson to lesson wanting to see whether you are up to it. As a result you may not be able to follow your curriculum as initially planned. On the other hand, I strongly believe that this will broaden your horizon and make you a better and more versatile guitar player.
Room For Improvement
Check out the details about how Guitar Tricks are listening to my reviews and learn more about the new Video Player.
While I have been able to find ways to get it to work for me most of the time, I have found that the controls for the video looping feature are not as precise as I would like them to be. There is definitely room for improvement. Another thing that I am missing is the option to control the speed of the video playback. Some competitors allow for the video playback to be slowed down or sped up while retaining the correct pitch. Guitar Tricks have been listening – Improvement have been made!This is a great help if you want to practice to play along at a slightly slower speed or if you want to review something in more detail. Luckily I have found a little helper too that allows me to control the speed of the video until Guitar Tricks are including this feature into their video player. I am using the MySpeed tool from Enounce. They advertise it to speed up videos to save time watching them. It also works a treat slowing videos down.
Now, since I have started on my wishlist there is another thing that I would like to add. I have seen multi angle videos that include a shot the finger board from the point of view of the player. Looking at this video angle it shows the fingerboard from the same angle as when you are playing it yourself. This is a great view as you do not need to translate what you see mentally. You see it, you play it the same way.
Alternatives to Guitar Tricks
There is competition for Guitar Tricks and this is a good thing, as this makes sure that they have to keep improving. Prior to starting with Guitar Tricks I bought some lessons from True Fire. While the lessons were good and very well presented they needed to be downloaded onto a PC and could only be played in a special player program. TrueFire also offer an online service that includes group and one-on-one lessons. Another alternative worth checking out is JamPlay. JamPlay has been continually gaining ground on Guitar Tricks and is worth while checking out. They do not have a free trial period, but you can get started with a very low amount for the first month and they also have some free lessons. Another option is a fairly new program called Infinite Guitar. They seem to be doing a rather good job too and also offer some free lessons.
How to Use Guitar Tricks Online Lessons
Beginners
Guitar Tricks is a step-by-step learning system that’s designed to make learning guitar easy. The Guitar Fundamentals level 1 training curriculum has been totally reworked, improved and only recently re-released. Nothing else is as beginner-friendly as Guitar Tricks. In addition to working your way through the fundamental lessons of the Core Learning system you can explore great songs arranged with beginners in mind.
Intermediate
If you are an intermediate player you can start with a song you like and learn the necessary techniques as a by-product or you can pick one of the advanced curriculums. You can also do a bit of both or you can really challenge yourself my finding a song you really like that shows a high difficulty level.
Do GuitarTricks Online Lessons Work
A detailed study on MIT physics students has proven that online classes really do work. Guitar Tricks results show that online lessons not only work for physics but also for learning the guitar. A GuitarTricks member survey in 2010 found that 98% would recommend Guitar Tricks. 80% reported that they were learning faster than with any other method that they had tried before. Most members found that their skills increased from 3 to 5 (on a scale of 1 to 10) within a short period of starting the online lessons with Guitar Tricks.
If you check out my About page you will quickly notice that I am quite a guitar nut who is suffering from GAS or Guitar Acquisition Syndrome. As you can imagine, I needed to improve my playing quickly to justify owning more than two guitars. I succeeded!
Here is what other guitarists with full access membership have to say: https://www.guitartricks.com/reviews/
Where and How to Buy a Guitar Tricks Membership
You have several options to get started with Guitar Tricks.
Annual Membership – The Cheapest Membership Option
At the time of writing, Guitar Tricks is offering $60.00 discount on the annual membership. This brings it down to only $179.00 and that relates to a very low $14.91 per month.
To take advantage of this offer follow the link below and key in your email address. I recommend that you wait for an email from Guitar Tricks with your username and password. Use this username to login to the website. Once you are inside of GuitarTricks select the Upgrade button and choose the Annual Membership option.
You cannot go wrong. Guitar Tricks has a 60 day, no questions asked money-back guarantee.
Monthly Membership
If you prefer to pay monthly you can get started with $19.95. To take advantage of this offer follow the link below and key in your email address. I suggest that you wait until you receive an email from Guitar Tricks. You should get a username and a password. Use these details to logon to the site. Once you are inside of Guitar Tricks select the Upgrade button and choose the Monthly Membership option.
There is absolutely no risk to you because Guitar Tricks has a 60 day, no questions asked money-back guarantee.
Free Trial with Full Access
The free Trial allows you to check out the Full Membership access for Free for a limited time. To take advantage of this offer follow the link below, key in your email address and select the ‘Start Your Free Trial’ button.
Gift Certificates
GuitarTricks offers three, six and twelve months gift certificates to be purchased and redeemed online. This makes a great present for the special guitarist in your life.
Guitar Tricks DVDs
A great tool to complement the online offering are DVD’s. At the time of writing DVD’s are sold out. Please check back later if you are interested in DVD’s of the Guitar Tricks Core Learning Systems.
Free Lessons
There are 24 Free Lessons on the Guitar Tricks site. Simply follow the link below to get a better feel of the high quality of the site and meet some of the instructors.
How to Get the Guitar Tricks Special Deal Discount Coupon Code YouTube Video
Guitar Tricks has a special Discount Coupon Code that will make it even cheaper for the first month. You can get 60% discount if you choose the monthly subscription. To take advantage of this offer follow the link below and key in your email address. You should wait for an email with your username and password for Guitar Tricks. Use this information to logon. Once you are inside Guitar Tricks select the Upgrade button and choose the Monthly Membership option. In the Coupon Code section on the same page enter the Coupon Code ‘60OFF’ to get the 60% discount on your full access membership for the first month.
I hope You have found what you were looking for. Any questions, please contact me via the Contact form or leave a comment below.
KEEP ROCKING!
PS: Let me know what you think of GuitarTricks. Is there any better way to learn to play the guitar? I want to know! – Give your own rating using the sliders in the comment section.
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