Best online Acoustic Guitar Academy / subscription?

[dcmcmill]

Hey Guys -

I am brand new to the forum and am terrible at playing my guitar.

In your opinions, what is the best online subscription I can look at for learning? All I have as of now is a laminated chord sheet I got off Amazon. I'd like to take some sort of program...

thoughts?

[Matt G]

If you are interested in learning bluegrass, Brian Sutton's course on artistworks.com is great. His biggest strength, in my opinion, is teaching the mechanical motions that your hands and arms go through to be able to pick faster and efficiently.

[jklotz]

Depends on what you want to learn. If you are just starting out, check out justinguitar.com. it's free and I think he does a great job teaching beginning to intermediate.

[srbell]

Welcome! Tell us a little about the styles of music you like and want to play. Also, do you have any prior music background (play another instrument, music theory, etc.)?

[Vancebo]

Since I am finding I have extra time on my hands, I have been checking out True Fire. They even have and app. You can sign up by purchasing a course in just about any style or area of guitar instruction you want. I have spent so much time looking at samples I can’t seem to decide where to start.

[botofogo]

I’ve been taking one on one Skype lessons for over a year from Campfire Guitar Star. Silly name but they have quality instructors.

[6 Strings MI]

Originally Posted by dcmcmill

I am brand new to the forum and am terrible at playing my guitar.

I'm also new to the forum and far from an accomplished guitar player.

The only online subscription service I have experience with is Fender Play; a 90-day subscription came with my guitar. I've used it to learn some basics of playing country music. In my opinion, it's a decent service, but I don't know if I'll go beyond that 90-day freebie.

Originally Posted by jklotz

If you are just starting out, check out justinguitar.com. it's free and I think he does a great job teaching beginning to intermediate.

I will take a look at that site, too. Thanks!

Though it's not a subscription service, I highly recommend National Guitar Academy as well. I was struggling with a C-chord until I found their section on easier ways to play chords. Lots of helpful information can be found there.

I also purchased a Mel Bay chord book along with my guitar. That would probably represent a good improvement over the chord chart from Amazon.

Finally, practice every day, even if it's just for 15 minutes. Best of luck to you!

[Rille]

I've tried Yousician for a couple of years but it turned up to be too much of a computer game and my progress halted.
Now I'm using JustinGuitar and it's much better for me an my progress is steady and it's fun every day even when it's not easy!
He really care about the small details and work hard to understand how it is to be a beginner guitar player. His latest beginner course is really good, in my experience!

Peace

[dhalbert]

+1 on https://justinguitar.com to get started. Bite-sized lessons, very clear.

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by jklotz

If you are just starting out, check out justinguitar.com. it's free and I think he does a great job teaching beginning to intermediate.

Originally Posted by dhalbert

+1 on https://justinguitar.com to get started. Bite-sized lessons, very clear.

Another vote!

[BlueStarfish]

I have really been enjoying (and benefiting from) the online lessons at pegheadnation.com. Their content is focused on acoustic roots-oriented styles, so probably not the right place if your interest is jazz, but if you are interested in basic “sing and strum”, bluegrass, old time, Western swing, flat picking, country blues, frailing guitar, etc. they get my recommendation (and $).

The format is:
You pick a “course” (which, other than the introductory courses, tends to focus on a specific topic or genre). Then you get access to an extensive series of video lessons with some associated downloadable tabs or sheet music. Each lesson takes a particular song, and also uses that song as a vehicle to teach genre-specific techniques and licks. You have to do the work to watch each video (often multiple times) and then really practice the material. Additionally when I move to a new lesson I often find I need to listen to other recordings of the song to learn the melodies. But that’s not a bad thing, and in total the format is working for me.

I’m still only partway thru my first course with them but can already see that I’ll be doing additional ones in the future.

[Blueser100]

Originally Posted by BlueStarfish

I have really been enjoying (and benefiting from) the online lessons at pegheadnation.com. Their content is focused on acoustic roots-oriented styles, so probably not the right place if your interest is jazz, but if you are interested in basic “sing and strum”, bluegrass, old time, Western swing, flat picking, country blues, frailing guitar, etc. they get my recommendation (and $).

The format is:
You pick a “course” (which, other than the introductory courses, tends to focus on a specific topic or genre). Then you get access to an extensive series of video lessons with some associated downloadable tabs or sheet music. Each lesson takes a particular song, and also uses that song as a vehicle to teach genre-specific techniques and licks. You have to do the work to watch each video (often multiple times) and then really practice the material. Additionally when I move to a new lesson I often find I need to listen to other recordings of the song to learn the melodies. But that’s not a bad thing, and in total the format is working for me.

I’m still only partway thru my first course with them but can already see that I’ll be doing additional ones in the future.

Thanks for this review. I have been looking for a better option for online lessons as well and after I read this, I checked out Peghead Nation. It looks just like my cup of tea and I plan to join up for some fingerstyle blues.

[Winblows]

Hi,
I'm almost just started playing and I follow the Justinguitar and the Yousician programs.
Both suit my needs.

[Blueser100]

I'm still really liking Peghead Nation. I finished Orville Johnson's blues fingerstyle course and am now on another fingerstyle course with Stevie Coyle. The tunes are intermediate and some are challenging. But I pleased to say I can play "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" all the way through.

[BadWithNames]

Welcome to the forum!

Depending on your goal, one source I really like for just getting started is this (free):
https://www.anyonecanplayguitar.co.uk/beginners/

This, and Justin Sandercoe’s site, are among the few free, youtube-based lessons with a well-defined learning path.