If you’ve seen the ads for Guitar Tricks and you’re wondering if you should invest in it or not, don’t worry! I was in the same spot just last year (2020).
I decided to pick up guitar again after a 2 year break. What my private tutor said to me back then really discouraged me and it was hard to continue playing. However, I really wanted to learn guitar and fill the gaps in my foundation so I could feel confident playing it.
As I was browsing Youtube videos, Guitar Trick ads started popping up. At first I ignored it cause I’m a cheap person. Why pay for something you could get for free? But after a while, I realized they were right.
There’s too many Youtube videos. Most don’t explain things well enough for beginners, and they aren’t progressional, so I don’t know what the next step that I should take is. I’ll end up picking up tricks and pieces here and there, but I wasn’t able to tie them together.
So I gave Guitar Tricks a try as they had a pretty decent New Years sale and I’m so happy that I did.
Lucky for me, the pandemic and lockdowns started not longer after I subscribed so I was able to sit down and make the most of it right away. Lucky for you, I’m here to tell and show you all.
I’ve been tracking my guitar progress on my Instagram @key2nostalgia and even recorded some clips of things I learned back then.
Do note that when I upload to Instagram, I’ve only been practicing a piece for 10 minutes to maybe a day. I wanted to gauge my abilities more accurately instead of only uploading a piece when it’s perfect.
I’m still under the 2 year mark as I’m writing this, so I’m definitely not near pro level right now, but I can say very honestly, that Guitar Tricks helped solidify my foundation through their step by step courses.
I love it so much that when I started this blog a couple months ago, they were one of the first I reached out to to be an affiliate. That goes without saying…
Disclaimer: I have a financial relationship with Guitar Tricks. If you decide to try them out via a link in this blog post, I may get financial compensation with no additional costs to you. You get a sweet deal, they get a new student, and I gain funds that help keep this blog up and running. Consider it a win-win-win situation!
My Background
I first picked up guitar in 2017 and self studied through articles and photos for 6 months since I didn’t have internet at home.
I made a lot of progress as I had the main chords down, had my chord shapes memorized and was even able to improvise to a backing track. Things made sense to me logically so I picked it up faster.
Since I stuck to guitar for 6 months, which is much longer than most hobbies I try out, I decided to invest in private lessons.
The first couple lessons went great and I impressed my teacher with all I could do in such a short time, especially when it came to improvising.
The only new concept that I recall learning directly from him in my 3 or 4 lessons was the extended 3-notes-per-string scale method instead of the simple box scale pattern.
He then gave me an assignment, to learn Gary Moore’s “Still Got The Blues” by ear. I worked hard and I was sure I had it down by our next session.
When I got to my lesson and played it for him, he said ‘I got everything wrong’.
I needed to play on the higher frets, I needed to include slides and bends, and I also had to play with my amp with distortion on…all at full speed. Those were all things I’ve never done or practiced before.
While I had an amp, I never plugged my guitar in as I was usually practicing in the evening or at night and I had a little sister who slept in the same room. Even when I thought I was getting a handle on the piece, the open strings and accidental touches would blare off in the amp due to distortion.
I tried and tried but just couldn’t get the perfect run like he expected at the moment. After getting frustrated (not to mention, I get really clammy hands when stressed), he pretty much said how I’ll have to start over with guitar and a couple other comments that totally discouraged me.
I told him I’ll come back after I get it down, but after a few tries, it just wasn’t fun anymore and I put down the guitar…
One of the last songs I learned (by ear) before putting down the guitar. I didn’t think I was half bad :/
After a couple years and trying to find other hobbies to get into, I was reconsidering guitar.
I felt re-inspired through some musical animes and artists, and I still had a dream of playing in a band to accomplish. So for my 2020 new years resolution, I said I would try guitar again.
Trying Out Guitar Tricks (Foundations Level 1)
Now that we had Internet, I was looking up guitar tutorials, as every guitarist does. While some videos were helpful, it was all over the place. A lot of things felt like repeats and I wasn’t really sure what I didn’t know to look it up.
Around this time, I started getting ads for Guitar Tricks and at first I was a little annoyed. I am a very cheap person so if I don’t have to pay for something, I won’t.
But after seeing it enough times and not getting progressional videos like I needed on Youtube, I decided to give it a try. They had some deals for new years, about $100 for the year, and honestly, that is a steal. I spend more on bubble teas in a month.
So I went in with the Level 1 Guitar Fundamentals course. I thought about skipping the very first skipped the very first videos as it went over the parts of guitar and string names, but I figured, there could always be something I missed. The lessons were all under 3 minutes and I got time to spare.
It wasn’t long before I came to like my teacher. She was sweet and very detailed. She wasn’t boring at all and I would even laugh at her jokes. It was nice not having someone aggressive or with a huge ego as well.
By Chapter 2, we were actually playing. And by playing, I mean we were actually learning some major chords and putting them together to play songs!
I really enjoyed the formatting of the course. In one short lesson, she would teach us a new chord/scale, technique, then we would get to use it in a way that helps us practice it, and then we would actually put it together in a song.
Lisa actually creates her own songs with lyrics for us to learn and practice to. Some are fun and silly, while others use mnemonics that help you remember things better.
April 2020. My first check in video with Guitar Tricks playing a song I learned from the course.
Chapter 3 actually surprised me. I wasn’t expecting lead/melody playing to be introduced so early. Not that it shouldn’t, but lead is usually seen as a bit more advanced than chords, so I was pleasantly surprised.
However, everything ties together really well. You learn to read tab, but you’re also learning the notes of the strings which helps later on when making sense of various chords.
By this point, I was really into the course and spent a lot of time with it. She wasn’t just a teacher who showed you how to do things and expected you to copy it.
She went over all the details and helped me make sense of it. She took the time to teach theory which is something often neglected in the community but has nothing but benefits.
By Chapter 6 and 7, aka the end of the Level 1 Foundation Course, I already had way more confidence than I had in 2017.
My chords and strumming which I didn’t really have down before since I was focused on lead was much more stable. My chord changes were more fluent.
I especially loved Chapter 6 as she already thought us how scales and chord progressions work, so now we could put together chords in different keys to make songs.
Can you believe that you are learning this in a foundations course??
Again, this is something so basic yet so invaluable that it amazes me how many teachers don’t teach it. This is something you need to know and understand if you ever want to create music or play with other musicians.
Still April 2020. My strumming and chord changes were way better than ever before.
Moving Onto Level 2
The first thing we learn in level 2 is power chords. Again, this shocked me. I get using chords and scales, but people usually don’t value the power of power chords.
This was actually one of my favourite units. It was fun getting to use easy moveable chords and create a lot with it.
I really really loved how she didn’t just teach us power chords, but informed us why they work (without a 3rd in the chord, they aren’t major or minor).
She also uses power chords as a means to teach us the names of all the notes on strings 5 and 6, and some tricks to creating good sounding progressions on the spot.
While scales are brought up, the rest of the Level 2 course is focused a lot on chords. Building chords, using chords, and putting them together into songs.
You’ll also have a decent collection of strumming patterns that you can use in various contexts, including 3/4 time.
Checking Out Other Courses
Now around this time, I was still trying to figure out where I wanted to take guitar.
While I first picked up guitar for my love of rock, I got into the blues as I kept hearing that it was a great place to start improvising due to it’s common and predictable chord progressions.
This was my first time playing with another teacher, Anders Mouridsen, and I will admit, I judged him a bit due to his looks. I was expecting a cocky kind of teacher, but he was actually quite soft spoken and just as informative and detailed as Lisa.
He introduces us to Dominant 7th chords, but it’s not a hard transition since we got an idea through the foundations course.
It’s also cool seeing power and barre chords come back in another context. I just really love how things tie together here instead of jumping from place to place.
I did spend a bit of time exploring the rock section as well, however, he thought more of a classic/old fashioned western loud rock sound instead of the more creative and subtle Japanese style I really loved, so I took some pieces that I thought was useful for me here and there, but I admittedly didn’t complete any chapters.
As mentioned earlier, I was more into lead guitar, but after my couple months with Lisa, I really enjoyed chords and how beautiful and fun they could be with various chords, progressions and strumming patterns, so I checked out the acoustic course. And boy, did these course help me so much.
I don’t know why people assume rhythm is easier because IT’S NOT! Perhaps if you stick to the 8 or so basic open chords, it is, but there’s just soooooo much to learn and so much you can do with rhythm, and I really appreciate this course teaching these methods.
And while I never really planned to play fingerstyle, I did love chords enough and was open to a more solo approach to playing guitar. This was really hard initially, but again, the teachers are wonderful in taking their time and starting off small.
May 2020. Playing a short fingerpicking progression~
It did get quite a bit hard by the 4th lesson, and by then, I started putting a band together, so I started focusing more on learning songs. But I did continue learning other parts of acoustic guitar.
I especially love that while the teachers do focus on proper technique and methods, they don’t shy away from teaching you cheats that will help you remember or play things fasters.
Some things are quite hard, like the F chord and barre chords, but instead of avoiding it completely, they help you with easier methods to at least get you started so you still sound good.
Clearly, with only a couple years into guitar, I’m still working on my barre chords. It is certainly one of the hardest aspects of guitar playing so I want to take my time to it.
May 2020. Me practicing tapping for the first time to a Guitar Tricks backing track.
I don’t use Guitar Tricks everyday, and there are times this year I haven’t touched it in months, but I love that if I ever need to learn something new, it’s there to refer to. Now that I am learning barres and 7th chords, I have a resource with many teachers I can refer to.
My Virdict? Totally worth it!
I honestly don’t know where I would be if I didn’t have Guitar Tricks as a resource by my side. I learned so much in just the foundation courses that that itself was worth the $120 or so I paid for in my first year.
February 2021. I took quite a few breaks trying to build a second income and spending some time to relax, but I was more dedicated than ever since I really wanted to put a band together. Initially, I was aiming to be a lead guitar player, but Guitar Tricks made me adore rhythm.
June 2021. Playing a theme song I learned by ear that required a mixture of chords and scales. I’m definitely a lot confident and I don’t need to look at my fret board all the time.
While I haven’t taken or finished every single course on this site, and I haven’t learned any songs as I’m more interested in foreign music, I really don’t see why anyone would pass up on this. I reached out to them only last month to be an affiliate as I believe in this product so much.
Here Are The Benefits To Learning With Guitar Tricks
So if you’re still a bit hesitant or wondering if you should use another program, let me tell you why Guitar Tricks is amazing whether you are a brand new beginner or even a few years in.
1. Clear Progression Path
The biggest pro to Guitar Tricks is their clear progression path. Every single lesson builds upon the last so you will never feel lost, nor feel like you are tackling something beyond your current skill level.
It can be really difficult to figure out where you are as a beginner and if you’re relying on Youtube videos, you’re probably jumping from technique to technique and not learning the theory to be able to tie those techniques together. Or perhaps you’re just learning songs from tabs but you aren’t able to create anything.
The layout of Guitar Tricks is so fluid and I feel a lot more confident going into the next lesson because I know they will refer to things they’ve already thought me. They always break down new concepts and techniques so anyone could understand and use it later on.
2. Mini Lessons That Don’t Overwhelm
If you only had 10 minutes to fit in a little practice, GuitarTricks is wonderful! A lot of lessons are bite-sized, under 5 minutes, sometimes even less than 2 minutes.
I know how I feel when I see a video on Youtube that is 20 minutes or even an hour. It’s intimidating!
I’ll either save it for later (and never get to it), or I may skip around trying to find the important bits as the majority is talking. I may also end up checking my phone and just not concentrating, so short lessons are great.
Inside of each big Chapter, there are lessons. And inside each lesson, there are mini lessons. Each mini lesson only covers a single aspect so you know what you’re going to learn beforehand and you can always refer to it if you forget something.
They could have just put all the barre chords or scales into one video and hand it to you, but instead, they will have a separate video for each scale and each kind of barre chord, and they will create drills and songs to practice each of those individually.
So if you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by big lessons, definitely try Guitar Tricks!
3. Lessons Are Actually Fun!
I get that everyone has a different definition of fun, but in the music world, you’re either going to have a very serious teacher or a fun one.
The teachers are very social and it feels like they are actually talking to you. They are patient and they are informative. They make the learning process enjoyable through their drills, their jokes, and just their personalities.
I’ve never logged in feeling dread. I actually looked forward to spending time with my online teachers and the songs were cool or silly enough to keep me engaged.
4. They Know How To Explain New Concepts To Beginners
No offense to Youtube teachers, and I know there are some amazing ones, but I often find that advanced players often forget what it was like to be a beginner. We may not know what hammer on or vibrato or box shape or fret means just yet. They just assume you know.
At Guitar Tricks, they assume you are a new learner, but they don’t treat you like you are dumb, which is always appreciated.
Every little aspect is spoken about in detail and it is repeated so casually that you will remember it. You then, of course, get to apply it which truly helps with your foundation.
You can leave the Level 1 Foundation course feeling like you can understand 80% of what other guitarists are talking about.
You’re not just learning blindly like “Here’s a G chord. Here’s a C scale”. They show you why it’s a G chord (the root is on G) and why it’s the C scale (starts on C. Scales go whole step, whole step, half step etc…) and by teaching us the why and how, we as students can go on and create or make sense of other concepts easily.
5. Various Lessons & Genres Are Available To You
Guitar is such a versatile instrument that it is impossible to learn everything there is about it.
No one person can master every playing style or genre because they all have their own techniques that take ages to learn and get down. By having various teachers on this site, there’s just so much available for you.
The main progression path has 2 Foundation courses and then branches off into either Rock, Acoustic, Blues or Country, with 2 courses each…but that’s not all they have.
They also have lessons and courses for Jazz, Funk & Soul, Bluegrass and so on. But that’s not all!
Outside of genres, you can always find lessons for specific concepts and techniques, such as soloing, fingerstyle, 7th chords, barre chords, palm muting, slides, hybrid picking, legato, tapping and so much more!
The world is at your fingertips! Not to mention, they have a library with lessons for over 10,000 songs!
6. You Learn How To Self Assess & Correct
The hardest part about learning at home is not having a teacher in the room who can see and correct you. Guitar Tricks has a great alternative though!
They assume you are a beginner at home, so they make sure to teach you proper technique anytime a new concept is introduced.
Everything from hand placement to how you should be holding your guitar. They know what could hurt or what may feel uncomfortable so you can prepare for it or know what’s right or wrong.
In the very first few lessons, they also take the time to show you how to test yourself and your chords to make sure they are ringing right. They tell you not to press too hard, just hard enough, and to pick each string to see if it is clear or muted.
It’s invaluable tips like these that can help a beginner progress in the right direction.
7. They Take The Time To Teach Theory (Wow, All Ts!)
What I really REALLY love as a logical learner and a long term student of music is that they make an effort to teach theory.
They don’t shove it down your throat or make you spend an hour to study these concepts, rather they carefully weave it in through each lesson, so that you are learning it simultaneously with guitar.
Through each lesson, they’re slowly teaching you the differences between major and minor, how a scale is made, then how chords are built on those scales, then we get to practice making a progression together.
Knowing basic theory will put you above many other self learners, and it will set you up for success if you plan to write music, improvise, or play with other musicians.
8. Everything Is At Your Fingertips
Instead of a course that teaches you 25% then puts you out into the world to figure the rest out on your own, Guitar Tricks has everything you could possibly need as a beginner or an intermediate player.
You need chord charts? They got it. Backing tracks? They got it. Scale Finder? They got it. Metronome? They got it!
For each concept or song they teach, tabs are on the same screen and you can see how they are strumming and picking. There are also options to change the speed of the video which is amazing.
9. Practice How You Want, When You Want
The best thing about Guitar Tricks versus a private tutor or in-person lessons is the freedom and flexibility to practice what you want, when you want, where you want.
If you want to play for 4 hours, go ahead! If you want to play a song over and over, you have that choice. If you want to skip ahead or check out something else, you have that freedom.
You don’t have to do the foundation courses, you don’t have to finish a lesson if it’s a little too difficult for you right now, and you definitely don’t have to play a long with potentially boring or cringey songs if it’s not your thing.
You have full access to everything the site has to offer, and it’s completely up to you what you want to learn and where you want to go with your learning. Even if you only check out 10% of all they have, that’s still more value than other guitar learning content available.
10. It’s Honestly A Steal
If all the above was not enough to convince, how about the price and value? Guitar tricks, costs $19.96/month or $179 for a yearly subscription.
I got my first year for a huge sale for about $120 a year, and they seem to regularly have sales. When it came time for my subscription to renew, even though I was taking another break to hustle during the pandemic, I didn’t even consider cancelling cause it’s nice to always have that resource by my side.
Regardless, their prices are quite cheap considering all that is involved! Getting a private tutor will cost you about $30-60/hour, so it pays itself off pretty quickly.
Over here in Toronto where minimum wage is $15/hour, $179 is less than 2 days of work! 2 days of work for a year of unlimited lessons? I honestly spend more than that in a month on bubble teas haha.
If you’re learning on your own, you’re probably wasting a lot of time watching videos, doing the same drills or songs everyday, and just not really learning anything that you can use to create and go far with guitar. I definitely felt myself progressing faster and feeling more confident in my abilities in no time.
If you are someone who likes Youtube or blogs online, they are definitely wonderful resources as well. I’ve certainly had to continue looking outside Guitar Tricks due to my interest in foreign music, but I find myself always coming back once I know what I need to learn as I know they will have thorough lessons with actual practice material.
So from one beginner to another, if you truly want to advance in guitar and you’re tired or frustrated with the free methods, I would highly HIGHLY recommend Guitar Tricks to you. You will not regret it.
If you do test it out, be sure to let me know in the comments below! It would be amazing to know this article has been useful to you and your progress after starting ^_^
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