Breaking into the guitar world, especially as a self-taught individual, can be a confusing time. What brand of guitar to buy, how to learn the fretboard, how to position your fingers for each chord, there’s just so much going on. Luckily, there are many online resources that can act as teachers in players’ journeys, teaching them all the basics and then some.
Many of these apps include courses for all skill levels. They not only go into depth on how to play songs, but also on the intricacies of the music itself. The guitar is such a special and complex instrument and these apps welcome users into their world.
TrueFire Guitar Lessons
Monthly Subscription: $19 Annual Subscription: $99
Rated 4.8/5 stars on the App Store, TrueFire is available on all devices including phones, tablets, computers and even TVs. His all-access subscription plans are currently on sale, allowing users access to his 900+ available online guitar lessons (TrueFire).
These range from beginner classes to blues to rock and country, all taught by notable teachers such as Joe Bonamassa, Greg Koch, Tommy Emmanuel and more. Each course includes instructional videos that can be played in slow motion along with synchronized tabs, sheet music, and a fretboard view showing notes and finger placement.
guitar tricks
Monthly subscription: $19.99
Annual Subscription: $179.99
Guitar Tricks has a 4.6/5 star rating and is available for iOS and Android. There is a free version of the app that includes some free lessons. Intended for beginners to experienced guitarists, this app covers basics from holding the guitar to more complicated music theory. Perfect for beginners, the Guitar Basics course provides tips on how to overcome some typical beginner struggles.
Guitar Tricks also has a huge song library with step-by-step tutorials of popular songs from Ed Sheeran, Eagles, AC/DC and many more.
Just guitar
3 Month Subscription: $24.99
Annual subscription: $149.88
Simply Guitar is rated 4.7/5 stars and is available for iOS and Android. It is specially curated for beginner guitarists with its simple and clear format. When first launching the app, users are asked questions to tailor their learning plan to their instrument, experience, and goals.
His lesson plans start very basic and move through paths. At the end of each lesson the user will know how to play at least one song. Users can hold their phone in front of them while playing, and the app will move through the song’s chords and riffs.
Yousician
Monthly subscription: $19.99
Annual subscription: $89.99
Yousician is a music teacher app for iOS, Android and desktop for a variety of instruments including guitar, piano, ukulele, bass and vocals. It ranks high in the App Store education charts and has over 20 million users (Yousician).
Yousician has interactive lessons with animations to help players join in on their own instruments. The app even listens to the user’s play and provides feedback. There are Spotlight courses from well-known artists like Metallica, Jason Mraz, and Juanes, who share their own tips and tricks on how to play and each of their songs.
chordifying
Monthly subscription: $6.99
Annual subscription: $20.88
Chordify has chords for guitar, piano and ukulele with a rating of 4.8/5 on the App Store. It can be downloaded on iPhones, Android and on the web. There’s a lot of free content available, as well as a premium version currently for sale that includes access to more songs like Harry Styles’ “As It Was” and Jack Harlow’s “First Class”.
Chord chart animation helps users to follow the actual song. Although this app offers a little less instruction than the others, it’s great for more advanced learners who just want to play songs and practice.
Justin Guitar Lessons & Songs
The Justin Guitar app is based on the JustinGuitar YouTube channel. It has a 4.9/5 rating and is available for iOS, Android and web. It has over 1,000 beginner-to-intermediate lessons taught by Justin Sandercoe, who acts as users’ personal tutor (Justin Guitar). Most of the content is completely free, although there are some premium courses that can be purchased.
Each course has plenty of videos and exercises to help you progress further. It even features a new sound system that creates a “real band” experience, making practice sessions sound like the user is playing with a band and a lead singer.
Fender game
Monthly subscription: $9.99
Annual subscription: $89.99
Fender Play comes from the well-known guitar brand with a 4.8/5 rating and is available on all devices. It has 3000+ short video lessons for guitar, bass and ukulele. The annual subscription has an added bonus of 10% off all Fender gear (Fender Play).
Many other features are included, such as B. a practice mode with metronome, Tone Integration to find the right tone of a song and chord challenges to improve chord transitions and speed. Users can play popular songs like Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” and Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect.”
Gibson: Learn to play the guitar
Monthly subscription: $14.99
Annual subscription: $89.99
This is a popular guitar app by guitar company Gibson with a rating of 4.7/5 and is available for iOS and Android. It has tons of complete lesson plans for beginners and pros, taught by experienced players. The interactive videos show chords and fingerings on screen to let users play famous songs by Lynyrd Skynyrd, KISS and others.
A digital amplifier is included with the app to allow users to record their exercise sessions and requires nothing more than a pair of wired headphones. It also has a tuner and metronome available.
Ultimate Guitar
Monthly subscription: $9.99
Annual subscription: $59.99
The Ultimate Guitar website and app is probably the most popular guitar app out there. It has a 4.8/5 rating on the App Store and is available for download on iPhones and Android. It was considered one of Time’s 100 best apps in 2014.
Ultimate Guitar offers over a million chords and tabs for guitar, piano, bass and ukulele and the number is constantly growing (Ultimate Guitar). There are thousands of courses on chord progressions, scales, soloing, and techniques. Most of the content is free, but there is a Pro membership with more features.
youtube
Although there is a huge range of apps designed specifically for learning to play guitar, YouTube still has to be one of the best resources out there. With channels from Marty Music to Mr. Tabs, YouTube has so many videos on how to start playing the guitar, how to change the strings, beautiful covers for inspiration, and free tabs and tutorials for popular songs.
Not to mention that all these tips and tricks videos from professionals are totally free and available anytime. There’s a whole guitar community on YouTube ready to support both beginners and experienced players.