"Great experiences after a week of learning …"

Just been working with Guitar Tricks for a week, done quite a few lessons and am really enjoying it. I've gone through other online courses, such as Fender's, which was really great but limited in how far it taught. So I needed to progress further and Guitar Tricks has so far delivered. Top of my likes is each technique/lesson group you put it all into practice in a song. Really cool 😎

"Had a question and the staff were swift…"

Had a question and the staff were swift to respond and provide the best support.

"See, you can teach an old dog new tricks!"

I played lead guitar in a rock band in high school. That was more than a half century ago. I sold my Gibson SG Standard when I was In college, also a half century ago.

Recently I decided to take the guitar up once again, but it had been a long time since I had played. Starting from scratch with Guitar Tricks seem to make sense because much of what I knew in high school I taught myself.

I found the courses in the two Beginners sections to be very good and had me back up to speed in a couple of weeks. I still have to work on my muscle memory but my understanding of the guitar was measurably improved by the time I spent with Guitar Tricks.

I found the instruction to be straight forward and appropriate as well as comprehensive for its level. I’m looking forward towards moving into the more experienced classes soon. Eric Clapton, you better watch out!

"I am just in the beginning stages, but..."

I am just in the beginning stages of the course so... I have picked up the guitar several times over the years and learned a few cords, never was able to get to where I was able to move from chord to chord smoothly. I was always self taught and everytime I would practice for a few weeks daily, then every once in a while, then I would quit and sell my guitar. I decided to go through a training program and admittedly in just a few weeks I am seeing more improvement that in a handful of attempts on my own and have maintained the motivation to continue through Guitar Tricks. So far so great.

"A fantastic resource"

I have found Guitar Tricks to be a fantastic resource. I am an intermediate player and for me it is a treasure trove. There is so much I want to learn, the hardest thing is deciding what to do first!

"I had high hopes"

I had high hopes, but it was a letdown. It feels like they got too comfortable over the years, and the ultimate experience is slipping through the cracks.

The GOOD:
- Instructors (special thanks to Anders, Christopher, and Mike - They are what holds it together)
- Video Feedback (on your playing) - This is the one feature I will miss on my next stop.
- Song Library - Great, but losing songs right, left, and center. So it might be going away. Also, the top licensed songs aren't there, just the cheap ones to add a band on the portfolio.
- If you never venture outside of the Core Learning System, it might be good for you. A lot of the content is 720p, even on their flagship product.

The BAD:
- Admin staff support is scripted and focused on "closing the ticket". While a lot of the marketing calls for friendly support to keep you going, I didn't feel "the love". My experience vs an AI Bot isn't too far apart. (For clarity, when you get an instructor interaction, these are the real deal and truly want to help. But they don't happen all the time).
- Outdated and slow-to-load website
- 4K videos only as a cover-up, as soon as you step outside the main pathway, content very quickly goes to 540p and even 360p (I thought this was only used for mobile data saving mode, but not here). They may say they are re-shooting some content, but this is a slow-moving boat; lots of catch-up to happen here.
- Overlooked forum - Hit and miss answers. Sometimes, you don't even get one (more than I anticipated).
- It's good for Rock, Blues, and Country. All the other genres listed only have a few chapters from DVD-era content.
- Content is primarily from 2-3 instructors. The instructor's page gives the perception they have 40+ people on the bench, but the majority is archival content.
- Some pages list the same courses in more than one area. If you try to clarify how to interpret their course design/pages, they may try to upsell you a "Custom Lesson Plan".
- Marketing sends emails they want your feedback, but when you provide one, it doesn't feel like they heard you.

While many platforms are moving to a more interactive learning experience, GuitarTricks feels like a slowly aging content library without a whole lot of interaction (despite what its Marketing says). I am sure they once were the best thing since a slice of bread, but it feels like this status is going away sometime soon.

You may continue your research if you want a modern, interactive, sleek experience. If you want a more traditional, self-motivating, and independent experience, you will get some value here. Mileage may vary.

"Anxious but Excited"

Ben,

It looks like you run a good company! After participating in a couple of online free lessons done by Anders Mouridsen, I bit the bullet (thanks to your discounts) and signed up for a year-long membership. Like a lot of people, I had one on one in person lessons in the past. I found them frustrating and difficult to effectively learn from.

I really like your video format because a person can go at their own pace and repeat the material, lesson as needed. Anders is wonderful! I especially like how affirming he is, the fact that he goes slowly, and that he repeats the elements of each lesson such as chords. I have two small problems /concerns. He starts us off learning the E minor and A minor chords, but I would like to know why these two chords are called what they are. The E minor chord for example does not appear to involve the E string in the "Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddie" system. I realize that these two terms involve notes rather than mnemonic names of strings. An introductory lesson probably shouldn't get heavily into music theory, but a little more understanding would be nice.

My second problem is that I am having difficulty understanding , seeing which fingers he is using on which frets. This could easily be solved if the camera could zoom in a bit on his left hand as he plays.

I find it overwhelming how much there is so much learn and, particularly, how many notes there are. Remembering the chords and the name of the notes they represent will be challenging. I am finding that learning to play the guitar is daunting and slow, but I have faith that with sufficient practice these things will come. There are so many people who play guitar that doing so can't be impossible!

Anyway, I am grateful to you for offering this wonderful, apparently complete and rich format for me and others to take advantage of. Playing the guitar is something I've wanted to do for many years. I'm 74, but it's probably not too late to learn.


Sincerely,


Hugh Tenison

"Great lessons for all abilities."

Great lessons for all abilities.

"I'm going with a four as of now"

I'm going with a four as of now. 2 weeks in and debating the annual membership. I'm caught between two sites for lessons. I've played all.my life but don't know what I'm playing if that makes sense. I'm hoping to learn more than just how to play songs but what I am playing. Stay tuned....

"The interface works a bit slow"

The interface works a bit slow. The notations are not the same as what the teacher is playing sometimes. The notation could be synced and it could show where the teacher is exactly like Songsterr kind of "floating" notation. Also, there could be more classes after 1 and 2 of each genre. The main progression paths could be enhanced. These were the negative sides other than these its still one of the best out there.