+ In-depth ‘learning paths’ to keep you engaged The video call will cover a variety of basic guitar tune-up and maintenance tasks – great for beginners who want to take care of their new instrument.
What we especially like about the app is how players get a free one-on-one video consultation with a professional Gibson guitar tech. And it’s not just the legends who are on there – tabs for younger, more contemporary artists such as Billie Eilish are available on the Gibson App, too. Tabs for songs by artists such as Eric Clapton, BB King, Tom Petty, Dolly Parton, Santana, Aerosmith, The Beatles, Foo Fighters, Thin Lizzy are accessible through the app, with each song being able to be adjusted to your skill level. And, handily, no equipment other than a smartphone, an acoustic or electric guitar and a pair of headphones is required. Alongside things such as a tuner, play-along tabs and direct access to Gibson’s online store, the app is built around what the brand calls Audio Augmented Reality.Įssentially, this is a system that responds to you as you play along to lessons and exercises, making the experience feel like an interactive lesson. Gibson’s new smartphone app is aimed at guitarists of all levels. – Sheer volume of features can be overwhelming for beginners + Real-time feedback thanks to Audio Augmented Reality
Platform: Web, Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android The Gibson App Pricing: Either per-course, or $29/month or $249/year Sign-up costs are on the higher-end, but given the scope of TrueFire’s catalogue, it could well be worth it.
Grabbing an All Access subscription will instead give you unlimited streams of TrueFire’s entire catalogue, for either a monthly or yearly subscription. The mobile app is also missing a couple of the features found in the desktop version, and has a few bugs when browsing and viewing lessons.Ĭourses can be purchased individually, but this’ll be expensive if you’re planning on buying more than a couple. Because of this presenting style, however, things can get cramped on the mobile app – it’s definitely a platform that works better on a desktop. For most courses, there’s also synced tablature and multiple camera angles offering close-ups of the left and right hands. There are some Learning Paths set out to get beginners started in some set genres, but it’s easy to carve your own path depending on your skill level. The amount of content within TrueFire is truly staggering.
Courses range from overviews of whole genres to deep-dives into specific theory concepts. Joe Bonamassa, Grech Koch, Tommy Emmanuel, Kirk Fletcher, Tim Pierce, Steve Vai and countless others have all contributed lessons to the platform.
Price: Limited free version available, full access for $29.95/monthĪ stalwart of the online-lesson world, TrueFire is a video lesson platform with a roster of truly big-name teachers. However, for those who just want a library of solid video lessons, Guitar Tricks has you covered. The site doesn’t have too many other (ahem) tricks up its sleeve – there’s no Guitar Hero-style interaction as with some of the other platforms on this list. Others are better suited to more experienced guitarists, allowing you to record and listen back to your playing in order to learn, from hearing, exactly where you need to improve. Some offer great features for beginners, such as real-time feedback on your playing, play-along tabs and even instructional videos. Not all guitar learning apps are created equal.
What to look for in the best guitar learning apps We’ve rounded up some of the best apps and websites to learn guitar – and don’t forget to check out our own lessons and in-depth tutorials. Some can be used as a supplement to your regular, in-person guitar lessons, while many others can replace those entirely. There are dozens of digital learning tools available today.