Best Online Guitar Lessons for Beginners
A Complete Guide

In recent years, we’ve seen a radical change in how and where people learn how to play guitar. 

The number of online guitar schools has absolutely exploded – which means guitar players have more options than ever to hone their skills with a huge variety of accessible and affordable courses.

Now, this is awesome, as it naturally means that more people are going to learn how to play this epic instrument!

But with so many different offerings, it can be difficult to decide on a path. The big question: Which guitar lessons will actually get you playing songs and making progress?

To help you out, I’ve put together a list of the best online guitar lessons to make sure you get the most out of the time you’re dedicating to learning guitar.

In this article, we’ll take a comprehensive look at the following guitar schools: 

• Tony’s Acoustic Challenge
• Fender Play
• Guitar Tricks
• TrueFire
• JustinGuitar
• ArtistWorks Guitar
• Guitareo

Online Guitar Schools Compared

If you don’t have time to read the full article, here are the highlights to help you compare some of the most popular online guitar lessons at a glance.

Most Popular Online Acoustic Guitar Lessons in 2023

Alright, so we have a good overview of the best online guitar lessons out there right now. Now let’s examine them in more depth, take a look at their pros and cons, and show how exactly they work.

Tony’s Acoustic Challenge

It’s only fitting that I start with the best and most effective guitar lessons out there (not to mention with the coolest instructor) – my own course, Tony’s Acoustic Challenge (TAC)! 

Joking aside, I really think this is the best bang for your buck if you’re serious about learning how to play guitar – and you want a program that will get you excited to play guitar every day.

After years of teaching at a school and giving private lessons, I realized that real progress doesn’t happen if you’re only playing once a week. But practicing is boring – and it’s hard to fit in every day if you’re busy!

If you’re not playing consistently, you’re not making progress.

So, I developed an entirely new way to learn the guitar. One that makes playing the guitar fun and rewarding rather than tedious and “practice-y”. 

I did away with boring drills and rote repetition and developed a system that makes you want to pick up your guitar every day and enjoy every second of it. 

And here’s the thing – it only takes as little as 10 minutes a day.

Hard to believe? That’s what a lot of students said until they signed up and started seeing meaningful progress as they played consistently, effectively, and, most of all, enjoyably. 

How It Works

Once you sign up for TAC, you’ll receive a 10-minute guitar challenge every day. Each challenge focuses on developing a different skill, so over time you’ll develop a complete and well-rounded acoustic guitar education.

TAC is really intuitive to use. You work from an online dashboard where you’ll have an overview of your lesson plan, the skills you’ve gained, today’s challenge, and lots more. There’s also an entire skills section where you can learn fingerpicking, flatpicking, barre chords, and more!

One thing that really sets TAC apart is the vibrant and active community of like-minded music geeks all on the same guitar-playing journey as you! You can access this forum directly from your dashboard.

On top of that, there are a ton of resources such as the Guitar Journal and TAC Guide to help you develop your skills!

Pros

• A fun and exciting way to learn the guitar
• Build skills to play songs in just 10 minutes a day
• A supportive online community
• Easy-to-use online dashboard

Cons

• Not for more advanced guitar players
• Focused on acoustic guitar

Fender Play

Fender Play is brought to you by none other than Fender, the legendary company that created the Telecaster and Stratocaster! 

This platform caters to beginner guitarists, offering step-by-step video tutorials and interactive exercises. It’s aimed at acoustic, bass, and ukulele players. 

How It Works

Once you’ve signed up, you’ll be guided through a series of learning paths varying in skill, level, and genre. The level one lessons, in particular, are great for getting to grips with the fundamentals of guitar.

Each lesson includes a video tutorial by one of the many experienced instructors and all the lessons are easy to follow and understand.

What Fender Play also does really well is enticing you with rewards. Its Streaks feature means that if you play for 15 minutes or more consecutively, you’ll be entered into a random draw to win a guitar or ukulele.

However, if you’re more intermediate to advanced, you’ll likely want to skip Fender Play altogether. There are no songs for experienced players, and everything on offer is stripped down to the bare essentials for beginners.

Pros

• A variety of teachers
• Great for beginners
• Interactive exercises and quizzes
• An extensive song library 
• Intuitive user platform

Cons

• Not purely focused on guitar
• Lacking in-depth material on theory and technique
• There’s a lot of repetition of material across learning paths
• Not ideal for more experienced guitarists

Guitar Tricks

Guitar Tricks is one of the more established online guitar schools. It’s been doing its thing for the past 22 years! And as a result, they have heaps of material to learn from including lessons, genre studies, and chord and scale charts.

How It Works

Similar to Fender Play, Guitar Tricks offers certain learning paths that you can select based on your preferences or goals. As soon as you cover the fundamentals, you can then select which genre or style you want to dive into next.

They offer two pricing tiers – Basic Access, which is 100% free and gives you access to 12 instructors and 24 sample lessons, and Full Access, which is a paid subscription with a substantial amount of content. You can access the full plan with the 14-day free trial.

When you sign up, you’ll get access to their extensive song library. Each song has a step-by-step tutorial where the instructor breaks everything down piece by piece so you can learn to play along. You also get access to a toolbox full of really useful guitar tools (metronomes, chord libraries, scale libraries, etc.).

Pros

• Huge variety of content
• Suitable for players of all levels
• Diverse song library
• Structured learning paths
• 60-day money-back guarantee
• Content for all levels

Cons

• Community aspect isn’t as comprehensive as others on the list
• Limited personal feedback or live interactions

TrueFire

TrueFire has also been around since 1991 and, as a result, has a huge selection of content for players of all levels. It’s known for its comprehensive approach to guitar education. It has over 1,000 courses taught by 600 educators covering a wide range of genres.

How It Works

Users select the course path they’d like to do and progress through it at their own pace. You can also revisit content as and when you please, allowing you to go at the exact speed you need to. 

TrueFire is a very flexible learning platform and there are various learning pathways you can take. Another option is to tackle more genre-related paths, such as “The Dimensions of Solo Jazz Guitar” or “The Blues Rock Masterclass.”

Pros

• A large selection of teachers to choose from
• Slow-mo function on videos
• Content for all levels

Cons

• There’s a lot of content which can be overwhelming
• Community aspect isn’t as strong as competitors

JustinGuitar

Justin Sandercoe‘s personable teaching style, well-organized curriculum and wealth of tutorials covering everything from basic chords to advanced solos have earned him a big online following. 

How It Works

JustinGuitar offers an array of courses that you can sort by level or by skill. In case you don’t quite know where to start or what to do next, there’s also a lesson map provided to help guide you along. 

The best thing about it is that most of the videos are completely free on the web version of the site (not the app).

While you can find all of Justin’s videos on YouTube, they’re better structured on his website.

Pros

• Most of the content is completely free
• High-quality production
• A wide variety of material touching on many topics
• Friendly and personal content

Cons

• Limited advanced options
• Less interactive than other options
• Community aspect isn’t as strong as competitors

ArtistWorks Guitar

ArtistWorks is slightly different to its competitors in that it’s better known for connecting guitar players to big-name instructors – think of it like a Masterclass but for musicians. 

How It Works

To get started, users simply select an instructor according to their preferences. Each instructor creates their own course curriculum. 

A unique part of ArtistWorks is that it enables you to submit your own videos for assessment from your course instructor. Imagine John Gilbert giving you one-on-one feedback on your technique and style!

Pros

• Personal feedback
• Excellent variety of instructors
• Interactive video exchange
• Community forum for interaction

Cons

• You can only study with one instructor at a time
• Less focus on playing along with songs

Guitareo

Guitareo is one of the newer online guitar schools, but it’s already got a great selection of content. It includes assignments, downloadable videos, and personalized support and is best known for its simplicity.

How It Works

The courses are led by a variety of instructors. There are step-by-step lessons that are ideal for beginners to learn the ropes. 

There’s also a pretty active online community in case you want to share your experience or ask any questions.

Pros

• An engaged community forum
• Offers an easy step-by-step approach
• Very easy and intuitive platform
• High-quality content
• Very beginner-friendly

Cons

• Less content for advanced players
• Quite general content, not very specific

How to Find the Best Option for You

Finding the best online guitar lessons for you and your needs is more important than you might think. With so many options available out there, lessons can vary greatly in terms of quality. 

This is why it’s important to be discerning – choosing the wrong lessons might create bad habits and poor technique!

It’s good to be clear on your goals behind learning the guitar before you choose a guitar school. This will help you determine the style, genre, and curriculum that you’re looking for. 

If you know already that you’re someone who likes a sense of community – like most of us do – then make sure you choose a course with an active online community. 

Choosing a couple of options with free trial periods is a very smart move. If you don’t love the style, the way of learning, or the course material, you can jump out and try something else.

The worst thing you can do is let yourself get so bored (or busy) that you stop playing!

If you want to join a vibrant community of musicians on a lifelong guitar-playing journey, then definitely check out Tony’s Acoustic Challenge.

Watch this FREE guitar class where I show you the three secrets to learning guitar in just 10 minutes per day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are any online guitar courses worth it?

Yes, absolutely! I think online guitar courses have made learning the guitar so accessible – regardless of location or budget, pretty much anyone can learn to play.

Online courses are an excellent way to hone your skills, brush up on your theory, and get to know a community of players in the same boat as you!

What is the best way to learn guitar on the Internet?

The Internet and all its options can be overwhelming at times. The first thing to do would be to distill all of the offers available and then figure out which is the best for you.

That way, you can get an honest opinion on what the various courses have to offer, how they differ, and what kind of style or person they suit best.

Is it possible to learn how to play guitar online?

Yes, it’s very possible. One of the key things is to make sure you choose the right course with enough variety of material – from videos and articles to an online community and feedback. Online courses are at their best when they’re varied in terms of what they have to offer.