GuitarTricks vs Jamplay vs Truefire – Which is the best and why?

Tick one answer below (mentally) 😉

• I want to learn to play guitar.
• I already play guitar, but want to get better.

If you ticked either of the above, you will probably have heard of the 3 biggest and best online guitar lesson websites:

GuitarTricks, Jamplay, and Truefire.

These are all great sites for sure, but not one of them is perfect for everybody.

In this collective review of all 3 guitar education websites, I will show you:

1. How they are different.
2. Which site is best for you, depending on your expertise and interests.

I learned to play guitar online and have had memberships with all of these companies in the past, so I’m confident I know what I’m talking about. There are many reviews on these sites all over the internet, but many are just wrong.

So instead of reading just another rehashed review, let’s have a real comparison of GuitarTricks.com, Truefire.com and Jamplay.com.

Similarities of the sites

If you’ve read other reviews of online guitar lessons, you probably know that Jamplay, Guitartricks, and Truefire are very similar to the average reviewer.

They all have:

• Thousands of video guitar lessons,
• Structured courses,
• Dozens of guitar instructors,
• Teach all musical genres, like rock, blues, jazz, acoustic, country, etc.,
• Provide beginner to advanced lessons on both acoustic guitar and electric guitar,
• In-the-style-of lessons to learn the style of specific guitar players/bands,
• Mimic private lessons by offering live lessons (not included in monthly price),
• Video tutorials filmed in HD using several camera angles,
• They even have similar pricing and free trials.

So behind all of this, what could possibly set these sites apart?

Behind the scenes, each site has definite advantages and disadvantages, making them better for different groups of students.

GuitarTricks differences

GuitarTricks is perhaps the most established site, it was started in 1998. It has its strengths, and also weaknesses as outlined below.

GuitarTricks pros

It is called the Core Learning System. It was designed, from the ground up, to guide newbie guitar players through the hurdles of getting started with the guitar.

The course is very well thought through. It builds your knowledge of the guitar one step at a time, with no fluff or unnecessary content.

Regardless of whether you prefer the electric or the acoustic guitar, if you are a total newbie, GuitarTricks is better for you.

The Core Learning System continues into 3 genres:

• blues
• rock
• country

These courses provide a good primer into these genres, taking you to a strong intermediate level in each. They will not take you to an advanced level though.

In comparison, Truefire doesn’t have any song lessons, it just has “in the style of” lessons. Comparing GuitarTricks vs Jamplay, the later has way fewer songs, many of which are not popular.

GuitarTricks has songs from very well known artists, like:

They have thousands of song lessons from a seemingly unending list of artists, check it out here.

You can tell that GuitarTricks’ lessons are scripted, which means that there is somebody on the other side that takes the time to write the lesson, and in the process, keep it concise and useful.

On other sites, the guitar instructor knows what he/she wants to talk about, sits in front of the camera, and starts talking. At times, it’s not very coherent, so the scripted method is definitely better.

The newly redesigned lesson page looks sleek as well. Being 2024, it is naturally optimized for both desktop and mobile viewing.

GuitarTricks Cons

While the site does have higher-level lessons, Jamplay and Truefure both offer more content at this stage.

GuitarTricks has your basic metronome, scale finder, chord finder, and even a fretboard trainer game, but nothing to get excited about.

How much does GuitarTricks cost?

If you are thinking of signing up with GuitarTricks, you can start with their free trial offer.

Here is the link to the free trial page:

https://www.guitartricks.com/trial_splash.php

Simply sign up, create an account, and you get access to every guitar lesson they have for 14 days for free.

If you don’t cancel within the 14 day period, your free trial will convert to a monthly membership, so you will want to set a reminder for yourself.

I say this because if you don’t like the site, you should cancel.

But if you do like it, you should still cancel and opt for a longer membership, which will save you a lot of money in the long run.

At present (November 2024), a GuitarTricks monthly membership is $19.95.

But I have a special GuitarTricks coupon code for 20%, with which the yearly fee is just $143. This comes out to $12 per month.

Not a bad deal!

Truefire differences

Truefire started out as a VHS/DVD guitar instruction company. They made the move to online lessons afterward.

Truefire pros

This number is a bit inflated though since they have a lot of videos that are just 1-2 minutes long. Regardless, they have guitar tutorials on everything you can think of.

Don’t believe me?

Go to their main courses page, any type any guitar related subject into their search bar. You will be offered not only individual lessons, but entire courses on all subjects pertaining to the acoustic or electric guitar.

If you are at an intermediate level looking for direction, Truefire is the best choice. You will find detailed courses in all genres, which will really give you direction and take you out of the “intermediate rut” many players sit in at this level.

If you are an advanced guitarist, Truefire has tons of courses to challenge you and further your playing. Comparing Truefire vs Jamplay, I feel Truefire has slightly better courses at this level.

Really, Truefire is a fingerstyle guitarist’s dream come true. Loads of lessons, even from guitar greats like Tommy Emmanuel and Andy McKee.

What is it exactly?

• In the Jam is a multi-track video jam with 4-5 band members playing music.
• You have close up views of each band members’ hands as they play.
• You can change the volume of any single instrument.
• The band members speak about how they are improvising and why.

You’ll need to download a unique piece of software that allows playing In the Jam sessions.

Just fire it up, sign in, and everything falls into place. It’s one of those intuitively designed apps that just works.

Truefire cons

The logic is fine and the hierarchy of lessons in such a “rehashed” course is good, but it’s just a bit weird still.

My biggest problem with it is that this method of creating new courses means that several guitar instructors are present during the course. As you watch the lessons, you’ll realize that you’ll like some instructors more than others, and it just sucks when the next lesson is held by one you don’t fancy.

They do have a few iPhone apps though, but I can’t test them, since there is no Android version.

What is the price of Truefire’s guitar lessons?

If you want to get full access to Truefire’s lessons, you have 3 choices:

• $29 monthly
• $249 yearly
• $2,499 lifetime

But with this coupon code, you can get 25% off of the above prices.

Besides the All-Access memberships, you can buy their individual courses. These range between $10 to $30.

Truefire also has a free trial offer. Simply sign up on the link below, and you’ll get All Acces for 30 days.

https://truefire.com/join/free

Free access to all of their lessons for a month is a great deal if you ask me.

Jamplay differences

Jamplay is the youngest site out of the “big 3”, but they are very innovative in their quest to become the leader. Sometimes a bit too much so…

Jamplay Pros

There are a lot of talented instructors on the site, that’s for sure. The only let-down is when you find one you really like, but then realize that he/she only has 1-2 courses available. Bummer. Sort of like when your favorite TV series is canceled.

And of course, amongst so many instructors, there are some who are not so good.

They also have their so-called “Masterclasses”, where they get performing artists to hold an entire course. The musical insight into how a professional, so someone who makes their living from playing music, is interesting.

It is called Lick n Riff library, and it has a bunch of short lessons on, well, licks and riffs.

They cover all genres from rock to jazz to bluegrass. You will find both acoustic and electric guitar lessons as well.

They also do the most editing on their videos, and have the most camera angles. I personally don’t like the upside-down hand angle they have in a lot of their videos, but that’s just me. You may like it.

You probably will not use too many of them, but at least you have them. The note learning games are fun whenever you feel like working the guitar side of your brain.

Jamplay Cons

Also, there re far fewer artists to choose from as well.

If you want to learn to play songs mostly, go with GuitarTricks instead.

They have 11 separate acoustic guitar courses for beginners and they also have 8 separate electric guitar courses for beginners as well.

All of these courses are held by different teachers and contain mostly overlapping material.

So which one is a person, who is completely new to the guitar, supposed to choose?

They will not know. In fact, after starting one and getting stuck somewhere down the road, they will just skip to a new course thinking it will be easier.

Beginners need a set path to follow, not an overwhelming number of choices.

If you are a beginner guitarist, opt for GuitarTricks’s Core Learning System, or Truefire’s Beginner Learning Path.

How much does Jamplay cost?

If you want to sign up for Jamplay, you have a choice in between 3 memberships:

• $19.95 per month
• $159.95 per year
• $299.95 per year

The more expensive yearly membership includes a few extra things beyond simple access, like a private lesson, download credits, and downloadable “guitar toolkits”. And a T-shirt.

I found 2 coupon codes to Jamplay, you’ll find them here.

JamPlay also offers a free trial period for 30 days. As with Guitar Tricks, you need to provide your Credit Card details in advance, but it won’t be charged for 30 days. If you like the site, it makes more sense to cancel and go for a yearly membership.

Which site is better for learning guitar?

Which site is best for you depends on your present skill level, and what you are looking to learn.

After reading this comparison article, you probably have an idea of which guitar lesson website is better at which aspect of teaching guitar.

In summary, my opinion is:

• If you’re a total beginner, go with GuitarTricks. Their beginner course is great and will take you from 0 to intermediate level in blues, rock or country. Or all 3 genres if you like.
• If you played guitar long ago but are starting over, Truefire’s beginner course is a good choice. It is a bit faster than GuitarTricks, so better for revision.
• If you are an intermediate player, the Truefire’s various genre-based courses will really help your development as a guitar player.
• If you are an advanced player, looking to dive deep into a specific genre or perfect your knowledge of guitar theory, both Truefire and Jamplay are good choices. I personally prefer Truefire over Jamplay by the way.

Here are links to the discounts and trials for each site again:

Online guitar lesson FAQs

There are a lot of common questions I get from my readers and friends, here they are.

Are private guitar lessons better than online lessons?

Online education has come very far in the recent past. Le’s quickly compare online lessons with private lessons.

• Price aspect: online lessons cost around $150 per year for full access, while a private teacher will cost $2,520 for a 1-hour session per week (at $45 per session).
• Comfort: You can access the online tutorials at any time of the day or night. With private teachers, you need to set up a weekly appointment, plus arrange transportation there and back.
• Knowledge: The best guitar lesson websites have dozens of teachers with knowledge in all genres. A single private teacher can never offer this.
• Repetition: You can rewatch online lessons as many times as you like while practicing, in case you missed something. In contrast, there is no rewind button on live instructors.
• Live interaction: Private instructors undoubtedly have your full attention, but this comes at an extreme price. With the 3 big guitar sites in this article, you can pay $40-50 for a private online lesson with the teacher as well, in case you need it.

There is 1 thing a private teacher may offer, that online lesson sites do not (yet). The private instructor may have a music school, where the students can talk with each other, interact, and play their instruments together.

Can I teach myself guitar?

Thanks to the structured courses available on the best online guitar education websites, learning guitar is very straightforward.

Watching random YouTube lessons, on the other hand, are not suitable for learning guitar. A beginner needs a set learning path as a guide.

How much do guitar lessons cost?

The guitar is one of the most price-efficient instruments you can learn. This is, in no small part, due to the proliferation of online guitar lessons.

Online guitar lessons typically cost:

• $15-20 per month
• $150 per year

Private lessons are much more expensive. Depending on where you live, a private guitar instructor will charge:

• $30-50 per hour (an hour is 45-50 minutes)

The cost of learning from private guitar teachers adds up very quickly.