Guitar Hotshot website www.guitarhotshot.com

People shopping for a great resource for learning the guitar through online lessons may come across a new website called Guitar Hotshot.  Taking a closer look at Guitar Hotshots it is clear that this course is not everything that it promises to be.  Guitar Hotshot claims to be taught by Jamie Lewis who has experience as a guitar teacher and recording artist in New York.  After a little bit of research of Guitar Hotshot and Jamie Lewis we found that Jamie Lewis is also known as Jay Dynasty and Guitar Hotshot is a rehash of the guitar lesson scam Music Master Pro.

Guitar Hotshot is almost identical to the guitar section of Music Master Pro with only the small difference of one or two more added video lessons.  Guitar Hotshot has 15 very badly produced video guitar lessons.  The video is low quality and looks as though it has been filmed by a cheap webcam.  The audio for these lessons is also bad and in some cases it was hard to hear what was being played.

The content of the video lessons is also badly put together and appears to have little to no structure with most of the content played and left to you to figure out.  Most of the teaching is difficult to follow due to the poor video content and poor audio.  After watching the video lessons is it clear that Jamie Lewis maybe exaggerating his teaching credentials as his lessons are appalling.

As well as the video lessons, Guitar Hotshot also claims to have the following extra features which are advertised on the sales part of the website.  Guitar Hotshot claims to give you access to over 10,000 riffs, solos and licks, access to an extensive library of scales and chords, lessons on different styles of guitar such as rock and jazz, 52 video lessons and over 40 hours of intensive guitar lessons on video.  What you really get with Guitar Hotshot is no riffs, solos or licks, no extensive library of scales and chords, no lessons on guitar styles, only 32 poor quality flash video clips and  nowhere near 40 hours of guitar lessons.  The video lessons that do appear on the Guitar Hotshot website require you to spend an extra $20 to be able to download the files.

Guitar Hotshot is a scam and you should avoid at all cost.  There are many other great online course for learning guitar so don’t get sucked into spending money on this.

If you want to check it out you may visit www.guitarhotshot.com to know what this article means.

Guitar Tricks website www.guitartricks.com

The Guitar Tricks website has been around for just under 20 years and is one of the largest learn to play guitar websites on the internet.  The website has been developed by musician Jon Broderick and one of the excellent features of this website and the learning material is not just from one teacher, the website features lessons, tricks and information from 45 guitar teachers.  Featuring a large number of guitar teachers each with a specific genre or style, means that the website has variety and quality lessons for all guitar players.

Guitar Tricks has a huge amount of content and lessons which makes it suitable for beginner through to more advanced guitar players.  Once you have paid and registered with the site you will notice that the various lessons available are grouped together to make it easier to navigate through the skills and lessons that are relevant to the level of guitar you are at.  This grouping of lessons is great for guitarists who want to focus on a particular genre or a particular technique such as strumming or hammer ons rather than the traditional learn to play lessons (which are also available).

One of the great features with the lessons in the Guitar Tricks website is that any supplementary material such as guitar tab, fingering or music is all accessible while watching the video lesson.  This makes it much easier to find the relevant information and saves you from having to move back and forward from the lesson to the supplementary material while you are trying to play your guitar.

Another great feature of the Guitar Tricks website is that you can try the site for free to see some of the lessons and information on offer.  The free membership gives you access to 24 Online Guitar Lessons and if you like the lessons you can then up grade your membership to gain access to the rest of the site.  Guitar Tricks is also great for people who don’t have a fast internet connection as all the lessons are able to be downloaded to your computer at no extra cost.  Video streaming is available but it is recommended that you only do this if you have a fast internet service otherwise you will spend all your practice time waiting for the lesson to load.

For the price, Guitar Tricks is excellent value for money with many other sites asking for double what it costs at Guitar Tricks.  The options for Guitar Tricks is pay by month or pay for a full year to get a discount.  It is recommended that you try the website for a month and if you like what you see then get the year membership for the discount.

For more information check the Guitar Tricks website www.guitartricks.com

Infinite Guitar was created by musician and guitarist Sean Conklin with input from six other music teachers and guitarists.  The guitar lesson data base has over 1,000 video lessons for learning to play the guitar and was developed as an alternative to the current online tutorials or book based lessons on how to play guitar.  Infinite Guitar is not just targeted at beginner guitarists but has a large section of video lessons and material for intermediate and advanced guitarists.  This website also advertises that new material is added all the time which once you are a member is all free to access.

Infinite Guitar is fairly similar in lesson structure and even site design to many of the other learn to play guitar course websites but it comes in first when comparing the price of Infinite Guitar to the competition.  For people who like to try before buying online courses there is a basic membership available for Infinite Guitar which gives you access to a music forum and also access to 26 of the video guitar lessons for free.

The Infinite Guitar website gives you access to all the video lessons, diagrams, lesson text, tablature and even has a guitar forum where members can ask questions and get an answer from the professionals.  The main part of the website is the video lessons which make up most of the Infinite Guitar course.  The video lessons are generally well done with some use of multiple cameras as well as the advantage of using flash video player which allows you to view the lessons full screen which makes things easier to see if you are sitting back from the screen playing your guitar.  One aspect of the video lessons that differs to other website based courses is that the video lessons are not able to be downloaded.  Each of the lessons needs to be streamed to your computer, even if you are repeating a lesson, which may turn some people off especially if you have a slow internet connection.  Infinite Guitar has seemingly gone with this arrangement to stop people from downloading the lessons and illegally file sharing or copying the lessons.

Apart from the video lessons, Infinite Guitar also has lesson text, play along tracks, tablature and a great members forum.  These extra features are great for adding depth to the lessons with most of this material accessible while you are going through the video lessons.  Infinite Guitar is an excellent resource for guitar players both beginner and intermediate who are looking for good value for money when it comes to online guitar resources.

Many people who have researched online sources for lessons on how to play the guitar have at some stage come across Jamplay.  This online guitar lessons website was officially launched in 2007 and has grown to become one of the largest online resources for people who are looking to learn to play guitar using online lessons and resources.  When the Jamplay site was accessed we found that there is material being added every week and currently the website holds over 400 hours of video guitar lessons.

Jamplay is a great program for beginner guitarists through to advanced players looking for ways to improve parts of their playing or looking to learn different styles.  Unlike many of the online guitar courses Jamplay does not require you to learn a certain genre as the course covers all the common guitar genres such as acoustic, jazz, blues and rock.  This website also features more than one guitar teacher which is a distinct advantage over other courses that just feature the one teacher throughout the lessons.

Once you have paid your money and have access to the members area it is a pleasant surprise to find an easy to navigate website that is free from adds and pop ups.  The large amount of information contained on the Jamplay website is organised into three main areas, beginners, genre teaching and learning songs.  For the beginner guitar player the lessons are based around teaching the basics such as strumming and playing chords and the lessons also cover essential information that is important to the beginner.  The intermediate guitar player has a choice with the Jamplay lessons depending on which of the genres they choose to learn.  These lessons teach you specialised guitar techniques, skills such as reading music and guitar tab and this section also has lessons on how to sing while playing guitar (for some people this is harder than it looks).  The third part of Jamplay is the learning songs section which as it suggests is video lessons that break down popular guitar songs and teaches you to play them.  When the site was reviewed there was over 100 songs in the library which includes artists such as Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Greenday and the Beatles.

The video lessons on Jamplay are excellent, they are produced in flash video format and with multiple cameras so that you can see what each hand is doing while you are learning.  The only issue with the video lessons is that they cannot be downloaded they have to be streamed from the website and this might make things a little frustrating for people with a slow internet connection.

Overall Jamplay is a great tool for all levels of guitar ability.  If you are looking for an online resource for learning guitar then this might just be the one you’re looking for.

Learn and Master Guitar is a DVD based learning program that has been around for many years.  This learn to play guitar course is one of the better programs for teaching people to play guitar visually.  Learn and Master Guitar is one of those courses that allows you to learn at your own pace and has been produced by the Legacy Learning System which has other quality courses available.  This course is essentially a DVD course with the package spread nicely over 20 DVDs and 5 CDs with supplementary material.  When you purchase Learn and Master the Guitar the course comes in a great binder and case which also includes a lesson book that is packed full of great tips and hints and also follows the work that is taught in the DVD video lessons.

The Learn and Master Guitar DVD lessons are a great guitar course for beginners through to intermediate levels of playing.  The lessons teach important skills which are essential for beginners and can be a great refresher for people who are more experienced guitar players.  This guitar course also comes in a Student arrangement which includes some extra material such as a teacher’s guide, a curriculum outline and 2 extra DVDs with other teacher’s material.  The Student pack is great for kids who are home schooled or in an area where there is no access to music teachers but it is important to note that the course has not been specifically designed for children so if you have young children this may not be the most appropriate course on the market.

The Learn and Master Guitar lessons have been designed to move you along as you learn and become proficient at the exercises at each level.  The course moves in a logical way and is designed so  that even a beginner can follow the lessons and progress quite quickly.

One thing that is surprising with Learn and Master Guitar is that the course is not downloadable but comes in a box set with DVDs, CDs and a work book available from the website.  All of the course video lessons are contained on the included DVD set which has been divided into sections with easy to use DVD menus.  The course also includes 5 CDs which are designed so that the beginner guitarist can play along with a band and these tracks also have the option of playing with or without the guitarist.  These jam CDs are some of the best on the market making this course great value for the beginner or intermediate guitarist.