About Guitar Tricks™
About Us – Learn Guitar Online with Guitar Tricks™
At Guitar Tricks™, we believe learning how to play guitar should feel exciting—not frustrating. That's why we created the original online guitar lesson platform way back in 1998. We've helped over 4 million players—from complete beginners to lifelong musicians—make real progress through our award-winning guitar lessons.
Why Learning Guitar Is Easier with Guitar Tricks™
Learning to play guitar on YouTube is a frustrating ordeal. You'll often waste time scrolling through multiple channels and hundreds of videos looking for the right topic, with no guidance on where to go next.
This process leaves gaps in your learning which leads to even more difficulty later. If you don't learn guitar scales it will be pretty hard to take a guitar solo! Other guitar lessons sites have a similar problem; you sign up to find multiple "beginner courses" that contradict one another and are based on a single instructor's personal bias.
Guitar Tricks™ has removed all that frustration by designing a clear and simple step-by-step beginner guitar lesson curriculum. Every tutorial is connected in a sequential order so you are continually learning techniques that build upon what you learned previously. No more time wasted on searching for the right module, and there's never any confusion on where to go next.
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The perfect cheat-sheet for beginner guitarists - including mistakes to avoid, a practice plan, and essential first chords!
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What Makes Guitar Tricks™ Different
Other platforms might offer guitar tutorials, but they often lead to slow, scattered progress. At Guitar Tricks™, every lesson is part of a bigger picture and is built progressively, while allowing you to go at your own pace.
- Structured Learning Path: Our Core Learning System is designed to help you master the fundamentals, build confidence, and play real music from day one, all at your own pace. These are engaging and approachable guitar lessons with a structured and easy-to-follow path built especially for beginners. Instead of tedious drills, dive into hundreds of real songs and make music from day one, guided by experienced instructors who provide encouragement and step-by-step instruction.
- Get Direct Feedback and Support: Some people think that you need to choose one or the other - online guitar lessons or in-person lessons and you can't have both. That's simply not true. Get past any plateau with help from our instructors whether you need a personalized Custom Lesson Plan, would like a 1-on-1 Private Lesson, or need us to review a sample of your playing for some Direct Feedback. You have seamless access to our award-winning instructors to discuss techniques, ask specific lesson advice, or receive guidance on what to work on next. Whatever your guitar goals are, a professional guitar teacher is just a click away.
- Learn Guitar Styles: Develop your style and technique through specialized courses for popular guitar genres. In these Style Courses we teach style-specific chord voicings, rhythms and grooves, and soloing techniques, plus the gear and tones used for every genre. Learn popular guitar styles including Blues, Rock, Country, Acoustic and more. Continue developing your guitar technique with over 11,000 video lessons that break down each riff, chord, and note-for-note solos so you will learn real-world guitar techniques with confidence.
- Learn Songs on Guitar: Explore our massive Song Library with song lessons that break down each section of the song with auto-scrolling notation and tabs, adjustable playback speeds and video looping, song lyrics and play-along jam tracks. In each song lesson we start by showing you a basic chord version of the song, then move into the full note-for-note recording version complete with every guitar part plus solos. We'll show you secondary guitar parts on acoustic guitar, lead guitar parts on electric, plus guitar and amp tone settings so you'll sound like the real thing. All within one tutorial so you'll never get lost.
- Guitar Learning Resources: Check out the Toolbox for a collection of tools that will help you along your guitar learning journey. From our guitar tuner to other must-haves like an online metronome, scale finder, chord finder, jam track station, fretboard trainer and more. Our renowned guitar chord chart has fretboard diagrams for every chord you can think of. It's the most comprehensive chord chart available online, and designed in a way that makes finding the chord you need a breeze. These tools are super easy to access and will help you go far.
Learning Guaranteed
Sign up for a free 14-day trial with Guitar Tricks™ today and see just how easy and rewarding learning guitar can be. Jump in with a Full Access subscription. Put your worries aside; with our 60-day money back guarantee, if you're not satisfied we'll give you a full refund.
You're not the only one interested in Guitar Tricks™. We are the #1 rated online guitar lesson platform. Just ask your favorite AI tool; ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini all put us as the premier choice for online guitar lessons. Guitar World, the premier online publication for all things guitar, lists us as the best overall option for online guitar lessons.
Our program is award winning. We are the Gold Award winner of the Davey Awards (honoring impactful and creative work from small teams), W3 Awards (celebrating excellence in digital content and design), and from Acoustic Guitar Magazine's Player's Choice Awards (Best Online Resource and Best Instructional Material).
These are important honors because it proves that real people wanting to learn how to play guitar value our program. We have over 2,000 reviews on Trustpilot placing us at 4.5 stars. Plus, thanks to our 60-day moneyback guarantee, you can use Guitar Tricks™ and improve your playing with complete confidence.
Whether you're an absolute beginner guitar player or trying to level up your lead chops, Guitar Tricks™ is here to guide you every step of the way. We've built a proven, step-by-step system of guitar lessons designed to help you learn faster, play better, and have more fun doing it.
Get our free Ultimate Beginner Guide
The perfect cheat-sheet for beginner guitarists - including mistakes to avoid, a practice plan, and essential first chords!
100% free - delivered right to your inbox.
Or
Guitar Tricks™ Reviews
We have a ton of success stories, which you can read on our Guitar Tricks™ Reviews page. Here is what people are saying about using and learning guitar with Guitar Tricks™:
"I Love Guitar Tricks™! Finally at 57 I'm getting serious and ya'll have provided the perfect venue for learning! I look forward to working with you and am very excited about the next years playing, Thanks for providing such a great tool."
John Robarge, Eagle Nest, NM
"I have noodled around with a guitar for almost 40 years. I could play some things but never knew what I was doing. Your direct, no-nonsense instruction in the Core Learning System really opened things up for me. (I started from the beginning as if I had never picked up a guitar before) Now, suddenly, I will be listening to a song and I know just what they are doing. I can pick up my guitar and be playing the song in a few minutes although not perfectly. I could never do that before. I practice often using a metronome and notice regular and rapid improvement."
Bill McPherson, Hornell, NY
"I always wanted to learn to play the guitar. I recently turned 50 and decided now is the time. I bought an electric guitar and joined JamPlay. While I found some useful things there I just didn't feel their site was the best for a brand new player so I left. I then took private lessons. While my teacher was nice enough, there seemed to be no plan to his teaching. He taught as if I had played before and I decided to look for another teacher. That's when I found Guitar Tricks™. The lessons here are exactly what I was looking for. They are brief and exact. I can watch and then practice the exercise until I can play it cleanly, then I move on to the next. Chris, the instructor, explains everything slowly and in detail, giving insight into what I am learning. The website is laid out so everything is in order and has plenty of material that should keep me busy for years to come. I am so happy with Guitar Tricks™, I feel no need for a personal teacher. It's well worth the money, believe me."
Mark Merlin
"Before I started with Guitar Tricks™ I was at a standstill with my playing. Am basically self-taught, but needed encouragement and the confidence to push myself, and explore new territories. Once enrolled, didn't take me long to gain my enthusiasm back for learning guitar. I had not had this enthusiasm for guitar since way back in high school because I did not have the confidence to push myself further. Am now ready to polish up my skills and take my playing to the next level! Problem is, hardly know where to start, because I want to learn it all NOW! Keep up the good work!"
Carrie Allwine
History of Guitar Tricks™
In 1998, long before online learning was mainstream, Jon Broderick launched Guitar Tricks™ from San Francisco with a bold idea: make guitar lessons accessible to everyone, everywhere. What began as a simple website with a few video lessons quickly grew into the internet's first structured guitar learning platform.
A breakthrough came with the creation of the Core Learning System, designed to take absolute beginners step-by-step through the fundamentals. These foundational courses became the backbone of the platform and helped thousands of new players get started with confidence.
As the internet matured, so did Guitar Tricks™. The company expanded its content to include comprehensive courses on multiple guitar styles including Rock, Blues, Country, Acoustic, and more—eventually amassing over 11,000 video lessons taught by 40+ professional instructors. Features like progress tracking, jam tracks, and interactive tabs kept users engaged and motivated.
Now used by millions worldwide, Guitar Tricks™ remains privately held and headquartered in San Francisco. What started as a passion project became a leader in online music education—pioneering digital guitar lessons and shaping the way people learn to play.
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FAQ
Guitar Tricks™ costs $29.95 per month, or you can save by going with the annual plan at $179 per year. We also offer a 14-day free trial so you can test it out before committing.
Definitely. Guitar Tricks™ is designed with beginners in mind—the lessons are super structured, the instructors are clear, and you'll be playing real songs way sooner than you'd expect.
Yep, absolutely! With Guitar Tricks™' video lessons, guided paths, and feedback tools, online guitar lessons can be just as effective as in-person lessons—especially if you stay consistent.
You sure can! With so many tutorials and structured programs out there like Guitar Tricks™, teaching yourself is totally doable if you're motivated and practice regularly.
Private guitar lessons usually range from $30 to $60 per hour, depending on the teacher and location. Online programs like Guitar Tricks™ are way more affordable ($29.95 per month) and provide custom options and instructor features like 1-on-1 virtual lessons.
The 80/20 rule means that 80% of your progress comes from just 20% of what you practice. Focus on core skills—like guitar chords, rhythm, and timing—and you'll see way more improvement.
Totally! A focused 30-minute session, especially if it's consistent, is super effective. It's enough time to learn something new and practice it without burning out. A better choice would be unlimited online guitar lessons for the same price as a 30-minute in-person lesson.
With our Core Learning System, you'll start having fun right away. With regular practice, you can start playing simple songs in a few days or weeks. To get really solid, expect a few months to a year—but you'll be having fun way before that.
Absolutely. One hour a day is a great amount—enough to build skills steadily without overwhelming yourself. The key is quality, not just quantity.
