What About the Other Country Guitar Lessons?

A good question, and one that I will try to answer as best as I am able. In my search for guitar lessons – and I started out wanting to learn blues guitar – I came across and joined several teaching programs.

The only thing negative I’m going to say about the other lessons is; if they don’t appear here I didn’t get much benefit from them, probably because they didn’t live up to their claims. Of the ones I did find to have some value, although not necessarily for me, three stand out and while I would not recommend them over the two I have already suggested, they do represent value for money in my opinion. These are Guitar Tricks, Guitar Tips (Elmore Music) and Jamorama. Let’s take a look at each of them.

Guitar Tricks

In many ways this program is similar to – and cheaper than – Jamplay. It has a lot of instructors teaching various styles, using video sequences, written materials and teaching aids. So why was it not for me? I’m not really sure. Maybe it’s just a culture thing, but one thing I think I did find was that everything seemed to be geared towards the more experienced player. Certainly these days I do learn from the website and there’s a lot of good stuff there, but I think for beginners Jamplay is a better starting point. But look, you don’t have to take my word for it, you can get a free country guitar lesson from Guitar Tricks by clicking here. There are 24 different types of lesson to choose from, so you can get a very good idea of their style of teaching.

Guitar Tips (Elmore Music)

There are a couple of things that are off-putting about this series of lessons, to my mind. One is that you cannot access any information about them without first giving your email address, and the other is that there is very little written theory available. Having said that, Chris Elmore is very generous with what he gives you in the way of free lessons before you part with any money. For example, he does have free book that I found to be valuable in the early days, and if you download that he also sends you a series of lessons that contain some very useful tips. You can get all that by clicking here. You will be asked for your email address, but it does remain secure and you won’t suddenly start getting some of those strange emails that populate the internet these days.

Once you get past the hype – sorry Chris, no-one can learn guitar in 30 days! – you are into some basic and good quality teaching videos. Chris Elmore’s style is probably spot on for the younger would-be guitar player who is in a hurry. And the cost of the lessons is certainly within most people’s price range. I think I’m right in saying this was the cheapest guitar course I found.

Jamorama

Jamorama was the first set of lessons I ever bought and although I persevered with it for a while – and I did learn quite a lot – it still left me dissatisfied. Once again this would appeal to the learner in a hurry I think, for whom theory is very much secondary. The lessons are based very much on tablature, rather than music theory, and the emphasis is on the strumming style of play more than anything else. Also, the lessons are on the whole fairly generic, although leaning towards rock. If you are looking specifically for a country guitar lesson, you won’t find one.

Having said that, the basic lessons are cheap and down-loadable. There is also a complete course, including books and DVDs on offer, but I can’t tell you anything about it because I’ve never been tempted to try it, but it does come with a 60 day money back guarantee.

Again, please don’t just take my word for whether or not Jamorama is suitable for you. There are free lessons available from the website and I recommend that you take a look at them before making up your mind. You can reach them by clicking here and scrolling down the page until you reach the ‘Sign Up For Free Lessons’ bit

In Conclusion

Any or all of the above lessons sets might suit you for all I know, which is why I have included them. Only you know the kind of teaching style that suits you most. You may even find, like me, that all the lessons have something to offer and if so I hope you have deep pockets!

There is one last lesson in this series, and in it I’ll be looking at a number of things to help you on your way, including practice times, flat picks, learning the fretboard and a few accessories you might find useful – or even essential. Until next time :0)

Here are a few more links that I think you may find useful:

• Classroom Guitar Essentials – The Classical Guitar Blog – If you do not have guitars for the students, make sure to send a note home to parents ahead of time so they can either buy or rent a guitar for the semester. There is nothing worse than having kids in your class without guitars for any …
• Get The Perfect Metallica Guitar Lessons Online … – Knowing how to play any instrument is a very big sign of talent. Those who play instruments well play every single day. If you are looking to learn how to play the guitar, there are a few options that you have at your fingertips.

photo credit: lucas

Leave a Reply