There are a lot of free guitar video lessons out there on the internet. Some are really good and some really bad. To save you trawling through the worst here’s my pick of the top 5 free guitar video channels.
1. Justin Guitar
I’ve talked about Justin’s website before and I expect I’ll talk about it again. It’s the best free resource for learning guitar that I know of. It’s probably the next best thing to taking lessons with a real teacher. He covers an enormous array of subjects from beginner to advanced. They’re presented step-by-step and explained clearly in relatively short (10 min) videos.
There are more than 500 lessons available including the basics, blues, rock, fingerstyle, jazz, songs, riffs and much more. I like his beginner’s course so much that it’s what I use to teach students who are completely new to the guitar. He’s written a book to go with it. It’s one of those rare situation where what someone provides for free is so good that I’ve gone on to purchase something from them.
I’d also particularly recommend his ‘Quick Tips’ and ‘Effective Practice’ videos. They do what I try to do in this blog, which is give you the kind of advice you don’t come across in the normal tuition books and methods.
Justin’s YouTube presence is split across two channels, one is for lessons, tips, etc. and the other is for learning songs.
2. Pitchfever Academy
Pitchfever Academy is the home of Mike Geronsin who is clearly a very capable guitar player. However, what he excels at is explaining nuances of advanced guitar technique – tremolo picking, sweep picking, legato, etc.
There are a lot of videos on his channel but look for the ones called ‘Top Guitar Secrets REVEALED!’ These are the ones that cover these specific topics really well. They really improved my playing and I recommend them to students when they get to that level.
They can also be found on his website Ultimate Black Belt Guitar. Again, look for the ones which start with ‘Top Guitar Secrets’.
3. Guitar Lessons 365
This is a very comprehensive site with videos on a lot of guitar topics. They are helpfully categorised into beginner, intermediate, advanced, jazz, theory, ear training and so on. There’s also a page full of song lessons which cover many popular guitar tunes in a lot of detail.
The lessons on this site maybe aren’t quite as engaging as the Justin Guitar ones. However they may cover some areas that he hasn’t covered yet. They’ll also give you another clear, well explained perspective on the subject even if you have already heard about it before.
There is also a GuitarLessons365 YouTube channel. However the website has pdf downloads to support the lessons so I tend to use that more than YouTube.
4. Rowan J Parker
Rowan Parker is another highly competent guitar player but what I like best about his site are the Music Theory 101 series of videos. He goes right from the basics through to some really advanced jazz theory. This series is a work in progress. He’s adding more each week.
He explains theory clearly and accurately. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. You have to think to get your head round the concepts you haven’t encountered before. But I think he explains it well and it’s a fantastic resource for anyone who want to brush up on their theory knowledge.
He has a website which covers a lot more of what he does, and his full YouTube channel can be found here.
5. Scott Grove
Scott Grove of Groovy Music Lessons is a little bit different to the rest I’ve recommended so far. He does lessons but I’ve never watched any. What he excels at is myth busting explanations / rants on guitar related topics.
He consistently challenges conventional wisdom on guitar construction, use, playing, performance, and a whole host of other things. I’m not sure he’s always right, but he will give you a different perspective than the same old story trotted out by the guitar magazines and manufacturers.
WARNING: Before I give you the links to his site be warned that his language is blunt and crude at times. He is opinionated and certainly not ‘politically correct’. He’s also very long winded. His videos frequently run to 30 mins or an hour with a lot of repetition. However, you will have a better understanding of the guitar if you watch some of them.
The guitar myth-busting videos are only found on his site. He’s taken them off YouTube because he gets so much abuse from people who can’t see beyond the conventional.
His YouTube channel with the remainder of his videos can be found here.
6. … one extra for free… Creative Guitar Studio
This is a site I stumbled across today. They seem to have pretty good, well explained videos especially to do with the application of Music Theory concepts. The site is Creative Guitar Studio and the have a YouTube channel. One of their key contributors is Andrew Wasson who has his own site and YouTube Channel.
I hope these provide you with some useful information. There’s plenty to keep you occupied there. Let me know if you have any favourites I haven’t mentioned.
Can I add one to the list? Thoedore Ziras. The guy puts up an incredible amount of lessons. Most of them are lick based, but he’s also been the only person who has managed to explain modes in a manner that I’ve understood!
Okay, as a student I really like Justin’s energy and enthusiasm for playing and teaching guitar. But I hit a sizable bump in the road with his teaching when he mandated students memorize certain open chord shapes before moving forward with practice. As for the difficulty beginning students experience — it literally took me months to commit some shapes to memory — he dismisses this obstacle with the instruction “Just do it.” No technique, no guidance, no patience — just do it. Justin seemed to imply that with a little self-disciple mixed with a healthy dose of willpower any student could memorize and apply a given chord shape with a minimum amount of study. Justin’s drill sergeant approach might work for some, but not for me.
That’s a fair point Ron, I can see why that would be frustrating.
I think for anyone else following Justin’s method I would recommend memorising the chords by learning songs. There’s something about playing songs that means it doesn’t feel like practice, yet you’re still making the chords and changing between them a lot.
The songs don’t have to sound perfect, they can be all downstrums, just try to get the chord changes in time – even if that means playing at a really slow speed.
Good songs that only use the open chords are:
– Love Me Do – The Beatles (in the key of A or the original key of G)
– Natural Mystic – Bob Marley
– Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
– Just Like A Pill – Pink
– Jolene – Dolly Parton
– Hey Joe – Jimi Hendrix (just the chords!)
– Surfin’ USA – Beach Boys
– Hound Dog – Elvis Presley
– Blue Suede Shoes – Elvis Presley
– Yellow Submarine – The Beatles (tricky quick chord changes)
If you tackled all of those for a month or so you’d find you have the chords memorised pretty well and you’d be ready to move on to Justin’s next stage.
Thanks for highlighting that Ron.
Matt