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Let’s cover this whole “free online guitar lessons” myth.

Yes, access to Justin Guitar is free, however I guarantee you will find yourself adding courses and items to your cart within a few days.

You can find a bunch of free lessons on YouTube, but with no structure or consistency, it’s a hard path to take. That being said, I’m sure many people have grinded it out with free lessons and improved.

But in general, the people who excel with online guitar lessons usually get a paid membership and take advantage of all the features. I personally did that with Guitar Tricks and it’s not expensive.

So although I started my guitar journey with Guitar Tricks, I’ll try and keep this comparison review of Justin Guitar vs. Guitar Tricks unbiased.

Start Your 14 Day Free Trial >> Click Here


Guitar Tricks LogoWhat You Get With Guitar Tricks

Guitar Tricks is a paid membership, and you get what you pay for.

If you’re willing to pay for lessons, then you will get access to the best instruction. This is a business designed to produce a great guitar learning experience, and I believe they have done a great job.

But let’s be clear. Compared to real in person lessons, it’s not expensive. Even comparing it to some of the costs of products at Justin Guitar, it’s still the best value for money.

Below is what you get with a full access membership.

Keep in mind, you can test Guitar Tricks out for free with their 14 day free trial. Click here.

Beginner Lessons

Core Learning System for Beginners

Experienced Lessons

Core Learning System for Experienced Players

Learn Styles of Guitar

Guitar Styles at Guitar Tricks

Learn to Play Songs

Song List at Guitar Tricks

Check out this video of what you get with a free trial:

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Quality of the Lessons

You get what you pay for.

Guitar Tricks is such a big and established business. What this means is that the overall quality of the lessons, the dashboard, and all the features are excellent.

Justin Guitar has done a great job, but at the end of the day, it’s hard for a “one man show” to compete with a larger business like Guitar Tricks. You notice this in the quality of the lessons.

What’s great is that you don’t really need to trust me on this. You can simply try Guitar Tricks out for yourself. Get your free trial here.

Benefits of Using Justin Guitar

If you’re truly not going to spend a dime, and you promise to keep your credit card away from your computer, then Justin Guitar has a lot to offer.

There are tons of free videos to watch and learn from, but be careful as there are many temptations to head over to the Official Store and buy some beginner products.

Justing Guitar DVD set

I know I’m sort of bashing this whole “free” concept, but it's something to really consider.

You might end up buying a $50 beginner DVD, when you could have spent the same amount for 4 months of unlimited lessons at Guitar Tricks, and gone through their Core Learning System.

But if you do stay on the free route, there are many lessons to choose from.

Justin Guitar Home Page

There are quick start guides, intermediate lessons, as well as a large list of songs. The quality of the lessons are very good (not the same level as Guitar Tricks), and there is usually some additional text and images to go along with the lessons.

If you’re still not convinced you want to learn guitar, then spending some time over at Justin Guitar could be beneficial.

Where Should Beginners Go?

Justin Guitar has a lot of beginner videos, as well as beginner products.

But based on my personal experience (after testing many different guitar learning websites), nothing compares to Guitar Tricks’ Core Learning System for beginners:

core learning system at Guitar Tricks

This is designed as a step by step system.

You go from one video to the next, in a straight line progression. Everything is laid out nicely.

In my opinion, it’s the best resource for beginners.

Test it out yourself with a 14 day free trial. Click here.

Membership vs. DVDs and Books

If you end up purchasing any resources for learning guitar, then you will have to decide on buying a membership, or buying a one time product (DVD or book).

Yes the core of Justin Guitar is free, but essentially all the lessons drive you to buying some type of course or book.

When you look at value for money, you get so much more from a membership website like Guitar Tricks. The main reason is leverage.

With so many members, Guitar Tricks can afford to charge a low monthly or yearly fee, which allows you to access all their great content. If you compare prices of a membership at Guitar Tricks, versus a product sold at Justing Guitar, the difference is huge.

Botton line, if you end up spending money, you get so much more with Guitar Tricks in my opinion.

Again, just try it out for yourself. Start your free trial with Guitar Tricks here.


Tyler S
Tyler S

I'm Tyler, the webmaster here at VoicesInc.org. My passion is music, and my job is to supply reviews and articles about all the different ways you can learn and produce music online. I hope you find this website helpful.