The Positively Positive

Hi folks!

Once again, I’m trying to expand a little bit and this entry is a guest post from Kyle, the Guitar Lessons Critic. After playing guitar for over 12 years, he’s purchased dozens of courses and memberships and written real, unbiased guitar lesson reviews. This post focuses on JamPlay, his #1 rated private lesson’s alternative. I hope y’all enjoy the post.

Let’s be frank. Not every one is John Mayer. Sure, he is arguably one of the greatest guitarists of the 21st century and an infamous example of the “self-taught” learner, but not everybody can just pick up the guitar and play.

Mayer has inspired a new nation of guitar enthusiasts and a new way of thinking. Private music lessons are no longer the only fundamental way to learn the guitar. As a result, hundreds if not thousands of self-taught or self-starter guitar lesson products exist on the Web today.

…But that does not mean all of them are reliable, dependable, informative or even accurate.

That is why Guitar Lessons Critic was established. It was designed to create a fair and completely unbiased look at the very best in alternative methods to learning the guitar. I have found that while the good far outweighs the bad, there are always a few bad apples in every category. I have also found that JamPlay is quite possibly one of the greatest alternative methods to private guitar lessons.

JamPlay is best described as a very large community that was designed for guitarists by guitarists. Beginners come here to learn how to become better musicians. For a very minimal monthly fee ($19.95 a month compared to an average of $16-$24 p/30 minutes for a private lesson), members receive unlimited access to 1,000+ HD-quality guitar lesson videos from professional musicians, community support, chord and scale libraries and live lessons.

Some online guitar resources simply go for quantity at the sake of quality, but JamPlay’s 42 different instructors is both incredibly diverse and incredibly valuable. Not only is the selection of instructors large, but users can also select a teacher based on a particular genre (anything from country to metal) and can be assured that these people are among the leaders in guitar education.

Following the standard formula of online guitar resources, JamPlay allows users to access the site and its lessons anytime they so desire. This is obviously one of the strongest selling points over private lessons in which you are at the mercy of the instructor’s own schedule.

However, were most extensive video lesson libraries leave off (and ultimately fall short), JamPlay thrives by providing a real, active community in which members may connect with other users. The directory is quite extensive, as 10,000+ members are active and over 20,000+ guitarists have used JamPlay at some point.

The forum is very well organized and is not your traditional time waster in which you need to spend 10 to 20 minutes shuffling through the fluff to find something of value. Spam, racist and other comments are non-evident which is nice for a change of pace.

I could rave about JamPlay’s numerous other features, from the advanced or often overlooked (live webcast lessons, backing tracks) to the subtle yet resourceful (guitar tuner, metronome, chord libraries) but the simple fact is you just need to get connected to really appreciate everything JamPlay has to offer.

Ultimately, it’s not easy to create a single product that can include everything in the world of guitar. Each program has its flaws, but when you need a very well centered resource that honestly strives to provide something for every one, JamPlay is the spot.

Interested in writing a guest post for The Positively Positive? Drop me a line on the contact page and let me know what you’re interested in reviewing and why.

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