On the opposite end of the learning spectrum is Fender Play. Fender Play is new to online guitar lessons. The Fender name is recognizable because of their great guitars, but they are the new kids in the block in guitar lessons.
Fender Play gets high reviews as a site for beginning guitar students, even if you’re just learning the basic guitar string notes. It is an excellent tool for teaching the fundamentals of guitar playing. The lessons are easy to follow and well-paced so that a beginner can move forward in a way that suits their style.
A new student can choose their instrument, choose their music genre preference, and select the lessons and practice plan that works for them.
I ranked this as my number five because I did not find it as strong in the intermediate to advanced lessons. Some more advanced song lessons were modified to accommodate a beginning guitar player. I did not learn as much from the songs in the library as I did on other sites.
Overall, I was pleased with the lesson’s layout and structure. I used the site specifically for some finger-picking guitar lessons, which were good. However, the same type of lessons is also available on other sites.
Fender Play Review -Features and Benefits
- Over 3000 online lessons for guitar, bass, and ukulele. A beginning guitar player can jump on most of these lessons and build their skills.
- Choose to learn guitar in genres of Rock, Blues, Pop, Country, or Folk.
- An extensive song library where a beginning guitar player can learn songs from their favorite genre.
- Self-paced learning system makes it easy for the beginning guitar player to practice for 10 -15 minutes each day but still progress without being bored or overwhelmed.
- Learn chords and scales. The program starts with easy chords and scales. First, the program teaches basic chords, and then you can learn easy songs with the basic chords. This is a great way to learn the guitar and is a method I teach with my students and on my site. Additionally, you can learn to play scales in specific keys.
- Backing tracks. There are a decent number of backing tracks to work with, and they are pretty good. This helps learn to play guitar, and it makes learning fun.
- Stream lessons from your phone or tablet with the Fender Play app.
- A Facebook community where you can interact with other students.
Fender Play Pros and Cons
Pros
- Excellent for beginning guitar students. Fender Play is an excellent site if you are starting and want to learn the basics.
- Fender Pay price a very reasonable price at $9.99 a month, or $89.00 for the annual plan. I highly recommend the annual plan here – it is a great price. There is also a 7-day free trial period.
- Very user-friendly. Very easy to navigate and one of the industry’s more user-friendly guitar lesson sites.
- High-quality audio and videos.
- Over 1000 songs in the song library with a nice variety. Many of the songs in the library are for the beginning guitar player.
- Downloadable App for Apple and Google Play so you can learn on the go.
- Weekly giveaways for Fender gear. Give away incentives for great Fender gear based on how much you practice.
Cons
- The lesson material is lacking for intermediate and advanced guitar players. You will not learn to shred on this site.
- The Song library is oversimplified and not suited for learning every part of a song.
- No downloadable tab and music.
Fender Play Review Summary
I like Fender Play. If I were just starting to learn how to play the guitar, I would give this site a hard look. The problem is that you will advance past the materials quickly if you are a serious student.
I teach the basics on my site (for free), and you can probably find much of the material offered by Fender Play on the internet. However, the beginner lessons have an easy-to-follow structure with clear instructions on what to practice that you will not find for free.
I would rate this as a 1 or 2 for any older adult that wants to learn guitar for the first time and wants to learn (very) basic songs quickly. Then, I would look at one of my top four online guitar learning sites for the more serious guitar student.
