Learn guitar for free – is that possible?

As someone in my mid-forties, I still vividly remember my childhood in the nineties and what it meant to learn an instrument back then. Wanting to learn guitar often meant long journeys to music lessons, high teacher fees, and tedious practice without immediate feedback.

Nowadays, the internet and modern learning apps elegantly removed these hurdles. The possibilities for learning guitar online for free are virtually endless. The selection ranges from video tutorials and apps to complete online courses .

How do you find the right option to learn guitar for free? Let's explore this digital instrument learning world together.

My personal journey to the Western and electric guitar

Before we delve deeper, I'd like to tell a little story. Like most of my classmates, I first learned to play the recorder as a child, and then piano/keyboard. But my fascination with playing the guitar never waned for years. About 15 years ago, I was faced with the decision of either buying a used guitar or, for a similar price, a new HD television. Since I'd been itching to play for a while, I opted for my first acoustic guitar, without having the slightest idea how to play it.

Because I was very busy with work and not in a particularly good financial position after a long and expensive course of study, private lessons were unfortunately out of the question for the time being. Stylish and pedagogically sound smartphone apps like Simply Guitar or Yousician didn't exist back then.

Fortunately, the free resources I found online turned me from a complete beginner into a decent amateur player for campfires and games with friends in a few months (or maybe years, ahem).

By the way: Did you know that the guitar is the most played instrument worldwide? No wonder so many people want to follow this path. But now let's look at the tools, tutorials, and tricks that can still help you realize your dream of playing guitar today – without spending a single cent.

The best free online guitar courses

01 YouTube channels

YouTube – especially when considering English-language content – ​​is a gigantic library of video tutorials, courses, and guides for learning to play guitar in every conceivable way. Learn guitar for free, at your own pace and according to your individual preferences. And it's completely location-independent. All you need is a smartphone, sufficient battery power (a power bank is optional), and a Bluetooth speaker for a better learning experience.

• Advantage: You can find a tutorial for almost every song.
• Disadvantage: the risk of "channel hopping". Students often get lost in songs that are too difficult without mastering the basics.

JustinGuitar

Justin Sandercoe, better known as JustinGuitar , is a British guitar teacher with a YouTube channel that offers the best for beginners. His refreshing style and clear instructions make learning straightforward and fun. Incidentally, Justin has inspired millions of guitarists worldwide with his free lessons.

 

• Why JustinGuitar works: The complete beginner's course is available for free on the guitar teacher's website. The JustinGuitar beginner's course is the BEST on the internet – tens of thousands of guitar students from all over the world attest to this.
• Expert opinion : Musicians particularly praise the pedagogical sequence. You don't just learn songs, but the necessary theory and technique in the correct order.

Marty Music

Marty Schwartz is the mastermind behind Marty Music and specializes in easy-to-understand tutorials aimed at guitarists of all experience levels. His relaxed style and helpful instructions attract viewers from all over the world.

Marty also offers a free downloadable guitar guide in PDF format to accompany his videos – packed with chords, scales, triads, arpeggios, and more. His website also features even more helpful videos and guitar courses. It's definitely worth subscribing to the charismatic guitar coach's newsletter.

Andy Guitar

Andy Crowley offers a wide range of video tutorials, from the absolute basics to more advanced techniques. His "Songs for Beginners" , featuring songs that everyone will want to play immediately.

As a beginner, I would particularly recommend Andy Crowley's free 10-day beginner guitar course . Playing guitar in such a practical way is an excellent opportunity for absolute beginners to improve in a very short time.

Andy created the video course to encourage you to pick up your guitar every day for 10 days – even if it's only for 10 minutes.

Norman from GuitarSchool.at

Would you prefer tutorials in German? Then Norman from GuitarSchool.at recommended.

Norman's video tutorials are specifically designed for adults who want to learn guitar online. You'll find everything from playing along to songs, classical techniques, fingerstyle, and fingerpicking, from electric guitar to flamenco, all on this YouTube channel . Plus, there are tips, tricks, tutorials, interpretations, and student videos—everything you need to know about the guitar.

When beginners watch a guitarist jamming on the guitar, they often ask: “What kind of guitar do you use? Western guitar, electric guitar, classical guitar, flamenco guitar?”.

Guitar teacher Norman is a big fan of all these guitar types. That's why he's put together a versatile guitar platform. At Guitarschool.at you'll find all the information and courses for every guitar style. The online beginner's guitar course is a relaxed guitar school for adults (fee required).

His YouTube channel already features over 70 incredibly helpful lessons for learning the basics and techniques of acoustic guitar. Here's a link to his playlist: Learn Guitar .

Christian Konrad / @gitarrenvideounterricht

Christian Konrad is often described as the "architect of musical understanding ." As a trained jazz guitarist, he places great emphasis on his students not only knowing what they are playing, but also why.

• Specialty : Extremely structured teaching methods. His videos often build logically upon one another. He is known for his courses on the "modes" (church modes), harmony, and playing from sheet music.

Strengthen:

• Depth : He goes far beyond simply playing songs. He explains the theory behind them in a way that makes it applicable in practice.
• Clarity : His explanatory style is calm, precise, and very professional. His academic training is evident in the best sense.
• Versatility : It covers both acoustic and electric guitar. Ideal for: Guitarists who want to organize their knowledge and have the ambition to truly "understand" the fretboard.

Fingerfux (Andreas Januschke)

Andreas Januschke, known as the "Fingerfux" (Finger Fox) , is more of a "creative practitioner" . His channel is the first port of call for everything related to fingerstyle, blues, and the "feel" on the guitar.

Specialty: His focus is strongly on the acoustic guitar (fingerstyle). He teaches techniques for playing a song solo so that it sounds like a whole band (percussive fingerstyle, bass lines and melody simultaneously).

Advantages:

• Learning psychology: Andreas places great emphasis on motivation and "helping people to help themselves." He communicates on an equal footing and alleviates the fear of complex technologies.
• Creativity: He shows many tricks on how to make simple chords sound much more interesting through small embellishments (licks & riffs).
• Community factor: Formats like "Guitar Talk" make his channel feel very approachable and interactive.

Ideal for: Hobby guitarists who want to focus on the acoustic guitar, enjoy strumming, and learn how to creatively embellish songs.

02 Free Apps / Apps with a "Freemium" Model

Learn guitar for free, whenever and wherever it suits you. Pedagogically structured courses, a personalized learning experience, and real-time feedback—all this is offered by modern guitar learning apps . However, most apps are paid. Although the fees are manageable and justified, in this article we want to focus on 100% free guitar learning options.

Therefore, only apps that can be used effectively (albeit to a limited extent) without a paid subscription will be mentioned here.

Ultimate Guitar Tabs

In addition to a huge collection of over 1.4 million tabs and chords, Ultimate Guitar Tabs also offers a comprehensive practice area. The integrated tab player and interactive tabs make practicing an engaging experience.

Ultimate Guitar users have free access to most of these tabs. They can be viewed without a subscription, as they are displayed directly on the website. Furthermore, the website offers the option to register for the Pro application.

You have the option to purchase a premium edition of Ultimate Guitar if you wish. The annual cost is €24.99.
For demonstration purposes, you will be shown videos in which you are accompanied by a professional guitarist.

Another advantage of the product is the enormous collection that Ultimate Guitar offers, which also includes the latest hits.

Songster

When it comes to the user interface, Songsterr frequently praised for its sleek and modern design. The platform's dark mode is appreciated by many users, as it provides a visually pleasing experience, especially during longer sessions. Another feature that deserves recognition is the precision with which Songsterr generates its tabs, particularly for specific songs and music genres.

On the other hand, some users have suggested that while Songsterr offers quality, it may not always be able to compete with the enormous number of tabs available on other platforms.

However, it's a welcome feature that many songs can be played completely free of charge and without registration. Upgrading to Songsterr Plus costs €9.99 per month.

Tabs Lite: Ultimate Chords

This is a great app for beginners. It has a sleek, fast, and easy-to-navigate user interface. There are no ads in the middle of the lyrics, no subscription spam, and it opens your saved tabs directly.

It features adjustable playback speed and a pinch-to-zoom function that enlarges/reduces the lyrics and chord symbols (similar to Google Messages). It's available on the Google Play Store.

Yousician & Simply Guitar

Apps like Yousician or Simply Guitar offer gamification (direct feedback via the microphone).

Limitation: The free versions are often severely time-limited (e.g., 10–15 minutes per day). In forums, this is often considered a good "appetizer," but rarely a sole learning resource. You can find "Yousician vs. Simply Guitar" here .

03 Websites with extensive online learning material

Then there are the classic websites with tabs, learning materials, and tutorials for playing guitar. You can also learn guitar for free using the following options.

Fender Play

Although Fender Play offers paid subscriptions, there is an excellent free trial period . The platform impresses with its structure and user-friendliness, befitting the renowned instrument manufacturer. You can try out various styles and genres, which is especially beneficial for beginners.

Learn directly on the Fender Play 13 free guitar lessons, —no registration or payment required . This is a fantastic starting point for your guitar-playing journey and is roughly equivalent to the first three levels of the paid Fender Play online course.

Here's a little taste:

 

Guitar Tricks

Here you'll also find a limited selection of free lessons taught by top-notch instructors. Guitar Tricks offers 24 free lessons for beginners to advanced players through its Free Lessons program .

The high quality and clarity of the content speak for themselves. A paid upgrade also offers a huge collection of songs and techniques.

TrueFire

With a wide range of free "TrueFire Channels" during a 14-day trial, this platform offers many lessons for beginners and advanced players. TrueFire presents videos from leading guitarists worldwide, so you can learn from the best.

So why not browse the free offerings a bit while you discover the potential to delve deeper? Important: You must actively cancel before the end of the trial period to prevent your membership from automatically converting into a paid subscription.

Udemy – free guitar courses and tutorials

Using a visual learning platform like Udemy is an excellent way to learn guitar. The slight unpredictability of Udemy is that the quality of the courses varies, and there are numerous options to choose from. However, the costs are reasonable. When I review Udemy courses, I filter to show only the highest-rated ones. Then I watch the videos available for some of these courses. This gives you an idea of ​​how well-structured the material is and whether the instructor's approach appeals to you.

It's true that countless free materials are available on YouTube. However, if I want to engage in curated and progressive learning, I believe platforms like Udemy more advantageous than YouTube. Udemy allows me to view content offline, which I often need when traveling (with poor internet reception) and which is more difficult or even impossible with YouTube.

Fortunately, you can also find a lot of free guitar courses .

OnlineGuitarLearn.de

This German-language website , onlinegitarrelernen.de, has an elegant design and a stylish black background. The site offers free, informative articles about different types of guitars and answers questions such as: "What is an electric guitar?", "What are the typical characteristics of classical guitars?", etc.

Furthermore, anyone, from beginner to professional, can try this instrument with the simple instructions in the "Learn Guitar" . The workshops and guitar songs sound pretty cool. A great offer , lots of information, and an alternative to regular courses.

Guitar-TV

This website also offers a wealth of information and tutorials to help you learn to play guitar independently. Reinhold Pomaska, who runs Guitar-TV guitar books, weekly song evenings for beginners and advanced players . A forum is available for solving problems, answering questions, and discussing various topics.

The user-created videos are the true heart of the program. They are not only freely available, but also make it easy for the user to learn every single aspect that is important for playing the guitar. Finally, various chords are played, starting with a pick strum.

For your convenience, the corresponding video is also available in written form as a PDF. Due to its wealth of original and helpful content, this website has been highly valued by guitar students for many years.

GuitarLessons.com by Guitareo

GuitarLessons also has a huge library of free guitar lesson videos.

The Riff by Guitareo

The Riff is Guitareo's new project to provide high-quality guitar tutorials for learning numerous songs.

The song selection is fantastic, especially if you like rock songs. The young guitarist Ayla presents the lessons in a very engaging and friendly manner.

Here's a sample of the popular guitar hit "Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits:

04 Online Communities and Forums

A "secret tip" regarding the psychology of learning is the joy of learning and the fun of practicing. These elements are indispensable in the learning process. Passion and enthusiasm for learning are the strongest motivators.

Furthermore, connecting with a community, finding like-minded people, and even gaining social recognition are significant sources of motivation. So why not join one of the many online communities and share your progress?

The best online guitar communities are:

Reddit

This platform is one of the largest and most active guitar communities online. Whether you have questions about specific playing techniques or simply want to showcase your progress, the community here is extremely helpful and supportive.

The most outstanding Reddits for learning guitar are r/Guitar and r/guitarlessons .

Ultimate Guitar Forum

Besides a wide variety of tabs and chords, Ultimate Guitar also offers a very active forum. Here you can ask questions and exchange ideas with other guitarists.

Facebook groups

Facebook has countless guitar groups, ranging from beginner to very specific genres and styles. Simply joining one of these groups can offer you many opportunities for exchange and support.

Synner Forum

At https://forums.synner.com/lessons/ you'll find just as much free guitar lesson content, compiled by Synyster Gates of Avenged Sevenfold . The lessons begin with the basics, such as holding and tuning the guitar, then move on to the CAGED system, and finally delve into more advanced topics like arpeggios and legatos.

For each topic, you'll find video lessons that break down the information, as well as some additional materials to help you further. The whole thing is structured like a community with a forum, which is ideal for exchanging ideas with like-minded people.

Anyone looking for information on the hottest electric guitar licks in the heavy metal universe will find Synner an excellent resource.

Limits and risks of free offers

Despite the high quality of free content, professionals and advanced students point to three critical barriers:

A. The lack of a feedback loop (the biggest drawback)

A teacher can see if your thumb is in the wrong position or your wrist is cramped. A video can't. As a result, many self-taught individuals develop bad habits that later require painstaking correction or can even lead to tendonitis.

B. “Analysis Paralysis” (The agony of choice)

In forums, beginners often report being overwhelmed by the sheer number of videos. They jump from one "secret tip" video to the next without ever truly mastering a technique.

C. Lack of auditory training

Free resources (especially tabs on sites like Ultimate Guitar) often rely solely on visual instructions. Experts on Reddit criticize this, arguing that it causes students to lose the ability to understand music through their ears.

Whether paid guitar lessons or even a real guitar teacher are the better choice for you, you can find out in our articles:

• Guitar learning apps: The best apps for learning guitar – tested by professionals
• Digital fingers, analog limitations: Where guitar apps reach their limits with fingerstyle playing
• Mastery on the guitar: What distinguishes legends from average players

Practical tips for effectively using the free learning programs

1. Set realistic goals

It's important to set realistic and measurable goals. This could include learning one song each week or practicing for 20 minutes daily. Small successes boost motivation and keep it high.

2. Use different resources

Don't try to focus on just one resource. Variety is key! YouTube videos offer visual support, while apps provide instant feedback, and websites offer deeper insights as well as a wide selection of songs and techniques.

3. Play regularly

Are you ready for another fun fact ? Real rock stars play no less than 15-20 hours a week! But don't worry, a few minutes a day is enough to start with.

Regularity is crucial for developing muscle memory and dexterity.”

4. Record videos

Recording (and watching) your own performance is an excellent method for self-assessment and improvement. It may feel a little strange at first, but it's extremely helpful for identifying and correcting mistakes in your game.

5. Expert tips: How to get the most out of it

To overcome the limitations of free learning, experienced guitarists recommend the following strategies:

Tip	Implementation
Follow ONE path	Find a structured course (e.g., JustinGuitar) and stick with it until you've completed a level. Avoid searching randomly.
Video selfies	Record yourself playing and compare your posture/movement in split-screen with the teacher's video. This partially compensates for the missing feedback.
Metronome required	Free videos often neglect timing. Use a free metronome app for every practice session.
Use the community	Post videos of your playing in forums like r/guitarlessons . The community often gives helpful (if sometimes harsh) feedback on your technique.

Final words

Just get started! Perhaps the best advice I can give you is to simply begin. Don't overcomplicate things—don't overthink every decision. There's a wealth of valuable, free resources just waiting to be discovered.

Grab your guitar, find a teacher or app that suits you, tune your instrument properly, and begin your musical journey.

When I sit in my living room trying to master the solo from "Stairway to Heaven" (not entirely painlessly so far, I admit), I have a smile on my face. Because it's the journey that counts – and the path to a free guitar learning experience is well-trodden.

Free online learning works exceptionally well for motivation and getting started . However, it reaches its limits when it comes to intricate technical aspects and individual error correction . The most successful online learners are those who choose a structured learning path and discipline themselves through regular video self-assessment.

This concludes what we hope was a comprehensive and motivating guide to the exciting journey of learning guitar for free. There will be highs and lows, but one thing is certain: it will be a musical experience that enriches your life and creates unforgettable moments.

Have fun playing!