The Guitar Tricks Free Trial: A Helpful Illustrated Guide

For a long time, I've used and recommended the Guitar Tricks program. It's a popular affiliate, which is frustrating, because that means a lot of people hawk the membership with a cheap sales page and little or no new information about the resource.

Since we farm out so many Guitar Tricks free trials, I wanted to provide a resource that explained the free trial, what it involves and what it looks like from the user's end.

This is essentially an insider's look at what's under the hood of a Guitar Tricks free trial.

My Affiliate Disclaimer and Philosophy

I want to be forward and transparent by disclosing to you that Guitar Tricks is an affiliate of ours and that we make commission when you either sign up for a membership or take advantage of the free trial offer. If you want to help support Guitar Chalk, that's the best way to do it.

What this does not mean is that my opinion - or the information I provide - is subjective, cheap or thoughtless. My goal is to be sincere. That's why, despite many of the programs Guitar Chalk references having affiliate offers, we only use a select few. 

In other words, I recommend Guitar Tricks because I've used it, I know it's a good product and I think it will benefit Guitar Chalk readers.

If you disagree, please don't spend your money. It's a good program, but it's not for everyone. 

FAQ on the Guitar Tricks Free Trial

Before we start wading through the interior of a membership, let's go through some of the most frequently asked questions about the Guitar Tricks free trial. I used to work for them in customer support, so I've fielded these questions a lot. 

They're good questions, so I'll take the time to address each one, at least briefly. 

• Do you need a credit card to sign up? Yes, or a valid PayPal account
• Does the trial actually cost me anything? No
• Am I automatically charged for my first month once the trial is up? Yes
• Can I just cancel in time to avoid the charge? Yes
• Does the free trial give me access to everything on the site? Yes
• Can I sign up for a free trial more than once? No
• What if I'm forgetful and I don't cancel in time to avoid the charge? You've got 60 days after being charged to cancel with a full refund.

Those are the quick hits. Now I'd like to address a couple topics that come up fairly frequently and warrant a more thorough explanation.

Why do I need to use a credit card for a free trial?

Primarily, this is meant for a continued use of the same account if and when you decide to keep a paid membership. This means you won't have to sign up a second time or make any changes to your existing membership. It's also an extremely standard practice, employed by innumerable online businesses and membership sites. 

As I indicated in the above table, you can also use a PayPal account to signup for you free trial.

From the consumer's standpoint, I understand why it's not the most comfortable thing, but I can assure that even when charged, Guitar Tricks honors their 60-day commitment, without asking any questions.

The Guitar Tricks free trial is not a "stripped down" or "lite" version of the membership. You can access it anytime, from any device (via the Guitar Tricks app) and use any of the content available to paying members. This includes all the courses, the song lessons, the forums and any additional tools and resources on the site.

I noticed the Guitar Tricks app Is free. Is that the free trial?

No, the Guitar Tricks app is always free, but it's not the same thing as a free trial. Rather, it's an additional portal by which you can login to your membership, regardless of that membership's status.

Now that we've covered some FAQ, let's walk through the signup process so you know what to expect and can go into the trial with far less uncertainty. The easiest way to get started is to go to the trial splash page, which looks like the following screenshot:

Signing up from this page will do three things:

1. Create a free user account
2. Sign you up for the free trial
3. Upgrade your free account to a full membership

It is possible to do these three things separately, but if you sign up from the trial splash page, you can knock it all out at once without having to worry about manually upgrading a free user account.

First, you'll start by entering your email address. Pretty simple.

You'll then be taken to the following screen where you'll setup your account information with a basic username and password.

This page confirms a few things about the free trial, namely:

• You won't be billed if you cancel
• You won't be charged until the free trial period ends
• The 60 day money-back guarantee is still available even after you've been charged

Once you click the yellow start button, your free trial will begin and the sign up process will be complete.

Using the Guitar Tricks Free Trial

Now that you've setup your trial you can start using the program like a regular member. I would advise starting with some song lessons (there are literally hundreds) to get motivated. I like to use these for songs that I have trouble figuring out solos for (solo tracking is a weaker area for me as a guitarist). 

These song tutorials can easily be accessed from the home screen via the "Learn to Play Songs" square with the Les Paul-style guitar:

If you prefer something more academic and you want to spend your free trial in a more structured manner, the beginner guitar lessons section has what they call the "Core Learning System" broken down like this:

Depending on how often and how long you play, two weeks is enough time to get through a lot of content. You can probably bite off big chunks of multiple sections if you just want to get a broad flavor of what the program offers.

Follow Up Emails

When I signed up for this test trial, I got two automated emails. The first one from the Ben Martin, the Guitar Tricks CEO, included my account details and some basic info for getting started. 

The second was a follow up from a customer support representative named Billy, though I believe this was also automated.

The goal of the email is to sell you the free trial, which can feel a little pushy, though again, this is a common industry practice and minimally intrusive. I'm also fairly certain that this email only shows up if you don't sign up for the trial right away.

Guitar Tricks has gotten a lot better at their email campaign over the past few years, and this one didn't strike me as the least bit annoying or overtly sales-focused. Both emails had some helpful info and felt like personal attention. If you respond to the "Billy" email, you'll get a response from an actual person. 

Is the Guitar Tricks free trial the longest offered?

To my knowledge, two weeks is the second longest trial available for an online guitar lesson site. TrueFire's trial is longer - at 30 days - and JamPlay does a seven and 30 day version. In my mind, the 60 days should be considered part of the trial period as well, as you're guaranteed a refund after that period, without any questions asked.

Guitar Tricks' confidence is seen in the length of their trial and money-back guarantee. Many of the folks who work there, including their CEO, are convinced that their program will keep people in, especially since they offer so much content.

The Longevity of a Guitar Tricks Membership

And some might ask:

What's the benefit of staying on past the 60-day mark?

Most of the members who stay for long periods of time use Guitar Tricks as a kind of in-house tutor or even a teaching resource. I know a lot of guitar and music teachers who keep a subscription just so they can stay up-to-date with material and resources for their students.

Guitar Tricks also does a great job of updating their content, both the courses and song lessons, giving you new material to digest on a regular basis (usually weekly). 

In that regard, the membership has a lot of longevity. 

Committed life-long fans of the program are quite common.

If I sign up for the free trial, can I still take advantage of promo offers?

Guitar Tricks will, pretty regularly, run promotional offers for their yearly or monthly subscriptions, knocking hefty percentages off their regular prices. If you've already signed up for the free trial and are within the trial period, you can simply sign up for the promo price under the same account. 

Even if you have already canceled the trial, you can still sign up and get the promotional price.

Without even adding an extra step, the trial does not prevent you from taking advantage of offers that might pop up during or after the fact.

Conclusion

I hope this has taken some of the mystery out of the Guitar Tricks free trial. It's a little hard to be comfortable with because of the credit card. Though seeing the process and what's available to you on the other side makes the uncertainty far less ominous.

It's actually an extremely simple and user-friendly system. Make the free account, then upgrade with plenty of time to cancel.

If you have questions about the process, leave it in the comments section below. I've signed up for a lot of Guitar Tricks accounts over the years, so I'd be happy to provide you with whatever info you might need, whether or not you use our affiliate links.