
Updated by Bobby
Updated on June 28th, 2022
Updated the Guitareo review to reflect a ton of recent changes and expansion to the program, including new content, new instructors and more.
Guitar Review
Our Verdict and Review Summary
With recent updates and a dramatic increase in their content library, Guitareo is becoming a viable platform with a solid base of song lessons and a versatile cast of instructors.

I remember watching Nate Savage's instructional videos on YouTube quite a few years ago (he still has a lot) and finding them really helpful. For awhile he ran guitarlessons.com, which was acquired by Musora Media before eventually launching the Guitareo platform.
Since that program has been around for awhile now, I thought I'd dig into the seven-day free trial and check it out for myself, in order to run it through our ratings system and provide potential buyers with a full Guitareo review.
In this review I'll do a ratings breakdown first (which I setup after writing the entire article) then go through pricing, signup, and program's interior.
If you have questions, feel free to drop those in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
Features | Point Value (weight) | Guitareo Score | Point Total |
---|---|---|---|
1. Content Quantity | 15% | 78 | 11.7 |
2. EDU Quality | 20% | 78 | 15.6 |
2. Topical Order | 20% | 79 | 15.8 |
3. Concept Coverage | 15% | 75 | 11.3 |
4. Song Section | 15% | 68 | 10.2 |
7. Video Player | 5% | 90 | 4.5 |
8. Site Design/Navigation | 5% | 92 | 4.6 |
9. Pricing/Value | 5% | 83 | 4.2 |
TOTALS | 100% | 77.9 | |
Compare to Similar Programs
PROGRAM | DETAILS | RATING | TRY |
---|---|---|---|
![]() | Guitar Tricks
| 92.8 RATING Detail | |
![]() | JamPlay
| 88.7 RATING Detail | |
![]() | Active Melody
| 80.3 RATING Detail | |
![]() | Fender Play
| 67.8 RATING Detail |
If you're looking for more help, information about other the recommendations mentioned above or other options, I've cataloged a lot of information about online guitar lesson resources I recommend that might be helpful to you.
Guitareo Pricing and Membership Options
Guitareo has reduced their monthly and yearly price, now offering two different subscriptions, which you can find at the bottom of their membership page:

Guitareo pricing as of June 2022.
You have basically two different subscription/pricing choices:
- A monthly membership: $15/month
- A yearly membership at $127/year
What about a free trial?
Guitareo does offer a free trial which can easily be accessed via the home page or on this dedicated free trial page: Choose Your Trial

You can sign up for the Guitareo free trial, either on a monthly or annual plan (you can cancel any time and avoid being charged).
From there, you'll setup a simple user account:

Creating your Guitareo account to sign up for the trial is pretty straightforward. You need to put a credit card on file, though this will not be charged if you cancel right before the trial ends.
Once you click the green place order button, you're good to go. You'll be redirected to a new page that starts your Guitareo lesson experience.
Using the Program
Guitareo gives you several different ways to start browsing their content. The Method section is where most people will want to get started (gets you into beginner content right away). However, there's also a lessons, courses, and songs section, which makes it fairly easy to find your way around.

The Guitareo "Method" section is the best places to get started if you're a beginner looking for some course structure.
The Dashboard
The home dashboard and welcome screen for each lesson video has been completely redone and - as I mentioned - is incredibly easy to navigate. On a desktop computer, all of your parent categories are on the left-hand side, with the three major options (methods, songs, and coaches), prominently featured out front.

The welcome page on the main Guitareo dashboard (logged in).
All of this keeps you much closer to the content core, allowing you to get where you needs to go in two to three clicks, at most.
Courses Section
The courses section has also been revamped with more content in each course, usually between five and 15 videos per course. These can be filtered by level, topic, or instructor.

The courses home page in Guitareo.
While there's still some gray area in terms of where to go or what would apply to you most, the Method section alleviates most of the beginner "fog of war" that you might experience after logging in.
The courses section itself is great for browsing around to different topics after you've gotten through the core material in the Method section.
In this regard, Guitareo actually makes a good pitch as an intermediate guitar lesson tool.
Given the filters and sorting tools, you can't really complain about finding your way around. Overall, the courses page has gone through some major improvements, considering what we're used to seeing.
Lessons and Video Player
When I review online guitar lesson programs, I like to spend some time focusing on the video player and what the experience is like for the user. With Guitareo, you'll start by first choosing a course, perhaps from the courses or Method page.
From courses, I'll select "Surf Guitar 101."

Each video for the Surf Guitar 101 course is listed.
While the video player has a simple interface, it looks great and is fairly intuitive. Once you're done with a video, simply click the next lesson button to move on.

The video player is slick, responsive, and easy to navigate.
If you scroll down through the page you'll notice some additional course navigation and a comments section.

Additional navigation and a comments section for questions.
This comments section is well-designed and has made some significant improvements since we last reviewed Guitareo. I also noticed that instructors for each video seem to be consistently interacting with the comments section, which can be great for people that want a more feedback-oriented learning experience.
Nate, Ayla, Kent and the other instructors on the site (there are about seven total) are great in front of the camera and have done an excellent job of producing the videos.
Volume of Content and Comparing to Other Programs
The breadth of the content is less than sites like Guitar Tricks and JamPlay. Moreover, some videos are fairly short and don't cover topics as in-depth as I would like to see.
Though it's also fair to say that some of this is just a factor of time. Other sites have had longer to build up content, while Guitareo is a fairly new production.
Guitareo's content seems to fall more in-line with Fender Play, which has a similar issue of being a young program with not as much depth to their content.
Still, the site is designed well and instructors do a good job of patiently walking you through the topics they do cover. Explanations of material is clear, concise and demonstrated with good camera angles in a way that's easy to digest. I'd just like to see a more thorough curriculum, which is something they're actively working towards.
Guitareo's Song Section
Their song section is an area where Guitareo weirdly seems to over-promise and under-deliver. The songs page title is "500 songs in eight days" but then only lists eight videos, which are focused on things like chord progressions, using a capo, and playing in different keys.

The eight videos in the songs section focus on helping you play through song chords - which are listed in the table below - but are not full song lessons.
Once you start scrolling down below these videos, you have a ton of popular songs that each provide chord sheets but no actual video or lesson on the song.

Each song provides a couple PDF files, but no video lesson or walk-through.
This is certainly a disappointment, especially when the large "500 songs" text (which we see multiple times before getting to this page) leads you to believe that you're getting full song lessons and not just PDF chord sheets.
Not that chord sheets are bad, but this is an area where Guitareo could still improve a lot.
It's a big detraction, even when priced somewhat lower than Guitar Tricks and JamPlay, which have thousands of licensed song lessons.
The Play-Along Tracks
If you continue onto the Play-Along Tracks page you'll see that Guitareo has spent a lot more time building these kinds of lessons as opposed to full song lessons. The play-along tracks are lessons "in the style of" certain popular artists, usually mentioned in the lesson description.
It's essentially a fun way of going through the process of building chord progressions, melody lines, and learning how to improvise.

Some of the Play Along section in Guitareo.
But again, the material feels very basic and limited.
Many of the videos are short, without a ton of focus on the original artist. I like that Nate does a good job of explaining the process, but he just leaves a lot of information off the table, much of which would be inside the purview of his material.
Chords and Scales Section
Guitareo keeps a section called "Chords and Scales" which - as far as I can tell - only includes chord diagrams. When you click on the diagram, it takes you to the video lesson that teaches you how to play that particular chord. It's essentially another way of sorting through the material.

Chord diagrams in Guitareo lead to videos that explain the chords individually, all of which are part of other courses.
Again, scales are conspicuously missing from this page, yet the quick access to videos for each chord is somewhat helpful.
Live Sessions and Archives
The last feature I'll cover, Guitareo Live, might be one of the site's stronger sources of appeal. Instructors will do Q&A and answer questions from users live, where the content is then posted to the "Archive" section. This material is much longer and often more nuanced than a lot of the course material.

Upcoming Guitareo Live sessions for Q&A.
Now, it's important to note that these are very informal, podcast-style resources. But, they do give you an opportunity to access instructors directly, which is a component that's often missing from other online guitar platforms.

Nate and Andrew answering questions on Guitareo Live.
Conclusion
Instructors on Guitareo are consistent and do a good job delivering educational content. The website itself is well-designed, easy to use, and has been significantly improved over the past couple of years. It's also worth noting that Guitareo doesn't pander to you with an over-marketed product like Fender Play tends to do.
There have also been tremendous improvements to the site's navigation and beginner content.
Even the courses have been improved since the early days of Guitareo. This is due in part to an influx of new instructors, where it used to be mostly just Nate. These additional instructors have improved the interaction and social aspect of the site, especially in the comments section.
At the same time, there are still some segments of Guitareo that feel unfinished and incomplete, though this is somewhat mitigated by the decrease in price (going from $20 per month to $15). The biggest example of this is the song section, which is still mostly just a repository of sheet music.
That's the area where Guitareo could most dramatically improve their value going forward.
But despite its shortcomings, Guitareo has given you a handful of good reasons to use their program:
- A significant reduction in price
- Streamlined beginners content
- Dramatically improved roster of instructors and online interaction
- New content and more consistent updating
If you're a beginner and you want a simple place to get started, the Method section of Guitareo is a great place to land. I'd also recommend Guitareo for those moving past the beginner stage, who might like to jump around the courses section and do some spot learning.
Questions about our Guitareo Review
Do you have questions about my Guitareo review or other programs I've mentioned here? If so, feel free to leave them in the comments section below, and I'll do my best to help out.
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Written by Bobby on Lessons and Reviews
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I got an offer for 1$
“Because for the next nine days, you can get the 500 Songs In 5 Days lesson pack for just $1 (normally $97).”
When I was writing my credits for paying my card showed a year contract of 127$ instead of 1$
Patrick – did you check with Guitareo support? They’re generally pretty responsive. If you can’t/haven’t been able to get a hold of them, let me know.
Yes, they solve the problem.
And I think everyone has to try this platform it very good.
Good to hear. Thanks, Patrick.
The site has changed a lot. Will you do a new review?
Hey, thanks for mentioning this. Yes – we’ll go back through and do updates as we’re able. Do you know to what extent they’ve changed their platform?
Right now they have a sale for lifetime access to the course for only $29. Is it worth it at this price or will I end up having to spend money elsewhere and subscribe to another website anyway in the long run? I have no experience with guitar but I want to play as well as any professional eventually.
Hey Cody – that’s a decent deal. Thanks for sharing.
Nate….right now I am very upset….I subscribed for the 26 week lessons for $97.00
That amount was taken out of my account on sept 14th and still have not gotten the
course…..I have gotten a email that you can’t find my email…..please look into this
Carl Mirabal…..cmirabal1@tampabay.rr.com
Carl – please note that Nate does not monitor this review. This is Guitar Chalk’s review, written independent of the Guitareo program and has no relationship to their support team.
The lifetime membership is appealing to me. None of the other sites seem to offer this as an option.
Hey Joel – I believe the only other site that offers a lifetime membership option is TrueFire. https://www.guitarchalk.com/truefire-review/
HI Bobby,
…and thanks for this review. Nate is having a special on his Guitar System lessons for $27.00, with a 90 day, money back guarantee. I am an acoustic strummer and flat picker, and I am wondering, after reading your interview and looking at Nate’s topics, if there is too much electric and not enough of what I really need. I am NO expert, but I have been around the block a few times with mandolin and guitar, and can step up to the mic and not have too many solos sound like a train wreck.
That being said, might it be worth $27.00?
Thanks for you professional opinion.
Hey Phil – in my experience with Guitareo, Nate is a great teacher that covers a lot of topics applicable to acoustic and electric guitars. My main concern with it is that it’s limited in scope, and a much younger program without as much topical breadth and depth.
Would you consider yourself more of an intermediate player? Also – I assume your focus is acoustic guitar and not electric?
Let me know, so I can better assist.
Thanks for the comment.