Jamplay Review & Discount

Jamplay has become incredibly popular among the guitar community. It's been on the go since 2006 and has built up a huge library of high quality video lessons, delivered by some 41 pro tutors. It also offers regular live webcam sessions and one to one support for its members.

I'll be honest, I can't compete with what sites like Jamplay.com offer (fretjam is more of a primer), but of course, as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. Free lesson sites are great, but their teaching resources are limited by far smaller budgets.

So here's my Jamplay review - some of the key benefits of taking your next (or first) step with their course. You can also find Jamplay discount codes at the bottom of this page.

Benefit #1 - Jamplay's Lesson Structure

Jamplay's lesson structure has recently been simplified. They now offer 5 main areas of learning:

The Basics (from absolute beginner to intermediate)
Styles & Genres (from Bluegrass to Metal)
Skill Building (essential techniques)
Songs (learn popular songs note-for-note)
Artist Studies (the tricks of the greats)

Pretty self explanatory and intuitive, this new structure will help keep your learning varied and focussed at the same time. Their song library is one of the largest available and they break songs down part by part, note for note.

You can also learn in phases. This is a logical step by step path through the entire Jamplay lesson library, from absolute beginner to advanced. Great if you don't know where to begin... or go next.

Benefit #2 - You Choose Your Teacher

When you begin, you have a number of tutors to pick from. The idea is that you spend some time with each tutor and go with the one (or two) you find has the best teaching style for you. This is quite a novel way of personalising your lessons.

Some tutors I found "hummed and harred" a lot (although some might prefer the unscripted feel of it), some weren't as clear, succinct and precise as others, but there is a huge benefit of having multiple tutors - some will include tips and methods that are unique to them. Each tutor is different and approaches teaching in different ways.

You can sample Jamplay's free lessons from each category and tutor by visiting their lessons page.

Benefit #3 - Jamplay's Video Lessons

This is where Jamplay shines. They offer HD quality video (which you can scale back if your connection is slower) which utilises multiple camera angles such as over-the-shoulder and split screen. You can tell immediately they are shot professionally in a studio.

Multiple camera angles, and accompanying tabs and chord/scale sheets mean you're never second guessing where to put your fingers. Most lessons start with the instructor introducing concepts and then cut to the multiple cameras when it's time to play.
Over the shoulder view shows you the fretboard how you see it when you play. It's surprising just how much clearer a technique or lick is when you see the fretboard this way as opposed to seeing it head on, like a mirror image, as with so many low quality YouTube videos.
The video bar offers some great functionality.

...A/B looping allows you to set any two points in the video and repeat that section. I found this really useful when the tutor slowed down to show you a lick. No more constantly clicking back on the time bar. Also, lesson bookmarking means you can come back to a lesson you're not fully confident with, all your bookmarks being stored in your personal lesson planner.

Below each video is the supplemental content section - printable tabs, chord and scale charts, jam tracks and a text rundown of the lesson. Here you can also ask the tutor in the video questions about anything you don't understand.

The only gripe I have (and it's more just me being picky) is that sometimes the split camera angles aren't always necessary, and sometimes even distracting. But in most videos they are genuinely well positioned and useful. It would also be great to click and pick your own camera angles. I'm sure that's in the pipeline!

Benefit #4 - Jamplay's Live Webcam Sessions

Another unique feature of Jamplay is their live community based lessons, boasting 8 hours of live sessions, 7 days a week. JamChat allows students to interact with the tutor live. There are also "open mic nights" which allow you to showcase your talent over webcam.

Many see this as the defining feature of JamPlay and it really does raise the barre (excuse the pun) for other online lesson sites.

Other Jamplay Features

As well as the video lessons they also offer several integral features such as a comprehensive chord and scale library, a library of jam tracks, interactive games, a lick and riff library and custom progress reports which I thought was particularly useful for tracking your progress in a given lesson, noting down bits that need work, or bookmarking a cool riff you came across. I found it very simple to use as all your bookmarks are linked to from one place.

The Bottom Line

As far as learning guitar online, Jamplay offers by far the most interactive and comprehensive learning experience available. You can pay for monthly ($19.95), quarterly ($49.95) or yearly ($139.95) membership, which is pretty reasonable considering the number of hours of video, live webcam sessions and the various libraries and tools.

If you want the absolute best learning experience but can't afford pricey one-to-one lessons, Jamplay is as good a compromise you'll find.

Jamplay Discount Codes

Copy and paste one of these codes into the coupon field when you sign up to get a discount on membership.

33C6CE - 10% Jamplay discount off any type of membership

1BA1E2 - 25% off monthly membership (first month, unsubscribe any time)

Explore JamPlay's free lessons here.