Free guides, tutorials, and tips to help you become a better guitarist. From fretboard memorization to music theory fundamentals.
Learning roadmap
Start with the beginner series. After lesson 9 introduces your first scale, use the modes book to connect scales, chords, and the fretboard. Then continue into the lead series with that theory in place.
Step 1 · Start here
The free 12-lesson beginner series
Read tab, play riffs and chords, learn your first scale, and finish with a complete solo.
Theory companion · After lesson 9
Understand scales and modes
Connect major, minor, pentatonic, and modal sounds with playable tab, audio labs, short games, and quizzes.
Step 2 · Lead guitar
The free 12-lesson lead series
Build your picking, legato, bends, pentatonic shapes, speed, tapping, and sweep picking.
Featured interactive workout
Build rhythm guitar speed with a free interactive metronome workout for eighth notes, triplets, downpicking, and tight metal riffs. Find your clean BPM. Built for rhythm guitar, metal downpicking, and anyone who wants a real speed number instead of guessing.
What it tracks
Diagnose the weak spot first, then pick the tool. One recommendation each for timing, fretboard knowledge, ear, technique, phrasing, repertoire, theory, and consistency.
Interactive means four different things: tab that plays and loops, lessons that listen to you, lessons with playable widgets on the page, and a real teacher on video. What each is worth.
Where to record with other players online and where to just talk to them. Browser DAWs, low-latency jam software, asynchronous stem swapping, forums, Discord, and OpenFret Collab.
What guitar games genuinely teach (fretboard, timing, endurance, showing up), what they can't teach (tone, phrasing, technique nobody is checking), and how to use one so it works.
What makes a game compelling, and how to bolt those parts onto your own practice: personal records, dice, a deck of cards, timed rounds, boss fights, and streaks with a floor.
Eight gamified guitar apps compared: Rocksmith+, Yousician, Soundlane, fee[dB]ack, StringTheory, ImmerRock, Notey, and Guitar Quest. What each costs, and which ones actually listen to your guitar.
There is no Tableau for guitar and you don't need one. The handful of practice metrics that predict improvement, the ones that flatter you, and how to build a monthly review in ten minutes.
Five things worth measuring on guitar, the recording habit that beats all of them, and the tools that keep the numbers for you. Clean tempo, accuracy, repertoire, recall, and time.
What guitar games genuinely teach (fretboard, timing, endurance, showing up), what they can't teach (tone, phrasing, technique nobody is checking), and how to use one so it works.
Eight gamified guitar apps compared: Rocksmith+, Yousician, Soundlane, fee[dB]ack, StringTheory, ImmerRock, Notey, and Guitar Quest. What each costs, and which ones actually listen to your guitar.
Slopsmith's successor fee[dB]ack now has a home at got-feedback.org, with a downloadable v0.3 alpha. A look at the open-source, multi-instrument rhythm and music-learning platform, the open feedpak file format, and where free OpenFret tools fit alongside it.
The best apps to learn guitar in 2026, including which ones listen to your real guitar. Compare games, structured lessons, tab players, prices, feedback, and free options.
The best Rocksmith alternatives in 2026: StringTheory, fee[dB]ack, ImmerRock, ToneLib Jam, Soundlane, and a $30 browser RPG. What each costs, which ones actually listen to your playing, and who each one fits.
The best Yousician alternatives in 2026, from free browser tools to a one-time-purchase RPG. What each costs, how it teaches, and why a monthly subscription isn't the only way to learn guitar.
What StringTheory is, how the free, open-source guitar and bass game works, the file formats it plays (psarc, Guitar Pro, MusicXML), the CDLC gray zone, and how it compares to fee[dB]ack and Guitar Quest.
Slopsmith is back after Ubisoft's DMCA takedown, renamed Feedback (stylized fee[db]ack). The 0.3 update drops Rocksmith CDLC for the new .feedpak format and adds an in-house rig builder, a calibration screen, and a charting editor. What changed, and a guitar app that can't be taken down.
On June 15, 2026, Ubisoft filed a DMCA takedown against Slopsmith and its forks, and GitHub pulled 131 repos. Here's what the open-source guitar app actually did, why it got taken down, and what it means if you were learning on it.
What Slopsmith is, who it's for, and how its note-highway works, plus an honest look at OpenFret: a guided RPG that teaches the fretboard, scales, and theory through play.
I used all three for at least a month each. Here's what I found about pricing, teaching methods, hardware requirements, and which one is worth your money.
What makes a game compelling, and how to bolt those parts onto your own practice: personal records, dice, a deck of cards, timed rounds, boss fights, and streaks with a floor.
There is no Tableau for guitar and you don't need one. The handful of practice metrics that predict improvement, the ones that flatter you, and how to build a monthly review in ten minutes.
Five things worth measuring on guitar, the recording habit that beats all of them, and the tools that keep the numbers for you. Clean tempo, accuracy, repertoire, recall, and time.
Build rhythm guitar speed with a free interactive metronome workout for eighth notes, triplets, downpicking, and tight metal riffs. Find your clean BPM.
The best guitar practice trackers in 2026, honestly compared: OpenFret, Riff Quest, AxeLog, Notion templates, and paper journals. What each costs, what each actually tracks, and what the research says about why tracking works.
Rhythm games are back in 2026, with RedOctane's Stage Tour and a new Rhythm Heaven. The research on why they're good for your attention, memory, and coordination, and why a real guitar takes it further.
What guitar backing tracks are, how to practice and solo over them, how to pick a key and scale, and why isolated stems make them the fastest way to build timing and phrasing.
Seven beginner guitar exercises that build finger strength, accuracy, and speed: the chromatic walk, the spider, one-minute chord changes, picking drills, and more.
You don't learn a song, you learn its pieces. How to break a riff or song into chunks, loop the hard parts slow, fix the transitions that trip you up, and chain it all back together.
Three structured routines for different time budgets. Why 15 focused minutes beats an aimless hour, and what to actually work on during each block.
The two-week wall is real, and it isn't about willpower. Why motivation fades, how to build a practice habit you can't talk yourself out of, and how to keep the fun in without feeling guilty about it.
What to record about every guitar you own, where to keep it, and why the spreadsheet always dies by month three. Specs, string gauges, serial numbers, photos, and insurance.
The cheapest way to get a clean guitar signal into your phone or computer is the JOYO audio interface, usually around $18. It's USB-C, plug-and-play, has headphone monitoring, and works great with OpenFret and Guitar Quest.
The Donner Arena 2000 is the best amp modeler for the money: 80 amp models, 100 IR slots, 278 effects, a looper and drum machine, and a USB-C audio interface, for a fraction of the price of the big names.
The Neural DSP Quad Cortex is the best amp modeler you can buy: 90+ amps, Neural Capture to clone your own rig, and an 8-in/8-out USB interface. Here's what it does and who it's actually for.
The Mogami Gold INST Silent is the best guitar cable: oxygen-free copper, a silent plug that kills the pop when you unplug, and a lifetime warranty. Why a good cable matters and when a cheap one is fine.
The Dunlop Matt Heafy Custom Max-Grip Jazz III is the best pick for speed and accuracy: a small, sharp 1.38mm pick that won't slip. Why Jazz III shapes win for lead playing and who should use something bigger.
The Electro-Voice Everse 8 is the best battery-powered PA speaker: 400W, 12+ hours of battery, weatherized, Bluetooth, and a built-in mixer. The portable PA for busking, patios, and anywhere without an outlet.
The Electro-Voice ZLX-15P G2 is the best powered PA speaker: 1,000W, 15-inch, DynaCord DSP, Bluetooth, and app control. The pick for gigs, rehearsals, and FRFR use with an amp modeler.
Why Elixir Nanoweb are the best electric guitar strings, the gauges I use for E and D standard, how often to change strings, and how OpenFret logs every change for you.
The best beginner guitar is the one that's easy to play and doesn't fight you. Here's why the Ibanez GIO GRGR221PA is our pick, plus what actually matters in a first guitar.
E Major punk rock backing track at 140 BPM. A fast, driving loop through E, C#m, A, and B for working on phrasing, time, chord-tone targeting, and fretboard fluency at speed.
A Major neo soul backing track at 90 BPM. A warm, looping groove through A, E, F#m, and D for working on phrasing, chord-tone targeting, and getting comfortable with major key soul sounds.
G Minor jazz rock backing track at 67 BPM. A slow, looping groove through Eb, Cm, Gm, and Bb for working on phrasing, chord-tone targeting, and getting your ears used to minor key movement.
Db Major progressive rock backing track at 60 BPM. A slow, spacious loop for working on phrasing, chord-tone targeting, and getting comfortable in a key most guitarists avoid.
E Major pop rock backing track at 116 BPM. A bright, up-tempo loop for working on phrasing, chord-tone targeting, and moving around the neck at a pace that keeps you honest.
E Minor psychedelic rock backing track at 80 BPM. A slower, heavier groove for working on phrasing, bends, and finding notes that actually fit over a dark vamp.
C Major pop guitar backing track at 100 BPM for practice and soloing. A clean-looping C major jam to work on phrasing, timing, chord tones, and moving around the neck without getting lost.
Should you pay for a guitarist's Patreon to learn? An honest look at what you're actually buying, the teachers people pay for, when a sub makes sense, and the practice gap neither Patreon nor YouTube fills.
The best free guitar lessons on YouTube, sorted by what you're trying to learn: beginner courses, theory, soloing, and technique. Plus the one habit that turns hours of watching into actual playing.
An honest timeline for learning guitar, milestone by milestone: your first song in a week, open chords in a month, and what 'good' really takes. Plus why consistency beats talent.
Sore fingertips are normal when you start guitar. Why it happens, how long calluses take to form, what speeds it up, and the kind of pain that means you should stop.
Guitar tablature explained from scratch. The six lines, the numbers, and all those weird symbols like h, p, /, and b that nobody explains properly.
The real options for beginner guitar lessons: private teachers, apps, and free online lessons. What each is good at, what to learn first, and when a teacher is worth it.
Everything you need in your first month on guitar. How to hold it, tune it, fret cleanly, your first chords, your first strum, and how to practice so it sticks.
How guitar chord progressions actually work, and the patterns behind thousands of songs (pop, blues, jazz, doo-wop, and the sad and epic ones), written in Roman numerals so you can play them in any key.
Free fretboard diagrams for every chord, scale, and mode in every key, built for quick reference mid-practice. How to use the libraries, and how to turn looking things up into actually playing them.
The circle of fifths, finally explained in plain English. How to read it, how to use it to find keys and chord progressions, and why guitarists should actually care.
How key signatures work on guitar. Reading sharps and flats, figuring out what key a song is in, and the two rules that cover most of what you need.
The CAGED system, explained plainly: how five open chord shapes become movable templates that map the whole fretboard, how to find any chord anywhere, and how to embellish chords using the scale sitting right next to each shape.
Five chord progressions behind thousands of songs. The four magic chords, the 12-bar blues, the doo-wop, and why so many songs sound the same.
Diagnose the weak spot first, then pick the tool. One recommendation each for timing, fretboard knowledge, ear, technique, phrasing, repertoire, theory, and consistency.
Interactive means four different things: tab that plays and loops, lessons that listen to you, lessons with playable widgets on the page, and a real teacher on video. What each is worth.
A free online metronome for guitar players. How to pick a tempo, use tap tempo, set time signatures, and build timing that holds up when the drummer disappears.
Eleven music theory tools in one browser tab. Metronome, tuner, fretboard, chord voicings, scale explorer, circle of fifths, and more. Drag them around, resize them, and it saves your layout.
A tiny, native guitar tuner for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. No sign-up, no ads, no pop-ups. As accurate as clip-on tuners that cost $20-30, except this one is free and lives on your wrist.
How to tune your guitar with a free browser-based chromatic tuner. Covers standard tuning, alternate tunings, and the mistakes most beginners make.
One chord, many voicings. Why a C major at the 8th fret sounds different from an open C, and how swapping voicings makes your playing sound twice as interesting.
Barre chords are the wall most beginners hit around month two. The capo trick, the thumb adjustment, and why squeezing harder makes it worse.
The eight open chords that unlock most songs, the order to learn them in, how to read a chord diagram, and the fixes for buzzing strings and slow chord changes.
The fretboard is the part most players put off. Here's every OpenFret tool for learning it: the free chord, scale, and mode libraries, the Studio fretboard viewer, the tuner, Practice Jams, and Guitar Quest with its Note Names toggle and Fretboard Memory Blitz drill.
A fretboard viewer turns the guitar neck into a living diagram. How to use one to see scales, chords, modes, and intervals without buying another book.
Four practical methods for learning every note on the fretboard. Natural notes, octave shapes, the CAGED system, and a game that made me actually stick with it.
Learn fingerstyle guitar from scratch: which fingers pluck which strings, the Travis picking pattern, an easy waltz pattern, and how to practice fingerpicking so it actually sticks.
What the arrows, the X, the accents, and that sideways-equals symbol mean in a strumming pattern, plus the counting behind them and exactly when to change chords mid-strum.
Eight strumming patterns that cover folk, rock, pop, and country. Plus the one mistake every beginner makes with their strumming hand.
A beginner-friendly path into blues guitar: the 12-bar form in Roman numerals, dominant 7 chords, the shuffle rhythm, the blues scale, and your first licks. Practice it over free backing tracks.
Twelve real songs you can play with two, three, or four beginner chords. Grouped by how many chords you need, so you can match songs to what you already know.
How to stream guitar on Twitch: the audio interface and OBS setup, hearing yourself without latency, picking the Music category, and Twitch's music rules for covers, explained in plain English.
Yes, but the licensed music can get you DMCA-flagged. What Twitch actually allows, why VODs get muted, the OBS audio-track workaround streamers use, and a rights-clean way to stream guitar practice.
Why your bends sound off and your vibrato sounds nervous, and how to fix both. How to bend in tune with your ear and a tuner, the main bend types, and how to build controlled vibrato.
The difference between palm muting and string muting, how to do each one, and how to stop unwanted strings from ringing. The chunky metal/punk sound, the percussive strum, and clean-sounding chords.
How to tune to Drop D in seconds, why one-finger power chords make it a rock and metal staple, the chord shapes that change, and the famous songs that use it. Retune with a free browser tuner.
Five alternate tunings that open up sounds you can't get in standard. How to tune each one, what it's used for, and famous songs you'll recognize.
