Here are my go-to YouTube resources as a self-taught guitarist
As a follow-up to one of my previous articles on learning guitar, I will share some online resources that have helped me along the way.
As a largely self-taught guitarist (I have taken professional lessons from a wonderful teacher on occasions in the past), I find myself utilizing teachers from YouTube to improve my playing.
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with any of these content creators. Also, this is not a ranking of these teachers.
Finally, these teachers mostly cover popular rock, metal, and some blues genres. If someone is interested in other genres such as jazz or country, there may be more appropriate resources out there.
All are incredibly talented and passionate teachers who truly love to share the gift of music with others. Without further ado, here they are.
Justin Sandercoe (aka Justinguitar)
I initially came across Justin’s channel while trying to find a lesson on a particular solo I was learning.
However, his series on effective guitar practice changed how I structured my practice sessions, by providing a list of which areas to focus on.
Justin’s site offers free (at the time of this writing) courses for both beginners and intermediates.
The beginner course builds a foundation of knowledge and technique that is expanded on in the intermediate course. He also has lists of songs in each course geared toward that skill level.
Justin also has lessons on music theory, blues, improvisation and soloing, and gear reviews and recording setups.
He is a great resource for beginners and even intermediates looking to learn guitar as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Steve Stine
I found Steve’s channel while searching for a technique practice routine geared towards intermediate players. By following his recommendations in this video, I was able to increase my technical proficiency on the guitar to a noticeable extent over several months.
Steve also has a great video on how to structure your practice routine. His recommendation of the four areas to practice is how I currently structure my practice sessions, and it has been very effective.
Steve also has tons of lessons on music theory, modes, soloing and improvisation. Steve has a very down-to- Earth personality, and has the ability to articulately explain complex subjects in an easy-to-understand manner.
Carl Brown (GuitarLessons365)
Carl is another incredibly talented player and teacher, and he is one of my main go-to’s when I want to learn an entire song phrase by phrase. He has a couple of different channels, but the one I use the most is GuitarLessons365Song, which has thousands of songs he breaks down and teaches note-for-note.
Carl’s playlist features quite a few incredibly difficult hard rock and metal genre songs, and I truly appreciate his ability to not only transcribe how to play it, but his performances of the song (he demonstrates each section by playing through it at full speed) are also incredibly well done.
I can say I have learned dozens of songs note-for-note, as well as just the guitar solos for quite a few songs.
Marty Schwartz (aka Marty Music)
Last, but not least, is Marty Schwartz. Marty is another incredibly talented guitarist. His channel is a mix of song lessons, and rock and blues lessons.
What makes Marty stand out is his ability to really break down parts of a song or a technique and simplify it. He also teaches simpler ways of playing particular songs, while still making it sound true to the original piece. This is where he really shines in regards to helping players who may be closer to the beginner stage
Whether you are more of a beginner or an intermediate guitar player, you can’t go wrong with utilizing these teachers. Happy rocking!