There are a LOT of guitar lesson YouTube channels created by guitar players of various skill levels. Some of them are advanced players, some, well, not so much.
While I believe beginners should not learn guitar on YouTube since the millions of lessons provide no structure or direction to follow, intermediate and advanced guitarists can satisfy their quick-hit free guitar lesson needs nicely on the platform.
Here are the top YouTube guitar lesson channels I like and can recommend in 2024. The channels are in no particular order since they are all great, so check them all out.
IMPORTANT! These are MY favorites, not yours. In the world of the anonymous internet, people have the time to bash the channels I like. Please do leave a comment about any other channels you like, but be respectful as if you were talking face-to-face with me.
Andertons (UK)
This is actually a channel for an instrument store in the UK, and as such, they do many gear reviews. Their videos are loads of fun to watch and learn from. The hosts are witty, play great guitar, and provide a lot of insight.
Active Melody (US)
Brian, the host of the channel, publishes mostly intermediate-level blues lessons on his YouTube channel. He composes his own music and breaks things down in a logical way.
Cifra Club (BR)
This channel publishes not only guitar lessons but drums and singing tutorials as well. It is in Portuguese, but the on-screen tabs let you play along seamlessly. Goes to show you that the language of music is universal.
JustinGuitar (UK)
This is one of the original guitar lesson channels dating back to the beginning of YouTube. Justin has grown from recording in his living room, to professional quality lessons. His website categorizes his lessons as well.
GuitarZero2Hero (AU)
This channel concentrates on teaching songs in a simple way, so it's ideal for beginners. Dave, the host of the channel, breaks things down nicely and adds on-screen tabs to his video to make them easier to follow.
Marty Music (US)
Marty Schwartz is one of the longest-running teachers on YT. He has a lot of videos on songs and various techniques. A lot of people follow him, in part because of his energetic, fun teaching style.
Paul Davids (NL)
Paul David's channel is about everything guitar. His calm, laid-back style, combined with a cool sense of humor makes his videos fun to watch.
Sean Daniels (US)
This is another fun channel that isn't strictly about guitar lessons. Sean Daniels has a great personality and his videos are probably more entertaining than they are educational. They don't look particularly good, they are not professionally edited, but they are still fun.
TheGuitarLesson.com (US)
This channel is aimed at beginner guitar players, and as such, has simple to follow basic lessons, as well as song lessons. The cool thing here is that each video has animated tabs showing what the teacher is playing, which makes the lessons easy to follow, even for beginners.
These were my favorite YouTubers who publish guitar lessons and other interesting guitar-related videos. The last one is a shameless plug, it is my channel 🙂
Here are some more channels, and if you know of other ones that are great, please leave them in a comment, I'll have a look. But please don't just spam and self-promote your own channel. Unless it is outstanding, that is.
YouTube is not available in some places (as I realized when visiting Shenzen). You can use VeePN for YouTube TV and their free Chrome addon to get access anywhere.
Which YouTube guitar teacher is the best?
None of my selected teachers on the above guitar lesson YouTube channels can be called "the best".
Each has his own methodology and explains things differently. Some are better at acoustic guitar, some are better at blues, some are funnier, some are more interesting.
On YouTube, you don't need to be confined to any single guitar teacher. There are lots of YouTube channels worthy of following, so you'll never be short of things to learn.
Can beginners learn to play guitar on YouTube for free?
Even though YouTube has millions of video tutorials, beginners should not try to learn to play guitar solely through YouTube.
The reason is that the lessons on YouTube are unstructured and random. Learning anything from 0 requires direction and a set course of action, just like at school, in a hobby, or anything else in life that must be learned.
With each lesson, you are building a foundation for improving your guitar skills. But if the lessons are all over the place, your would-be tower of guitar knowledge will quickly crumble.
It is understandable, that someone would want to learn the guitar through YouTube videos. After all, they are free, readily available, and some of them are very good. But trying to start learning guitar solely on YouTube is a mistake. You can't learn anything by watching random videos. You need a set curriculum, a guide to follow.
Sign up for one of these guitar courses instead. They provide lessons that build on each other, creating a strong foundation of knowledge and skills that will get you playing guitar quickly.
Echoing the sentiments about Marty Schwartz here – his energetic delivery is what got me hooked on his channel years ago, and I still go back for refreshers. It’s interesting to see such a seasoned player adapt and grow over the years, remaining relatable to guitarists of all levels.
Super curious about Sean Danielschannel. You mentioned his content is more entertaining than educational. Would you say his methods are still beneficial for someone hoping to brush up on their skills, or is it more just for fun?
Just wanted to add to the conversation—the animated tabs on TheGuitarLesson.com are a game-changer for visual learners like me. It’s almost like Guitar Hero for real guitar learning, making it super fun and engaging to follow along with the video.
I scrolled past Cifra Club channel sometime back but brushed it off because of the language barrier. Who knew the universal language of music and some on-screen tabs would be all I need. Excited to learn some new rhythms and techniques despite the language. Thanks for the recommendation.
Yes, their lessons are like the ones I create for TheGuitarLesson.com as well. I also use animated tabs on screen, it is very helpful for students.
I really appreciate this roundup. As an intermediate player myself, having a go-to list of reliable YouTube instructors makes life so much easier. I’ve already subscribed to a few from your list and am excited to dive deeper into their content. The variety of teaching styles is a huge plus.
Confused about the recommendation against beginners learning guitar on YouTube. With structured playlists and beginner series, isn’t it possible to follow a more organized path on channels? Would love some clarification on this.
It would be, but they don’t exist. Not even Justinguitar has playlists that are structured well. But if you find one, please send it to me.
Could you elaborate on the criteria used for selecting these YouTube channels? As a guitar player always on the lookout for quality content, I’m curious about what sets these channels apart in your view, especially regarding their teaching methodologies.
These are the ones I personally find most entertaining and of high value. There are lots of other channels I know that are good, but these are my top picks.
Just gave a couple of these channels a try after reading the article, and wow, I must say Active Melody is helping me elevate my blues game like never before. The way Brian breaks down his compositions is intuitive and engaging. Been playing for years and it’s refreshing to learn in this new way.
As someone who has sifted through countless YouTube tutorials for advanced guitar techniques, I absolutely agree that structured learning for beginners may not be ideal on YouTube due to the plethora of unorganized content. However, for musicians with a solid foundation, these channels can be gems for picking up new skills or nuances. I’m glad to see Andertons on the list, their practical insights really add flair to the learning process.
Yeah, I love their humor as well. Their videos are entertaining and informative at the same time, just wish they were a bit shorter.
It’s quite the task you’ve given yourself, narrowing it down to 8 youtube channels, and while I recognize some, there’s hardly any that I have found that good in your list.
The only real one is Andertons but I’d class it as a review or advertising channel more than anything. I enjoy watching it but not for learning anything about actual playing.
I suggest my criteria is profoundly different than that by which you used for this post.
That makes sense as I would class myself a high intermediate to advanced with years of playing behind me as well as I’m making the choices solely for my benefit while your choices are for learners in general.
I, therefore, don’t say you are wrong, but I thought I’d point out my favourites with the idea you may or readers may find them interesting to check out. I won’t be ranking them in any order, just a lot of favourites.
Firstly, good old Claus at GuitarMastery.com. He’s absolutely passionate and dedicated to teaching although I’ve seen a degree of naysayers, but his content is very good, very useful to a wide range of learners and relevant. A definite gem.
I’m a Patreon member for a few youtube tuition sites so I’ll group them here. It’s hard to pick a winner but I’d recommend any of them without hesitating. They are Ben Ellers, Late Night Lessons, and last week I signed up for Shreds 666 Metal channel, it’s not called that, obviously, but simply Shred.
All three are great.
Robert Baker is another great one with nice easy cool lessons on licks and techniques that always sound so good.
Another one I’ve become more into these days would be Bernth channel, again very metal and shredding focused as is Elmo J Karjalainen’s, and that man can seriously play like few others.
Brett Papa is great and provides a change from the heavy and fast, although he is capable of that too. He is like Stitch Method in being very wedded to the caged theory, which I really don’t have much time for, I had been playing many years before coming across it with 3nps and all the many scale positions taped for most scales, I never saw any great plus for me, beginners would find much of worth in mastering it I suspect.
Max Guitar is a great channel as well as CSGuitars and the GOAT of YouTube guitar content which to me is That Pedal Show, it’s that good overall Dan had me literally convinced I was finally mature enough to buy a Tele…..thankfully while try out a Player Tele I came across a Tokai SG and went home with that 🙂
There are a few of my favourites I really enjoy and rate. Some more for tuition others less obviously so. TPS is a gear channel, but I defy anyone to sit and watch Dan and Mick playing each episode and not learn something really cool and worthwhile from them after all, that is still an important way for any beginner to glean some insights that aren’t necessarily being taught.
When I first started, I watched the live video on Zeppelin Song Remains the Same over and over multiple times daily just to try an absorb some of Jimmy Pages playing, and I learned things by myself for sure, which is a real boost at the start of your journey 🙂
I hope you enjoy some of those I’ve mentioned, though there are countless others I probably will wish I mentioned once this is posted, many as good as the ones above.