My Thoughts On Truefire S Guitar Lessons As An Intermediate Player

Emily Johnson

-Mar 12, 2026, 10:50 AM

my thoughts on truefire s guitar lessons as an intermediate player

Like many of you, I started out in my teens, learning from a teacher, books, and DVDs. How things have changed 🙂 I play guitar as a hobby, and have basically been stuck at the upper-intermediate level for decades. I tried other means of advancing, which didn't work out that well for me. Finally, after all this time, I decided to give TrueFire a try to help me break out of my multi-decade rut. That was about a year ago.

So in this review, I want to share my experiences with TrueFire as an intermediate player, and whether it's worth investing in for guitarists looking to take their playing to the next level. And I'm not just talking about investing money, but rather your time, as I think it's much more valuable than the $12 you end up paying per month. Now, I'll be upfront - TrueFire isn't perfect, and it may not be the best fit for everyone. But for me, it's been a valuable tool on my renewed guitar journey. Like many of you, I started out in my teens, learning from a teacher, books, and DVDs. How things have changed

I play guitar as a hobby, and have basically been stuck at the upper-intermediate level for decades. I tried other means of advancing, which didn’t work out that well for me. Finally, after all this time, I decided to give TrueFire a try to help me break out of my multi-decade rut. That was about a year ago. So in this review, I want to share my experiences with TrueFire as an intermediate player, and whether it’s worth investing in for guitarists looking to take their playing to the next level. And I’m not just talking about investing money, but rather your time, as I think it’s much more valuable than the $12 you end up paying per month.

Now, I’ll be upfront – TrueFire isn’t perfect, and it may not be the best fit for everyone. But for me, it’s been a valuable tool on my renewed guitar journey. As a guitar teacher of 20+ years, I've seen my fair share of online lesson platforms come and go. One of the sites that stuck around is TrueFire.com. 52,000? Lessons from world-renowned artists like Steve Vai and Tommy Emmanuel?

Sounds impressive... So for the last year or so, I've been using Truefire regularly for many of my practice sessions. I dove into the vast lesson universe of TrueFire, completed a few courses, tried all the features, and so on. In this no-holds-barred review, I'll give you an insider's perspective on what works, and reveal what doesn't. TrueFire has been teaching guitar since 1991. It started with VHS tapes and transferred to online lessons in the 2010s.

TrueFire also owns ArtistWorks.com, and acquired Jamplay.com in 2022 as well, adding all of its lessons to the TrueFire library. TrueFire offers a smorgasbord of online guitar tuition that’s suitable for beginners and lifelong learners alike. From blues to flamenco, there's lots for everyone. We have questions about the lacklustre song library, but there's plenty elsewhere on the site to keep most players busy. Covers niche and specific aspects of the instrument In-depth courses for virtually every guitar genre

Platform is a little messy due to size and diversity of content You can trust Guitar World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test. In this in-depth review of TrueFire, we’re going to see how this guitar training subscription program stacks up to the competition. We’ll go over what’s covered in the course, what it’s like to go through lessons and whether it’s actually the best option to learn how to play the guitar correctly. If you’d like to see our entire list of rankings for best way to learn guitar, check out our guitar class buyers guide for the full take on the top online guitar lessons.

Should You Subscribe: If you’re an absolute beginner, then NO, DON’T go with TrueFire. That’s not something other reviews will tell you. There are better options out there for complete beginners. Through these times of great advancements in technology, online guitar websites have also been developing massively. From YouTube videos, Fender Play, Yousician, and GuitarTricks, there is an overwhelming amount of resources to choose from. Many times it’s just too much to choose from, which can discourage students from learning the guitar.

*This review was conducted by signing up to TrueFire’s free 2-week full access. TrueFire is the single biggest resource for guitar players, and they have a lifetime’s worth of lessons accumulated in a single website. They have official courses from some of the most legendary guitarists and the hottest guitarists in the industry. by Nick Stockton February 10, 2025, 6:36 pm Studies show that up to 16 million people, or 7% of the US population, picked up a guitar for the first time during the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic. With in-person lessons largely off the table, the online lessons market exploded.

There are more options now than ever before for beginning guitar players just starting out on their guitar journey. That's great and all—but where does that leave the rest of us, the intermediate and advanced guitar players who are yearning for new, challenging content to bolster our repertoires and keep our creativity stimulated? That's where TrueFire comes in. Players seeking intermediate and advanced online lessons may find just what they're looking for in TrueFire's massive vault of online content. I'm a musician with over 20 years of experience playing and teaching guitar. While I think in-person lessons are generally the best way to learn guitar, that's not always an option—they're pricey, for one thing, and it can be really hard to find a reliable instructor in...

I set out on a mission to find the best online guitar lessons out there so people who don't have access to in-person instruction can still have a chance to learn how to play... In this review, I'll help you determine whether TrueFire would be a good choice for your needs. Together, we'll examine its curriculum, content structure, and more to hopefully give you a good idea of what to expect. I'll also go over a few alternatives to TrueFire in case you think there might be a better online guitar lessons platform for you. Guitar Aficionado is supported by readers. If you buy something after clicking on one of our links, we may get an affiliate commission from that & it won’t cost you anything.

Since its inception in 2003, Justin Guitar has remained one of the most popular guitar learning platforms, especially for those who have never touched a guitar in their life. Justin Guitar is backed by guitar legends such as Steve Vai and Brian May, giving its name a ton of gravity. However, name association alone isn’t enough to get us sold on an online guitar learning platform. For Justin Guitar to prove its worth, it has to get past the oldest and arguably the most notable online guitar learning platform available: TrueFire. In this in-depth Justin Guitar vs. TrueFire comparison article, we attempt to figure out which of these two platforms is best for beginner, intermediate, and advanced players.

My Thoughts On Truefire S Guitar Lessons As An Intermediate Player

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