JamPlay.com – Review
Reviewed By Shawn Bradshaw (Cyberfret.com)
rated (5 out of 5)

The Guitar Lessons

First the main feature, the guitar lessons. JamPlay.com currently offers over 500 lessons with over 175 hours of high-definition video shot at multiple angles. Things are growing fast on the site, so those numbers will only be increasing. There are also 22+ instructors on the site. The plus just means that the number of instructors is growing all of the time. They just added a new instructor as I was starting this review. Dave Felton A.K.A “Gravy” from the band Mushroomhead.

The different teachers bring a variety music styles to the table. On JamPlay.com you can learn bluegrass, rock, blues, jazz, metal, classical, Hawaiian slack key, singing with guitar, fingerstyle, and more. The site also offers lessons on over 150 different songs.  So while there are tons of lessons covering scales, techniques, and music theory…you also get to dig in and learn some real tunes as well. Learn songs from Led Zeppelin to Crosby Stills & Nash, to Lamb of God and more.

The lessons cover all different levels of playing as well. Whether you are a beginner, an intermediate player, or even an advanced player, JamPlay.com has lessons for you. There are some other features the site offers as well. There is a chord library, and a scale library. These are 2 comprehensive references that you will use often as you are learning the instrument.

Another very cool feature is the backing tracks section. Right now there are 58 very high quality jam tracks available in a kinds of different styles. There is tablature available for the rhythm guitar part in the jam, and scale suggestions for you to use when soloing. You can sort the jam tracks by style, key, or the instructor that put the track together.

With so many lessons available, it can be hard to keep track of which ones you have watched. No problem, JamPlay.com keeps track for you. The site even shows the progress you have made in any particular lesson. So you can jump right back in to where you left off. You can even make notes to yourself in each lesson. So if there is a particular section of the video that you want to make sure your review. Or a particular key point that you don’t want to forget, just make a note to yourself on the site.

The lessons also feature supplemental content to complement the videos including tablature of the examples, and jam tracks.

A Guitar Community

One thing that sets JamPlay.com apart from the pack is the integrated community features on the site. While part of it is a forum where you can interact with the teachers as well as other members, there is more than that. You are able to interact with others by making comments right with the different lessons. There is a chat and messaging feature as well.

The Downside

While JamPlay.com is a first class site, I would have liked to see some “bite sized” lessons for people who are crazy busy like me. The longer lesson formats are great. They take you through a logical step by step process in a particular topic. But sometimes you just don’t have time to dedicate to a 30 minute lesson, and would just like to learn a cool short lick or chord progression. Attention deficit lessons :)

The Bottom Line

I took a quick look at JamPlay.com last year when the site first was launched, and it was a cool site. Over a year later I am happy to promote this site to “very cool” status. There are just so many features on this site that make it something I would strongly recommend checking out. Just head on over to the website and click on the “View Free Lessons” button on the left site of the page. You will not only learn some stuff for free, but it will give you a chance to check out the quality of the lessons that JamPlay.com has to offer.

JamPlay.com costs $19.95 for a month by month subscription, but you can also save a bundle by signing up for 3 months, or a year at a time.

I give JamPlay.com 5 out of 5 stars.