These are very different platforms for learning guitar. Straight up, I can tell you that I prefer Guitar Tricks. This platform has a lot more variety to cater to more learning styles. It boasts sequential video lessons, that break down complex topics into easy-to-understand chunks. Comparatively, the main lessons through Yousician are more like a game. Yet, there are a few other things to consider when pitting Yousician vs Guitar Tricks.
I would recommend trying the free trial out for each and making the decision for yourself. Both of these lessons have a decent trial period.
If you are a beginner, give Guitar Tricks a run first. It will give you a few extra knowledge bites to hit the ground running with your Yousician trial. This will allow you to get the best impression of both courses.
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Strengths
Weaknesses
Strengths
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The main appeal for this to me is that you can learn a bunch of different instruments if you have a premium account. If you are just starting to get into music, I would recommend starting out with one musical instrument so you don't stretch yourself too thin.
It is reasonably easy to move to a related instrument such as bass guitar or ukulele once you have the basics down. Conversely, hitting up piano lessons at the same time as trying to learn guitar could slow progress for both instruments. Use your head when deciding which instruments you want to conquer.
The second benefit of Yousician is that it's fun! If you are familiar with Guitar Hero or Rocksmith the interface will feel familiar for a Yousician guitar lesson. The main difference is that the notes scroll sideways instead of from the front. A small white ball guides you and helps you find your timing as the fretboard is marked to tell you where to play.
There are also other games that will help you learn chords and how to strike notes among other new skills.
Although this is a fun way to learn guitar, it has its downsides.
It's not an ideal way to learn for an absolute beginner.
You have to have a basic understanding of how the instrument works before you get started with this kind of lesson. You could be playing completely wrong. You could also be getting the notes right, but holding the instrument wrong. You'd get away with this for the early lessons but run into trouble as you progress. It is very important to have good posture while you play guitar too. This is not something addressed in Yousician.
A second downfall is that you don't have much interaction with sheet music or guitar tablature. When you want to learn a song outside of the app you will need to be familiar with at least one of these. Using a guitar tab is straight forward and the Yousician app games should provide a basic understanding. But, without consistent exposure, it will limit your progress.
People who have trouble with motivation will appreciate the fun style of learning. The lack of formal lesson structure will be very appealing to such individuals. Having trouble at school may be a good indication you'd prefer this type of lesson.
If you have picked up a guitar before and just want to learn a ton of new songs Yousician is a great way to do it.
Intermediate guitarists that can read ultimate guitar tabs but have timing issues would benefit greatly from using Yousician.
Experienced musicians who want to learn more than one instrument will also have a good time with this app.
Those that want a formal video lesson for each concept and song.
Absolute newbies will struggle a bit more with much weaker introductory lessons on this platform.
Very experienced guitarists won't get a lot out of these lessons.
Difficult skills that you need to drill or have explicitly explained such as sweep picking or tapping are not well represented.
People who want to learn on their computer. Yousician only comes as an app for your smart device.
This program has over 11000 lessons and 1000 song tutorials for guitar. With so many lessons and a variety of ways to learn it should be easy for anyone to find something that suits them.
Whether you are looking for an absolute beginner lesson, to improve your music theory, or master a difficult guitar skill there is something for you.
There are many different ways you can approach the platform. You can go through a guitar course that follows genres, pick out individual lessons, or just learn your favorite song from the huge variety of popular songs.
The guitar tricks app is pretty decent and has the whole platform on it. It's not quite as interactive as the Yousician app but offers enough for it not to be a weakness.
In spite of its huge range of lessons and tools, GT does not have any interactive play-along songs like Yousician. If you specifically want this type of lesson you may have to look elsewhere.
There is so much to unpack about this platform as it is HUGE. Check out our full Guitar Tricks Review to get a more thorough understanding.
Anyone who wants 'proper' lessons. The teachers for this platform are awesome and explain everything in great detail. It may seem a little overwhelming to being with, but you will adapt over time.
Serious musicians will get a lot more use out of these lessons. There is a lot available to improve small skills as well as broad courses for fast progression if coupled with consistent practice.
People that don't enjoy a typical lesson structure and just want to pick up and play are probably not well suited to GT. There are still plenty of ways to do this on this platform but the bulk of the platform is dedicated to video lessons.
Guitar tricks do not include any other instruments. Not even bass. So, if you want to learn any other stringed instrument Yousician is a better choice.
Guitar Tricks $19.95
Yousician $19.99
It's easy to see which is better priced for a monthly subscription. If you account for all the extra features that Guitar Tricks has, it more than justifies paying the same.
Guitar Tricks $179
Yousician Premium+ $200
GT is cheaper for its yearly subscription and is heavily discounted when compared to its monthly option.
With a yearly membership from Yousician, you get access to lessons for all the extra instruments though. It is worth the cost if this appeals to you.
After the 14-day all-access trial, GT also has a huge 60-day window for a no-questions-asked refund. That gives you a whopping 74 days to try out the system risk-free.
Yousician has a much shorter "cooling off period" of 14 days. Not quite enough to get a feel for the program unless you play every day.
Guitar Tricks, for sure. The platform eases you into playing a lot slower and will prevent you from forming any bad habits early on.
Yes! There is a huge range of lessons on GT, JamPlay, and Fender Play among other platforms that cater specifically to difficult skills.
I had a lot of trouble learning certain skills and used lessons to overcome plateaus - I'm sure you are familiar with those perceived skill ceilings. Practice, practice, practice with a little guidance is the way to conquer them.
Guitar Tricks is hands down a better system for learning guitar properly. Yousician is more for mucking around and learning to play at home for your own benefit. It is a lot more fun for this purpose and has a lot to offer in terms of learning extra instruments. However, it lacks severely when compared to all the tools and lessons available on Guitar Tricks.
If you want to compare more guitar lesson providers check out our big review here.
Hi, I'm Duncan, the owner, creator, and head writer for InciteMusic.com
I have been a touring cover musician and a teacher for the last 10 years and take helping people to achieve their musical goals very seriously.
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