Review of Jamorama Standard and Deluxe - Should You Buy Jamorama's Online Guitar Lessons?

Jamorama is a highly popular course of online guitar lessons. There are many 'reviews' out there, but not all are genuine. This review is based on my own experience of working though the course, and explains who Jamorama is - and isn't - suited to. I originally wrote this in July 2009, but course has undergone some significant updates in December 2009, so I'm updating the review accordingly.

I'm not a beginner guitarist (I've been playing for several years), but as Jamorama is among the most popular online guitar courses available, I wanted to check it out to see if it was worth recommending on my guitar site - and of course it never hurts to revisit the fundamentals too! My overall impression of the course is a positive one, but I don't think that it's the best choice for everyone, and this review explains why.

What Is Jamorama?

Jamorama is a course of downloadable guitar lessons which is available in two versions: Standard and Deluxe. The Standard version teaches you to play rhythm guitar and acoustic guitar, as well as general musicianship - so you learn chords, progressions, reading tab and basic notation, basic music theory (including scales and chord construction), playing along with a band, various rhythmic patterns and strumming techniques, ear training and more. The Deluxe version includes all of the above materials, as well as a course of lead guitar lessons, making it ideal for those who want to learn solo guitar playing too.

The materials are delivered in text, video and audio format, and there are several software bonuses which complement the main course. Since it's downloadable, you get instant access to all of the materials in the member's area after making your payment - no need to wait for anything to arrive in the post! The Standard course features:

• Jamorama Books 1 & 2 - rhythm guitar instruction in PDF, with full colour photos and illustrations. Most of the music is notated in tab (basic traditional notation is introduced, but you don't need it to play the material in the course). There are 15 lessons in Book 1, and 29 in Book 2
• Video lessons - video instruction for each new chord and exercise, showing the correct positions for both hands, the fretboard and other information
• Audio jam tracks - enable you to practice playing with others, in a variety of musical styles
• Acoustic Focus Lessons - two more instruction books with an additional 26 jam tracks, this time focusing exclusively on acoustic guitar techniques
• Chord Kit - instruction for playing chords, in the form of an ebook, videos and the Chordinator software game

Plus there are several bonuses too, available with both versions of the course:

• GuitEarIt! - ear training software to improve your aural skills - vital if you want to be able to play by ear or improvise
• Jamorama Metronome - makes it easy to practice playing in time
• Jayde Musica - a software game to help you learn to read music quickly and easily
• Guitar Tuner Pro - simple software that helps you to tune your guitar accurately to a variety of tunings
• How To Tune Your Guitar - PDF guide to various tuning methods

The Deluxe version of the course features all of the above materials, plus:

• Lead Guitar Course - ebook, videos and jam tracks with lead guitar instruction
• Lead Guitar Licks - jam tracks and videos to help you develop your solo skills even more
• Advanced Learning Techniques For Guitar - PDF guide to learning more quickly and effectively
• Free access to SongPond - 30 days free membership to the SongPond website, which offers video tutorials showing you how to play a large range of popular songs on guitar or piano

There's also a member's only forum on the Jamorama site, and the course is fully guaranteed for eight weeks after purchase - so you can try it with confidence.

Is This A Good Quality Course?

So you get a lot of learning material, but is it actually any good? For the most part, I'm impressed with the quality of the Jamorama materials. The software all runs smoothly, the books are well written and clearly presented and illustrated, the audio is professionally recorded, and the videos are just excellent. I also had no problems with downloading the course after making my payment, and the website is easy to navigate. All of these materials are organised into zip files, and are easy to download and access from your desktop. There's also a 'Read Me' file in each section, which explains exactly what's included, and where to start, so finding your way around the course is very straightforward.

It's not perfect however; I didn't really like reading off the screen (especially when a jam track was more than one page long), so I ended up printing the text out. Of course this is a limitation of digital documents generally, and isn't unique to Jamorama. Also, I noticed a few typos in the course text, which are potentially misleading, and it's a shame to see these in such an otherwise good product. Still, anyone who's paying attention to what they're learning should easily spot them.

Reasons To Buy (And Not To Buy) Jamorama

Generally, I think Jamorama is very good. It's not right for everyone though - here's why you should (or shouldn't) buy Jamorama:

• Buy if you're a beginner, or you already play a bit of guitar, but want to improve your skills. Don't buy if you're an advanced guitarist who's already mastered a wide variety of chords, progressions, strumming techniques etc.
• Buy if you want to learn to play popular styles on electric or acoustic guitar. Don't buy if you want to play classical, flamenco or other non-pop styles - Jamorama doesn't cater for these.
• Buy if you're self-motivated and want to learn at home, at your own pace. Don't buy if you'd prefer one to one instruction with a private teacher.
• Buy if you want to play rhythm and/or lead guitar. If you already play rhythm guitar well, the first part of the course may not be so relevant to you, although it never hurts to refresh your knowledge.
• Buy if you want to learn the skills that you'll need to play popular songs in most styles. Don't buy if you only want to learn specific well known songs - Jamorama doesn't cover these (SongPond does, however, and you get 30 days free access as a bonus if you get Jamorama Deluxe).
• Buy if you have a decent computer and internet connection, and are ok with learning from digital materials (or printing the material out). Don't buy if you can't download the course material, or you only want to learn from physical media (there is a physical version of Jamorama, but in my opinion it's a bit overpriced).
• Buy if you want a great value complete course for the cost of a couple of lessons with a private teacher. Don't buy if you need or prefer the personal attention that one on one instruction provides.

Summary

I think that Jamorama is a very solid, professional course that does what it claims - so long as you commit yourself and practice diligently, you'll go from beginner to intermediate level, and will be able to play some pretty impressive stuff by the end of it. The amount of time needed will obviously vary for different people, but there's roughly about a year's worth of lessons here.

The course progresses in a very logical manner, so you're always building on what you've learned already (one of the problems with the free guitar lessons available online is that they generally focus on just a few specialised areas, and don't cover all of the necessary basic techniques, so you end up with a lot of gaps in your skill set - this isn't an issue with Jamorama, which provides a very thorough grounding in the essentials that underpin many musical styles).

Although Jamorama isn't ideal for everyone, the Standard version is a great choice for those who want a high quality, enjoyable course that provides the skills necessary for playing rhythm guitar in various genres (and remember that rhythm skills are essential for would-be lead guitarists too), and the Deluxe version is best for those who want lead skills too.

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