This article was published on February 26, 2019

Fender Play is an excellent guitar tutor for people with social anxiety


Fender Play is an excellent guitar tutor for people with social anxiety

The very idea of traveling to a music store or inviting someone into my home to get one-on-one guitar lessons makes my stomach hurt. Like millions of other people, I live with social anxiety. Fenderā€™s Play app is marketed as the next-best-thing to live tutoring, so I decided to see if it could help me.

First off, letā€™s be crystal clear: most experts agree the best way to learn guitar is from a tutor, preferably in-person. Paying a professional for lessons directly contributes to your local music community. More importantly for your education, it also means youā€™ve got someone there to help you break bad habits before they start.

However, if ā€” for whatever reason ā€” thatā€™s not the best option for you, thereā€™s nothing wrong with being a musical autodidact. And theĀ Fender PlayĀ app makes it easier than any other solution Iā€™ve tried.

The first thing Fender Play gets right is the interface. Thereā€™s plenty to do inside the app, and youā€™re always free to skip around and take lessons in whatever order you please, but itā€™s also very simple to just follow the ā€œpathā€ you select.

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Your path includes your instrument and the style of your choice. The instrument options are:

  • Acoustic guitar
  • Electric guitar
  • Bass guitar
  • Ukulele

And the style choices are:

  • Rock
  • Blues
  • Folk
  • Country
  • Pop

These can be changed at any time. And thereā€™s plenty of overlap between acoustic and electric guitar, but I didnā€™t find it to be a problem. I chose the acoustic guitar blues path ā€“ it goes well with my cheap acoustic guitar and taste for whiskey. It should go without saying youā€™ll need to provide your own instrument.

Rather than try and figure out what everything did all at once I just tapped ā€œstartā€ on the first lesson. A pleasant-sounding person in a well-lit room patiently explained what a guitar was. I moved on to the next lesson. Someone else explained a few more things about the guitar (those lines under the strings are called ā€˜fretsā€™ yā€™all). And then someone showed me how to tune my guitar. I just downloaded Fenderā€™s free Tune app and used that. Eventually a different smiling person asked me to play my firstĀ note on my guitar and strum along with him. My journey of personal discovery and tasty licks began.

This is pretty much the Fender Play experience. You watch videos while you play guitar. Thereā€™s no gamification here, so it doesnā€™t matter if you actually play along or not ā€“ nobody is keeping score. But, rather than learn a system you can buck, your challenge is to sound as good as the people on your screen.

The lessons begin slowly. A smiling woman on the screen, at one point, says ā€œThis is a whole note. I want you to strum once every four beats. Iā€™ll count you in, ready?ā€ and when she counts thereā€™s a good three ā€œMississippisā€ in-between each number. Oh my god itā€™s so slow.

But, things pick up quickly. A few lessons later and, after losing track of how many fingers I have on my left hand (seriously, only five? WhoseĀ idea was that?), I watch as some dude grins devilishly at me before saying ā€œSoon, youā€™ll be able to pull off more complex combinations,ā€ before weedly-deedlying up an Eddie Van Halen-esque solo to end the video.

I, too, want to make magic sounds with my hands. The stranger on my screen has inspired me to try the next lesson. Before long,Ā Iā€™m playing the riff from ā€œTrain Kept Rolling.ā€ Iā€™m a blues guitarist now: hand me a smart hat and Iā€™ll play you a sad song.

Fender Play works across Android, iOS, and most browsers. That means you can pick up where you left off across your devices and computers. Itā€™s quite cool to take guitar lessons on your phone while strumming along outside under a tree ā€“ but the app didnā€™t seem to work without an internet connection, so beware if youā€™re on a limited data plan.

The elephant in the room is that, essentially, you could learn to play guitar for free by watching YouTube videos and tutorials. Fender Play has a 14-day free trial, afterwards itā€™s $9.99 per month. Iā€™ll just come right out and say it: seems expensive. As a consumer, Iā€™m delighted by the idea of learning guitar in just seven minutes a dayā€¦ but Iā€™m also concerned I wonā€™t get my 10 bucks-worth if I donā€™t soak up as many lessons as possible. This is a weird place youā€™ve put me in, Fender.

Let me demystify the situation: itā€™s still worth it, I think. The congruous nature of the lessons, the obvious expertise of Fenderā€™s teachers, and the absolutely perfect videography (youā€™ve always got a clear angle of your teacherā€™s hands as they finger and strum the guitar, often zoomed-in and split-screen) make it a no-brainer.

Plus there are hundreds of included, well-known songs you can learn and play along to. Iā€™m currently learning ā€œAinā€™t No Sunshineā€ by Bill Withers. I also like that all the information I need is always on the screen, and the teachers are warm and cheerful without becoming obnoxious or distracting from your lesson.

I highly recommend this app to anyone whoā€™s ever wanted to learn to play guitar, but always had an excuse not to. Playing an instrument is great for your mental health, technology like the Fender Play app makes it easier than ever to learn, and weā€™ve even set up a short guide to help you pick the right instrument for you. Thereā€™s never been a better time to rock than right now.


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