Fender Play is an excellent option to consider if you are interested in learning the guitar or bass in your own time and at your own pace. You have complete control over how often you use the Fender Play in exchange for a modest yearly or monthly subscription price. You can also take acoustic, electric, bass, or ukulele guitar classes.
The program is organized, displayed, designed, and packed with various instructional materials and information—an excellent method for anybody to begin their journey via music. People may be spending more time at home, but regardless of the reason, taking guitar lessons online is more popular than ever before regardless of the cause.
And even though this is not a novel idea, the sector that encompasses it has been experiencing explosive growth over the last five years, and many of us are only now beginning to understand what this means.
Fender Play is one of the most well-known online guitar learning services despite being somewhat of a newbie to this market. Since its start in 2017, this has been one of the most popular online guitar learning services available. Fender Play is a service that lives up to its name, even though this legendary brand may have had a competitive advantage in that particular category.
Pro & Cons
- Convenience:
Allows you to access guitar lessons from anywhere with an internet connection, making it easy to fit into your busy schedule. You can pause, rewind, or fast-forward through the lessons as needed, and you can choose your own learning pace. - Variety:
Offers a wide range of lessons, covering different styles of music, techniques, and songs. You can choose from over 500 lessons, which are organized by genre and skill level. - Expert instructors:
Lessons are taught by experienced musicians and educators who are knowledgeable about their respective instruments and styles of music. - Customized learning paths:
Lesson plans are tailored to your individual skill level and goals. You can start with the basics and work your way up to more advanced lessons, or you can skip around and focus on specific topics that interest you. - Affordable:
More affordable than traditional in-person lessons, which can be expensive, especially if you’re taking multiple lessons per week. Fender Play’s monthly subscription fee is a fraction of the cost of in-person lessons.
- Limited interaction:
Lessons are self-paced and pre-recorded, so you don’t have the opportunity to ask questions or get feedback from a live instructor. - No personal connection:
While instructors are knowledgeable and professional, you don’t have the opportunity to develop a personal connection with them the way you would in an in-person lesson. - Requires self-motivation:
Self-paced nature means that you’ll need to be motivated to stick with the lessons and practice on your own. If you’re not self-motivated, you may struggle to progress through the material. - Can’t try out different instructors:
You don’t have the opportunity to try out different instructors to find the one that’s the best fit for you.
Plans/Subscription
| Free Trial | Monthly | Annual |
| Yes | $14.99/£15.59 | $99.99/£109.19 |
How does Fender Play work?
To access the lessons, you’ll need to create an account on the Fender Play website and sign up for a subscription. Once you’re signed up, you can browse through the available lessons and choose the ones that interest you. Each lesson includes a video demonstration of the material, along with written instructions and interactive exercises. You can pause, rewind, or fast-forward through the lessons as needed, and you can track your progress as you go.
During the sign-up process, you will be asked a few questions that will assist them in determining the most appropriate course of action for you.
Because of this, you will get a personalized course that will provide you with lessons that include information that you are going to receive and teachers from whom you will benefit the most.
This sign-up procedure may need to be revised, but it does help narrow down some of the material by filtering out what is irrelevant to you and simplifying other aspects to simplify navigating.
Fender Play’s lesson plans are tailored to your individual skill level and goals. You can start with the basics and work your way up to more advanced lessons, or you can skip around and focus on specific topics that interest you. You can also use the platform’s built-in practice tools, such as the virtual guitar and metronome, to help you hone your skills.
Is Fender Play right for me?
Fender Play is a convenient and affordable option for learning to play guitar, bass, or ukulele, but it’s not for everyone. If you’re someone who prefers a more interactive and personal learning experience, you may be better off taking traditional in-person lessons.
However, if you’re looking for a flexible and convenient way to learn an instrument, Fender Play may be a good fit for you. It’s especially well-suited for busy individuals who don’t have the time or resources to commit to regular in-person lessons. With Fender Play, you can access the lessons from anywhere with an internet connection, and you can choose your own learning pace.
In addition, Fender Play is an affordable option compared to traditional in-person lessons, which can be expensive, especially if you’re taking multiple lessons per week. If you’re on a budget or you’re just starting out with your instrument, Fender Play may be a more cost-effective choice.
Overall, Fender Play is a useful resource for musicians of all levels who are looking to improve their skills and learn new techniques. It’s an accessible and convenient way to learn an instrument, and it can be a fun and rewarding experience for anyone who is passionate about music.
Guitar Lessons
Determining whether current online training benefits guitarists is demanding in the grand scheme. Still, at least Fender is astute enough to maintain its website at a reasonable price point for most people. Therefore, before even delving into the particulars of the new Fender Play website, we suggest that most students give it a go. Furthermore, most people who read this post will receive your money’s worth since the service offers a free trial and low monthly pricing of just $9.99.
Simple in its functioning
Fender is aware of the intense online competition; nonetheless, they believe that maintaining an easy-to-use website and offering memberships at affordable prices would give them a better chance of competing with the plethora of other sites. When you go to the website for the first time, you should remember to bring your guitar with you since you will soon be playing an enjoyable game. When we go to a new website, the very first thing we do is look around to see what captures our interest right away. After registering for the service, we first went to the music page to obtain an overview of what was available.
Songs Lessons
A wide variety of music is available, ranging from classic to contemporary, mainstream to, at times, more underground fare. My favorite thing is when a website introduces me to music that I would have never considered studying on my own, such as “Moonage Daydream” by David Bowie or “One Nation Under a Groove” by Parliament Funkadelic. You may easily pass several hours simply wandering about in various musical genres such as country, funk, blues, pop, rock, and folk music. Each song has a video instructor with high-quality sound and zoomed-in footage, where required, to demonstrate chord progressions and strumming techniques.
Song Details
The videos aren’t overproduced for flashiness; instead, they get straight to the point and do an excellent job of making it feel like the teacher is standing in your living room. The song segment in question has a few issues that must be addressed. One of the issues is that they don’t always play the whole song; in other instances, they play the primary riffs, which might be very frustrating for students looking for comprehensive teaching.
Lesson on guitar skills
In addition, there is a section on guitar technique in Fender Play. Chord dictionaries, basic strumming, methods, music theory, and even a section on guitar tone are some of the things included (switches, pickups, and pedals). In addition, a portion referred to as “My Path” gives you the opportunity to go through the classes in the same manner as if you had a private teacher guiding you.
Not for experienced players to attempt
This website’s most glaring flaw is that it needs to be geared at experienced players rather than novices and those with some playing experience. As a result, this site does not provide the special training necessary to become a guitar god if you have been playing for a long time and are seeking it. However, the website is still one that we suggest to guitarists with considerable performing experience under their belts. Why? Because the website is so helpful for review, whether it be of old skills you’ve long since forgotten or tunes you’ve never considered playing before. On the other hand, Jamplay is an excellent option to consider if you want to learn more advanced techniques.
In addition to the bass and the ukulele
The fact that they also provide training for the ukulele and bass is just another reason why this website is so impressive. These days, many of us play various instruments, so it’s excellent to be able to mix them up. For example, after learning a fantastic riff on the electric guitar, you can learn some renowned bass lines without paying for another site. Fender Play is intended chiefly for beginning guitarists who might benefit from disciplined practice and fresh concepts.
The Function of the Fender Play
There are a few key advantages that set Fender Play apart from the plethora of free instructional videos that are available on YouTube. To begin, the videos have very high standards of production quality. They are taken from various perspectives, including close-ups that show what each hand is doing. It allows you to readily understand how and where your fingers should be placed. These are often shown in split screen format so that both may be seen simultaneously. An over-the-shoulder view of the left hand that further clarifies its location may also be included.
Although a wide range of qualified teachers is included in the videos, each one follows the same format and has the same overall appearance and feel. Lessons begin with the fundamentals, such as how to hold a guitar and pluck the strings, and Progress to more advanced topics, such as playing riffs from famous songs and playing along with backing tracks. These lessons were developed with help from actual music schools.
Everything is split down into manageable portions, allowing you to jump about, skip ahead, or start and stop the classes and practice sessions whenever possible. You can see how long it will take to finish each part of a course, which ranges from three to fifteen minutes on average.
Each course is divided into several levels, and many real-world songs are devoted to instruction.
Because the user interface is so nicely designed, you can see your overall Progress through a particular course, the classes you have finished, and those you still need to complete.
Fender Play insights
You only need to complete some course levels before moving on to another one. Furthermore, if you discover that the early lessons are too fundamental for you, you are free to go to a higher level to locate anything that will test your abilities.
As someone who has played the guitar for several years, both acoustic and electric, but has only been interested in learning bass, I was curious to see how well Fender Play would work for someone like me who isn’t a total beginner but is new to this kind of instrument.
The first few classes were more helpful than anybody had anticipated. They demonstrated the correct technique for plucking strings and the optimal positions to rest your arm and fingers.
I could immediately identify where I was going wrong and rectify those errors since I had previously learned the appropriate technique, which is crucial to proceeding to more sophisticated skills later in one’s training. However, you will need to do your evaluation since, unlike a live instructor, a video cannot point out the areas in which you need help understanding the material.
You can see the movie in its entirety; however, even when the video is shrunk, it is still possible to see chord diagrams and tab notation in time with the music.
There is a new feedback mode in the guitar courses, but not the bass ones; this mode is currently in beta. You may utilize the feedback option to record your playing once you’ve learned how to play a song by watching the accompanying training videos. Then, you’ll get comments on the parts of your performance that need more work.
At first, you’ll be presented with a score screen that details the piece’s duration, pitch, and rhythm. But if you shut that, you’ll see a line that indicates how accurate your playing was and points out the locations where your pitch or time was off. If you do that, you’ll get a line that shows how accurate your playing was.
Fender music lessons
The music collection that comes with Fender Play is extensive and packed with tunes from various musical styles. There are always going to be new songs uploaded. You may search for them according to the content and the degree of difficulty.
A good number of tunes are suitable for beginners, in addition to a good number of more challenging songs. The number of guitars may determine the difficulty picks shown. You can choose Made Easy, Making Progress, or Challenging songs.
Artists such as Joni Mitchell, The Rolling Stones, Nirvana, and Ed Sheeran are just a few of the names that will be mentioned to you. However, the rock genre is the one that is most widely represented.
The incredible thing is that Fender Play has released its own Songs app, which has more than 750,000 songs. Guitarists looking to broaden their repertoire or find songs to perform that are not as well-known will find this a beneficial tool.
What else is included in the Fender Play?
The platform comes with several helpful additional features. For example, a tuner for the ukulele, electric bass, and acoustic guitar, electric bass, a dictionary, and an online chord chart to assist you in learning the vocabulary.
The Fender Tone Amp Control App may also be accessed via Fender Play. In addition, you can exercise remote control over your amplification device if you have a suitable Fender amplifier, such as the Rumble or the Mustang GT.
When you subscribe to Fender Play by picking their up-front yearly pass, you not only save 10% on Fender items like amps and guitars, but you also receive a free bonus worth 10% of the total cost of the pass.
Community of Fender Play
Fender Play has an active presence on Facebook. On that page, several teachers post weekly challenges, offering Fender goods, merchandise, and gift certificates as prizes for further motivation and inspiration.
There is also a group on Facebook that you may become a member of. This group is designed to bring together new players, establish a connection between you and your teachers, and provide you with unique information and advice on improving your practice.
Because the Fender Play platform is still in its infancy, there is much room for improvement in developing a robust community and establishing connections between students and instructors.
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Final Words
Fender Play is, in its most basic form, a resource for anybody interested in learning the foundations of playing the guitar, bass, or ukulele. In this respect, it performs a fantastic job of fulfilling its purpose. The classes are nicely paced and succinct while covering a lot of ground. Everyone learns uniquely, and Fender Play has done an excellent job of balancing the theoretical and the practical.
FAQ:
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Is Fender Play a good way to learn guitar?
Fender Play is a good way to learn guitar will depend on your individual learning style and needs.
Some players may find the structured lesson format and interactive features of the platform to be very helpful, while others may prefer a different approach. It is always a good idea to do some research and consider what is most important to you when it comes to learning guitar, whether that be the type of content offered, the teaching style, or other factors. -
Is Fender Play worth it for beginners?
If you are a beginner and are looking for a structured and comprehensive way to learn guitar, Fender Play might be worth considering. It features instructional videos, interactive exercises, and song lessons, as well as resources for learning different musical styles and techniques.
