First – a bit of background. I’m not a novice guitarist, but have been playing for several years. I also play the piano and other instruments, and have a solid grounding in music theory. So the material in the Jamorama course isn’t really new to me. However, it’s always good to go over the basics again from time to time, and I found the course to be very valuable as a refresher and for filling a few holes in my technique. I bought it partly for my own benefit, and partly because Jamorama is among the most popular and well-known of the online guitar courses, and I wanted to try it myself so I could write a review for this site, which is after all, about all things guitar-related (in time I’ll also be reviewing some of the competing online guitar lesson courses in a similar in-depth way).

On this page I discuss what I liked and disliked about Jamorama. You can also read more about what Jamorama has to offer on the pages about the course content and bonuses.

My impressions – I like Jamorama because:

• The materials are high quality – I got the downloadable version of the course, and have found that the bonus software is easy to use, the text books are attractively designed and clearly laid out, and the video and audio materials are professionally recorded and produced to a high standard. It’s also presented by a professional, highly qualified guitarist and teacher (Ben Edwards).

• I especially like the video parts – you can clearly see the correct positions for both left and right hands, and there’s also a photo of the fretboard, showing the relevant finger positions, as well as graphical information about the chord changes and strumming patterns, which change in real time as the song or exercise is played.
• It’s easy to use – firstly it was very easy to buy and download Jamorama, and the member’s area of the website was easy to navigate. And secondly, the course itself has proved easy to follow so far (yes, I do already know most of the stuff it has covered so far, but I clearly remember what it was like to be a beginner, and this material is certainly better than what I learned from!). I especially like how you can instantly access the relevant videos and audio material from within the software, without having to go off and find the audio and video files to open separately.
• It’s fun – not dry and tedious like some music courses can be. You start playing ‘real’ music pretty much straight away, rather than having to wade through several lessons of pure theory first, as is often the case with more traditional courses.
• It’s flexible – good for those who want to learn popular styles on electric and/or or acoustic guitar. And I also like how the two versions of the course give you the choice of rhythm guitar techniques alone (in Jamorama Standard) or both rhythm and lead lessons (in Jamorama Deluxe), so you can choose whichever best suits your needs.
• Jamorama Standard covers all of the fundamentals of rhythm guitar as well as more advanced techniques too – basically, everything you need to learn to become a competent rhythm guitarist is in here (these skills are essential if you want to go on to play lead guitar too), and it’s laid out in a logical order, so you’ll progress in an efficient way.
• The jam tracks are great for practising playing with others, and can be a lot more fun than just playing solo exercises, even though they include the same techniques. There’s a wide variety of musical styles here too, which is a plus to me (although those who only want to learn a single style of playing might not enjoy them so much – but really, it’s best not to be musically narrow minded, especially when you’re just starting out).
• There are some great bonuses - the Jamorama bonuses will help you to tune your guitar, train your ear, learn to read music, play in time and to learn with maximum effectiveness. They complement the main course very well, and are not just useless filler like some of the bonuses that you get with digital products.
• The course is up to date, and the Jamorama team are responsive to customer feedback – since I purchased Jamorama early in 2009, the course has undergone a major update, and I’m pleased to see that the old Jamorama Maestro software, which was ok but not great (in my opinion), has now been retired in favour of a less resource-intensive format of separate text, video and audio files, and more material has been added to the course too. Some digital product creators just basically abandon their products after launching them, but that’s not the case with Jamorama, so it’s good to know that they are looking for ways to periodically improve the materials and provide even better value.
• It’s great value - Jamorama Standard currently costs $49.95 and Jamorama Deluxe $99.95, and provides around a year’s worth of lessons – this is less than you’d pay for a couple of private lessons with many teachers! Really, there aren’t many places where you’ll get this much bang for the buck (both courses are guaranteed for 60 days too, so you can get your money back if you don’t like them).

Jamorama’s negative aspects – what I’m not so keen on:

• I’ll admit that I find reading off a screen to be a bit of a pain, especially in the case of the jam tracks that stretch over more than one page. I put the downloads onto a small laptop that’s quite easy to position near where I play, but I’d still prefer a physical book. Still, this isn’t a major issue, and in the end I printed some of the course out anyway.

• For those who (like me) prefer to read from traditional notation rather than tab, some parts of the course may be a bit annoying. I personally found the more complex rhythms that feature in the later lessons to be more difficult to read in tab, and Jamorama doesn’t cover much in the way of rhythmic notation, so the rhythms aren’t written out in traditional form too. I guess this won’t be an issue for most people though, since so many guitarists seem averse to learning to read music, or prefer to read tab (and you can always write them out yourself on the blank stave above the tab line anyway).
• I’ve come across a small number of typos in the text – no more than I’ve seen in other music books, but it’s a bit annoying nonetheless, especially as the course is so professionally put together otherwise. However, these few mistakes are pretty obvious, so I don’t think that any student who is understanding what they’ve learned will be too confused by them.

Is Jamorama right for you?

My overall opinion of Jamorama is a positive one, but I don’t think it’s the best choice for everyone. I’d recommend it to those who:

• Want to learn to play the guitar in the comfort of their own home

• Want to learn rhythm guitar (electric or acoustic), or who want to learn lead guitar, but don’t yet have a grounding in rhythm techniques (it’s best to learn rhythm techniques first). If you’re only interested in learning rhythm guitar, choose the Standard version, and if you want to follow up with lead skills too, go for Jamorama Deluxe.
• Want to learn in their own time and at their own pace without having to conform to someone else’s schedule.
• Have a decent computer and internet connection (it doesn’t have to be super-fast – but there is a lot of stuff to download).
• Are beginner or intermediate level guitarists who want a solid grounding in the fundamentals as well as to learn more advanced techniques (I don’t recommend it for advanced students, who will probably know most of what it covers already).
• Want a course that covers various musical styles (but with a focus on popular styles – it’s not a good choice for those wishing to focus on classical or flamenco guitar).
• Want to learn the techniques that will enable you to play your favourite songs (but it’s not for those who need to be spoon fed the actual songs – Jamorama doesn’t show you how to play any specific songs. Instead you’ll need to learn them by ear, or find the tab/notation elsewhere). Having said that however, remember that one of the Jamorama bonuses is a free trial membership to SongPond.com, which does provide video lessons which show you how to play a huge range of popular songs.
• Are self-motivated and don’t need continual prodding from a teacher to keep going (don’t get it if you’d rather learn from a teacher in person, or if you can’t motivate yourself to keep going).
• Want to get a great value complete guitar lessons course for less than the cost of a couple of lessons with a private teacher.

Jamorama Review – Summary

I’ve found Jamorama Standard to be a very good course overall, and it provides a solid grounding in rhythm guitar techniques, making it a great choice for those who want to learn rhythm guitar, and Jamorama Deluxe is equally well-suited to those who eventually want to play lead guitar, as you really do need a good grasp of rhythm skills in order to play lead guitar well. The multi-media format makes learning easy and fun, the bonuses are genuinely useful supplements to the main course (not just ‘filler’ to make it look like a good deal), and on the whole the course is very professionally put together.

It’s not perfect however – as mentioned, there are a few typos (though not a lot), and the downloadable format isn’t as flexible as physical products in some ways, although printing out the books helps a lot. It’s also not the best choice for everyone, but if you want a great value, easy to use, fun guitar course that will provide a thorough grounding in the practical and theoretical knowledge you’ll need to play popular music (and get you playing ‘real’ music quickly, rather than getting bogged down in theory), I can definitely recommend Jamorama. Remember that it’s guaranteed for 60 days, so you can try it with confidence.

The Course In Detail: Jamorama Review Blog

If you want to read more details about the various components of the Jamorama lessons, check out my individual posts below:

Welcome
Introductory post.

Buying Jamorama
My buying experience.

Jamorama Contents
A detailed look at the inside of the Jamorama member’s area, as well as at the contents of the course.

Jamorama Bonuses
Details about the seven Jamorama bonuses, complete with screenshots.

 
Then the following posts are about my experience as I worked through the course – I don’t mention every little thing that’s discussed in each lesson, but you’ll get a good idea of the main topics that are covered. These posts cover books 1 and 2 of the rhythm guitar lessons that are included in both the Jamorama Standard and Jamorama Deluxe packages; I’ll also be posting similar details about my experience with Jamorama’s Acoustic Focus lessons (previously Jamorama Acoustic, and also included with Jamorama Standard and Deluxe) and the Jamorama lead guitar lessons (previously Jamorama Lead, now part of Jamorama Deluxe only) soon.

Jamorama Book 1 – Beginner Lessons

Getting Started

Book 1, Lesson 1

Book 1, Lessons 2, 3 & 4

Book 1, Lessons 5 & 6

Book 1, Lessons 7 & 8

Book 1, Lessons 9 & 10

Book 1, Lessons 11 & 12

Book 1, Lessons 13, 14 & 15

Jamorama Book 1 Summary

 
Jamorama Book 2 – More Advanced Lessons

Book 2, Lessons 1 & 2

Book 2, Lessons 3 & 4

Book 2, Lessons 5, 6 & 7

Book 2, Lessons 8, 9 & 10

Book 2, Lessons 11 & 12

Book 2, Lessons, 13, 15 & 15

Book 2, Lessons 16 & 17

Book 2, Lessons 18, 19 & 20

Book 2, Lessons 21 & 22

Book 2, Lessons 23 & 24

Book 2, Lessons 25, 26 & 27

Book 2, Lessons 28 & 29, & Summary

 
More Jamorama Articles

I’ve also written some additional Jamorama-related articles:

Tips For Getting The Most From Jamorama’s Guitar Lessons

Is Jamorama a Scam?

Inside the Jamorama Member’s Area

The material is accessed through the member’s area, which looks like this:

From the Home page (shown here), you can visit the download area, and download the rhythm course (books 1 and 2), the Chord Kit, the Tuning Guide, the software and other bonuses, and the Acoustic Kit, as well as accessing your free trial membership to SongPond. Jamorama Deluxe customers can download the Lead Course and the Lead Licks Kit, in addition to the other materials. There is also a link to the member’s forum, where you ask questions and chat with others who are working through the course. Other areas include the Help section, where you can contact the Jamorama staff with any queries you may have, and links to the Jamorama blog and pages on sites such as Twitter and Facebook, where you can get further involved in the Jamorama community.

The Jamorama Course Material

The course material itself is organised in a series of zip files, which you extract after downloading, so it’s easy to keep track of which video and audio files go with the relevant text books. Within each section is a ‘Read Me’ file which tells you exactly where to start and how to use the material – there’s a lot of material in both of the Jamorama courses, so it’s nice that clear ‘where to start’ guidelines are given.

In both versions, you begin with the rhythm guitar course, which is split between two books, Beginner and Intermediate, each of which has its associated audio demo files, jam tracks and video lessons. The video and audio tracks you need to use are referenced at the appropriate places in the text.

I’ll describe each lesson in more detail as I work through it [update - see my review blog contents at the bottom of the page], but to give an overview, Jamorama Book 1 has 15 lessons, and covers:

• Parts of the guitar

• Playing position
• Chord diagrams
• Strumming
• Introduction to tablature and musical notation
• Individual notes on each string
• Common chords & chord progressions
• The chromatic scale
• Basic rhythmic patterns
• Practice with 10 jam tracks

Book 2 has 29 lessons of increasingly more advanced material, covering:

• Sight reading
  
• Lots of more advanced chords and progressions
  
• Bass note runs
  
• More complex rhythmic patterns
  
• Music theory
  
• Barre chords
  
• More complex strumming patterns
  
• More info about practice techniques and the psychological side of music
  
• Playing in a band/with others
  
• Scales
  
• Deadening and muting techniques
  
• Power chords
  
• Various musical styles
  
• A supplementary chord reference section with photo-diagrams of all of the chords covered in the course

As these are PDF texts, you have some control over how the text is displayed, and of course you can print it out if you prefer (which I did). The text and diagrams are laid out in a clean and attractive style, with easily readable print, and feature full colour photographs and diagrams showing things like the correct hand positions in lots of detail. As well as the technical ‘how to’ material, there are brief discussions on topics such as cultivating the right mindset and the nature of musical talent, plus little facts about guitars and guitarists.

Here is a screenshot of part of a page from Book 1, Lesson 1:

You can see the CD icon at the bottom right – this directs you to the appropriate video for this section, which shows the instructor strumming this chord, with a close-up of the correct position.

These two books constitute the main Jamorama rhythm course, and form the core material of Jamorama Standard. The Standard course also contains an additional module called Acoustic Focus, which includes two more instruction manuals and a total of 26 additional jam tracks to practice your acoustic guitar playing. Jamorama Deluxe includes all of these rhythm and acoustic guitar materials too, plus the lead guitar lessons, which are delivered in a similar format.

Both Jamorama Standard and Jamorama Deluxe also come with a variety of bonuses – you can read more about these in detail on the Jamorama Bonuses review page.

I purchased the downloadable version of Jamorama from the website [UPDATE: Jamorama is now available in two formats: Jamorama Standard and Jamorama Deluxe], and you can get both of these as a set of physical printed books and DVDs, and as digital versions of the same material. I opted for the digital version, since it is much cheaper, and is also available immediately after payment. The Jamorama courses consist of books, videos, audio tracks, jam tracks and a selection of bonuses (a metronome, a tuner, ear training software, software to help with learning music notation, two PDF guides and a month’s free access to the SongPond site). I’ll write about all of these in more detail later.

Jamorama is sold through Clickbank, which is the world’s largest retailer of digital products. Clickbank processes the payments, and is highly reputable and trustworthy. I had the option to pay by credit card or by Paypal, and chose Paypal. After payment I was redirected to a download page, from which I downloaded the Jamorama software. It is through this software that the course instructions and videos are accessed. I was pleased to see that it can be installed on more than one PC that I own, which will be useful, as I want to use it on the laptop in my music room. [UPDATE: the software is no longer available - instead you download the materials as individual PDFs, MP3s, video files, which are organised into zip files.]

When buying Jamorama there was an offer on the salespage – buy Jamorama, and get
Jamorama Lead at a highly discounted price. Since I intend to purchase and review Jamorama Lead (which is a more advanced course that is designed to be followed after the basic Jamorama lessons) for this site as well, I bought both at once. I don’t know if that offer will be there when you come to buy, but if it is, don’t be fooled by the ‘limited time’ blurb on the page (it said that the discount would only be available for a few more days) – this is a standard marketing tactic, and 99% of the time, any such ‘limited’ offers are still available after the deadline has passed. [UPDATE: Jamorama Lead is no longer available - instead, the lead guitar lessons have now been incorporated into the Jamorama Deluxe course.]

There was also an upsell for the Jamorama ‘Chord Method Kit’, which I think is also available to buy separately after buying Jamorama. Again, I bought it at a large discount. [UPDATE - The Chord Method Kit is now included in the main course.]

Experience so far – I had no problems with ordering and payment. The main Jamorama course was easily accessed through the member’s area, and was downloaded without problems. The welcome email also included separate links to the download areas for the Jamorama Lead book and videos, and the Chord Kit, which consists of a book, a series of videos, and a bonus game called Chordinator. It’s getting kind of late now, so I’ll look at all these goodies in more detail tomorrow.