Fender Play: Learn Guitar

Used this a couple years ago and enjoyed it. I’ve come back to find the subscription price has literally doubled. $220?! Cheaper and decent alternatives out there.

I have been using the Fender app for around 8 months to learn both the guitar and ukulele. It has been amazingly helpful and well structured with a great mix of chords, exercises, riff’s and tunes across different instruments and genres. However, the recent update has, in my opinion, made it a much less enjoyable and intuitive app. In the previous version (pre mid November 2023) practice tunes had both the tab’s and chord names which made finding the right fingering much easier as I learned. The update has taken these tab’s from the main view and replaced them with tiny and hard to read letters for each chord, making it both harder for slow learners like me to position my fingers right as I need to remember the finger placement for the chord much earlier in the learning process. The tiny and hard to read letters for the chords are also really hard to read even with my glasses. So, please can we have the old format back, or maybe an option to switch between the old and new formats?

The audio often doesn't play through the phone so I have to shut the app down & restart it Also it suggests using headphones but then you can't hear the guitar Clunky app

I’ve been using Fender Play for 8 months, and very happy with it. It cost me $82.50 (Australian dollars) for a year, and I’ll definitely subscribe for another year. The videos are very user friendly, good selection of indie rock songs. It’s much better than a YouTube, since many YouTubers skip info that beginners need, like rhythm howto. The app gives you a score for accuracy when you practice. This is my third attempt in life to learn guitar, but it’s the first time it’s actually working. I recently got a nice electric guitar too. It was worth the investment, because I know I’m in it for life. If you’re having trouble getting started and lost in tab sites, this is the app for you. P.S. I appreciate the fact that so many of the presenters in the videos are women (I’m a woman too). Thumbs up for that. P.P.S Fender, can you add some Jane’s Addiction songs please?

Good lessons and like the feedback and practice modes, but if you try to go between levels/lessons the sound doesn’t work so you have to keep restarting the app.

The game was rubbish I can’t even play it because of the price plus I thought it was free

Update another 12 months. Renewed the subscription, as FP continues to provide good learning opportunities. I’m not following the course any longer but now picking songs and skills out of the program. For instance today I find myself without a pick so I look up finger picking technique and FP has a whole course on it. The FP approach is more thorough and paced compared to YouTube vids - although I use those too. All in all after 13 months I consider FP to be one of several learning tools I use. Been playing for a month now and enjoying the lessons very much. Some are harder than others. Just repeat a few times. The instructions are clear and the instructors are incredibly patient. The videos are fuss free so easy to focus on the content. I’ve not yet found a function to loop the practice sessions so have to hit the space bar. Probably haven’t looked hard enough. Fender play also gives full access to fender tune app. Nice! So much to learn. Need more time to play!

Great for beginners for a few months or so. Intermediate and advanced players should seek out courses that focus more on music theory and technique.

I’ve been trying Fender for a while after buying a new guitar. I payed the full year subscription in the heat of the moment and that was my mistake. Music lessons are useless, the “pathways” are boring and teachers sound like robots talking to plants. You can see they spent a lot of time with scenery and showing off their products rather then finding creative ways of teaching. I’m learning a lot more from YouTube and Justin guitar (and they are free of charge)

Are you kidding me? For this rubish?