Its difficult to find someone these days who doesn’t have an iPhone, tablet, android or some other type of smart phone. With the speed that technology is improving, and spreading, it’s no wonder that the next big market has become the almighty App Market. I’m sure most of you are aware of what phone apps are, ranging anywhere from pinball to Quicken. However did you know that there are a very wide array of apps for learning guitar out there?

As a musician, if you’ve got a smartphone, you’ve already got an abundance of information and resources ready to be tapped into right in your pocket (or purse). The best news of all being that most of them are free. In this blog post I am going to discuss what I believe to be are the top 5 apps for learning guitar.

The Top 3 Apps for Learning Guitar:

1. JamPlay Guitar Pack (Free)

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Available for free off iTunes. the JamPlay guitar pack is one of the most comprehensive guitar apps I have come across. I’ve learned to play quite a bit from the lessons over at JamPlay so I was excited to see that they were releasing an app with a bunch of great tools. Some of the tools JamPlay features are several interactive games for learning guitar, a chord library, scale library, song index and many others. More features are unlocked in this app if you are a member of JamPlay.com. One of my favorite features of the app, though, is also one of the most simple. The guitar tuner app and metronome aspects are hands down the most powerful. I obviously don’t carry my guitar tuner everywhere with me, however my phone I often will, so this is quite nice. And if you dont know about the importance of using a metronome, you should read up on it.

2. Solo or Solo Lite (Free – $2)

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Solo is definitely one of the most interesting apps I have come across for learning guitar. It features a free and paid version. The free version allows you to use an acoustic guitar, 6 chords and either strum or pluck. The overall idea is basically being able to jam out and practice songs where ever. You just choose the chord (button) you want, then strum the strings on the virtual guitar that is on your screen. It’s pretty cool and can be impressive if your fingers are fast enough. The paid version unlocks all 24 frets as opposed to the first 5 you start off being able to play. While I wouldn’t necessarily call this app educational, it will certainly keep playing and learning guitar fun for you. You’ll come up with riffs by accident that you’ll then want to go home and hash out on the real thing.

3. RR Guitar Fretboard Trainer ($3)

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The RR Guitar Fretboard trainer is hands down one of the best apps for learning guitar I’ve ever used. This is certainly a case where I saved the best for last. The last 2 tools will give you the chords, scales, lessons and fun to keep you going. However, this particular guitar app will teach you a skill I believe to be an invaluable skill for guitar players: memorizing the note names on the guitar. The RR Fretboard trainer allows you to learn the fretboard in a game format. Either showing a note and having you identify it or the reverse. It is a very powerful tool to use. After only 2 weeks of consistent use (about 15 min a day everyday) I mastered the notes on the guitar. if you want to be taken seriously as a musician, I suggest you work on doing the same. Chords, scales, songs will all be changed for you after this skill is honed. Trust me.

There you have it. Those are the top 3 apps for learning guitar that I recommend you check out. They will teach you countless skills and techniques, bring you hours of fun and creativity and more. If you feel anything is missing, inaccurate or you’d like to add an app you know is useful, please feel free to leave something below in the comments section. This site, these posts, they are all always updating and I love communicating with you, my auidience. So please, feel free.

Until next time,

Deven