When I was learning how to play guitar in the early noughties, my choices were to get lessons at school, attend an expensive specialist classical guitar school, or pay for private tuition. Nowadays there’s a huge selection of online guitar lessons, YouTube videos, and websites available to guitar players, which means learning without a dedicated tutor is absolutely possible.
I had some lessons when I was very young, but after that, it was self-study that powered my guitar playing. I learned my favorite songs via tablature, read up on how to implement the symbol-denoted techniques, and if there wasn't a tab I'd spend hours and hours learning by ear. If I ever had a specific question about something, I could get some light shed on it via forums, but you’d never know whether or not the information was correct.
This method of learning has served me well, and I’ve developed a great ear for music over the years. While I know some limited chord names and scale shapes, the truth is I don’t know why things work the way they do, I just rely on instinct. So when I was asked to review the lesson platform Til I couldn’t help but feel my technique and way of applying scales might be considered unusual to someone with a formal guitar education. So it was with more than a little anxiety that I had to book my first guitar lesson in nearly twenty years.
Til review: How does it work?
Til is a different beast from the vast majority of online lesson platforms out there. Instead of feeding you a selection of static video content, it pairs you with guitar tutors from around the world for group and one-on-one guitar lessons. Boasting lesson numbers of over 10,000 across 67 countries and more than 50 different tutors to choose from, all searchable via skill level, musical genre, or date and time, it certainly competes with big players like Fender Play and Guitar Tricks in terms of numbers.
You take your guitar lessons via video call on the website itself, which means no faffing around with Zoom or other external video call software. The ‘My Classes’ section is the place where you and your tutor can exchange questions and answers via chat, share sheet music, backing tracks, and pretty much anything else you need. You can upload videos of your own playing for your tutor to feedback on and vice versa, making it an excellent centrepoint to congregate around improving your playing and keeping track of your progress.
Alongside one-on-one lessons, Til also offers a variety of group classes. These can range from particular styles like Jazz or Blues as well as offering certain technique-specific courses like the CAGED system or boot camp style classes to focus on a particular element of your playing. As with private lessons the group will appear in your ‘My Classes’ tab, except here you’ll see all the content your classmates put forward too, whether that’s their latest jam to a backing track or just wider questions related to the subject matter. The group class cost is typically less than that of a private lesson, billed weekly and you can cancel up to 24 hours before a lesson if need be.
Til review: My experience
The first group I signed up for was Intro to Jazz, hosted by Molly Miller, guitarist for both Jason Mraz and Zayn of former One Direction fame. Despite coming into the class part of the way through, I was able to catch up quickly, with all the historical data for the past two months available to me. This will no doubt be super useful for absolute beginners, but for those who already have experience, you won’t find it hard at all to jump straight into learning.
Group classes happen at the same time each week and Molly gave us fresh assignments for each of the two weeks I was reviewing the platform. Our mission was to play along to a backing track, nail the melody, and play the entirety of the song alongside some soloing work based on the arpeggios Molly provided. Many of those braver than me provided videos of their playing for feedback, and Molly was very careful to provide comments and answer any questions we had throughout the week.
I could see the appeal if you’re the sort that’s motivated by positive peer pressure, and sometimes questions from other students can lead to moments of clarity you hadn’t considered. It’s an interesting and to me at least, completely different way of learning the instrument.
Next up I decided to try a private one-on-one lesson, opting to select Caitlin Caggiano as my tutor for some updates to my music theory knowledge. At the start of the hour-long lesson, Caitlin was quick to understand my background, level of knowledge, and where I wanted my playing to be. Enthusiastic and insightful, she made me feel totally at ease despite her far superior knowledge and playing ability.
Once we’d identified where the gaps in my music theory knowledge, Caitlin immediately provided sheets on the circle of fifths alongside the Nashville number system for major chords, allowing me to back up my already existing ear with some solid knowledge on why certain chords sound better together than others. She was also quick to assure me that breaking these rules often led to the best results.
To me, this is where Til really excels above other lesson platforms I’ve tried, it’s the quality of the teacher that sets it apart from others. You can have the best video content in the world, but a truly great teacher adapts to each student, taking account of their personal needs whilst providing insights in a personally digestible format. Both Caitlin and Molly are shining examples of the hard-working, professional guitarists sharing their knowledge on the platform, and that sort of experience to draw from is priceless if you want to improve your guitar playing.
Til review: Final verdict
For me, Til is the perfect online guitar lessons platform if you’ve already got some playing under your belt and want to address particular aspects of your guitar playing. The ability to customize your learning to be exactly what you want it to be is something no other platform is really offering at the moment. Couple that with a fantastic selection of professional guitar tutors, and players who are actually working in the industry, and you’ve got the perfect platform to springboard your guitar playing.
Til review: Specs
- Price: $30 to $120 per lesson
- Free trial?: No
- Key features: Professional guitar tutors, group lessons
- Genres: Acoustic, blues, classical, country, electric, fingerstyle, jazz, pop, R&B and soul, rock, technique, theory
- Platforms: Desktop
- Contact: Til
