The Guitar Resource

Most guitar players are always looking for ways to improve their playing from almost any source available. And with the wealth of information available on the Internet, guitar players can find almost anything they are looking for on guitar topics. But I think this has caused many guitar players to overlook guitar magazines.

Don’t get me wrong; I have learned tons from the Internet. But I learned so many things from guitar magazines that I have not seen online yet. If it weren’t for the guitar magazines I subscribed to over the years I would not be even close to the level of guitar playing I am at today. Many of the ideas I use on this site are things I learned at one time from a guitar magazine.

So why don’t more guitarists subscribe to guitar magazines? Well, I think the main reason is that a lot of people think that anything they can get from a guitar magazine, they can get online. So why pay for it?

Here are a number of reasons why that is bad reasoning and why the Internet is no replacement for a guitar magazine subscription:

Content
The content in guitar magazines is written by professional authors and musicians. Not that the internet doesn’t have articles from professional writers and musicians, but it also has articles written from any old shmo (like me ). So you may have to search for some time until you find something that is accurate and is written in a way you can easily grasp. Guitar magazines have professional writers who know guitar topics cold. You can pretty much bet that the article will be written in a well-explained manner and have correct information. No searching needed.

What’s more, part of the excitement of subscribing to a guitar magazine is that you don’t know what the content will be from month to month. Some of the best guitar lessons I ever read were ones that I would have never even thought to look for on the Internet. How can you search for a concept if you don’t know it exists?

Transcriptions
Some guitar magazines have entire songs transcribed in tab and musical notation. Unlike tabs you find on the Internet, these transcriptions are almost, if not completely, accurate. So you know that you will be able to play a song correctly (if you practice it enough).

Also, many magazines break down the transcriptions and explain what the guitarist is doing at certain points. That way you get a lot more out of the transcription than just knowing how to play a song.

What Guitar Magazines Should You Subscribe To?
There are three main guitar magazines to consider subscribing to: Guitar Player, Guitar One, and Guitar World. I own all three magazines so I will break them down a little bit

Guitar World is the guitar magazine I currently subscribe to. I like it better than Guitar One and Guitar Player for a number of reasons. First, I think that the articles and lessons cover a much wider range of genres than Guitar Player and Guitar One. I really feel this is the most diverse magazine out of the three and I think I get the most out of it.

My favorite part of Guitar World is the longer lesson called “Master Class.” This section has a long and detailed lesson that will teach you a guitar related concept (almost always one that you are not already familiar with) and show you how to apply it and practice it in a number of ways. This section is the most valuable section in any guitar magazine I have ever read. In addition to the Master Class lesson, there are a number of shorter lessons for guitar players of all levels.

While Guitar World does not have entire songs transcribed, it does have song segments transcribed. Each issue will take one famous guitar player and go through a number of his or her songs and transcribe the main themes and or solos from those songs with an analytical breakdown of what the guitar player was doing. I find this more valuable than just transcribing an entire song.

I also find Guitar Player’s gear reviews to be thorough and well explained. I am always learning about new gear that I was unaware of prior to reading a review. The interviews are also very enlightening and Guitar Player makes a good point to interview a range of musicians across many genres. All in all Guitar Player is a great resource for any guitar player.

Guitar One Magazine
I have to start off by saying that I do not currently subscribe to Guitar Oneis also a good magazine. It has a similar long lesson section to Guitar Player’s Master Class called Lesson Lab. While the Lesson Lab lessons are good, I don’t find them as enlightening as Guitar Player’s Master Class. Guitar one also has some shorter lessons that are pretty good.

Unlike Guitar Player magazine, Guitar One has full song transcriptions in each issue. There are typically 6 transcriptions per issue and they have a pretty good range of genres. Guitar one also has gear reviews, which I don’t feel are as thorough as Guitar Player, as well as interviews. The reason I prefer Guitar Player is because I feel it covers more musical genres than Guitar One. I just got the notion that Guitar One only had articles about popular groups and historic guitarists. I didn’t feel that it had as much variety as Guitar Player, but that was just my opining.

Guitar Player
I have not subscribed to Guitar Player magazine for a few years now. But I will occasionally pick one up in a store. But based on past experience, Guitar World is very similar to Guitar One. It has transcribed songs, interviews, and shorter lessons. But last I checked (please post a comment if this is no longer true), Guitar World does not have an extended lesson section like Guitar Player and Guitar One. That is one of the reasons I stopped subscribing. I find those sections to be really helpful in a guitar magazine.

Another reason I stopped subscribing is because I felt Guitar Player had a lot of the same genres covered in every issue; metal, alternative, and classic rock. After some time I got tired of reading about Slipknot, Led Zeppilin, Sevendust, Puddle of Mudd, and other bands from those genres (as you can tell from those band names, I stopped subscribing around 5 years ago).

All in all any one of these magazines would be worth a subscription. If you think about it, you are getting tons of great information for less than the price of one guitar lesson. How can that not be worth it!

I am curios to know what guitar magazines you are currently subscribing and your thoughts on that magazine. Please post your answers to the comments section below. Thanks!