I used to play guitar and bass rather badly. I need something else to do that is not weather dependent and is a bit of non work mental stimulation and skill development. Something I can do for 15 minutes to an hour during the week. I love music, I have a bass and two guitars from my teens with amps.
Job means no regular lessons so virtual guitar school or books (I do book learn quite well).
Black Friday deals on Yousician premium+ for £65 annual subscription ends today. Is this any good?
Or Fender Play (I know who Fender are 😂) for about £10 a month it seems.
Experiences /recommendations?
Yousician is great and I've written about it a lot on the bass thread. I've been using it for a few years and it got my over the hump from 'permanent beginner' to building up to some very spicy tunes.
It's not very educational in terms of music but it's like going to the gym. It's amazing for building speed and stamina because you're ploughing through full songs nonstop and not clicking around on YouTube lessons.
Put some good headphones on and it's like you're at band practice.
My subscription has just run out and I'm sitting on a discount code. If anyone wants to join to try it out I'm willing to buy the family version and split the cost. 4 or 5 users I think on the family version.
so are you wanting to start from scratch again?
ive started learning bass and tried yousician but didnt get on with it at all, so i tried bassbuzz. that was a revelation, its an excellent course, well worth the relatively low cost.
if wanting to learn 6 string then justinguitar is free and well regarded, so theres no harm having a quick look before shelling out.
for bass, if more intermediate id personally be looking towards the groove trainer course on 'talking bass'.
ive started learning bass and tried yousician but didnt get on with it at all,
Just out of interest how long did you stick with yousician? From the bass thread it looks like you glanced at the free trial and sacked it off immediately. Just trying to clarify for the OP.
Fair enough if it's genuinely not for you but you've not really done it. I've been on it over 4 years and I can play through dozens of full songs at a high level which I never, ever would have learned by slowly plonking away on my own.
I can regularly plug in and lose an hour or two which is much better than sitting on my arse in front of Netflix or something.
Just out of interest how long did you stick with yousician? From the bass thread it looks like you glanced at the free trial and sacked it off immediately. Just trying to clarify for the OP.
Fair enough if it's genuinely not for you but you've not really done it.
yes youre right, it was a swift trial, i cant even remember why i didnt get on with it now but it didnt suit how i wanted to learn so i cancelled before i was committed to pay. so im certainly not slagging it off, just saying that i didnt get on with it in the trial. bassbuzz was like a breath of fresh air in comparison (to me) and suited my learning style a lot more.
What level of player is yousician aimed at? Reviews seem to suggest it's for beginner only?
Just started back playing after 25 years, I'm pretty hopeless but not a 'beginner ' as such. I can play a few solos (ie learned the outro solo to Pearl jams 'alive' this week) but any level of improvisation is beyond me.
I ask as I'm considering lessons. I reckon I'm late beginner, early intermediate level at best
There's plenty of stuff on Yousician that is far beyond my level of ability so I've got a few years left in it yet. It goes to pretty extreme levels of speed and technicality.
It's not the best if you want to learn music and theory. Do something else for that.
For stamina and accuracy there's nothing else like it short of joining a band and playing every night.
I've only dabbled on the guitar side but the chord trainer was very effective. I managed to memorize and play way more chords than I ever managed as a teenage bedroom wannabe.
I need to do more of the guitar stuff in 2026.
also if its a consideration, bassbuzz and talking bass have lifetime access to the courses you buy, so just pay once and revisit as many times as you like.
Thanks both appreciate the input. I'm toying with grabbing Yousician on a Black Friday discount for 12 months today or giving some free YouTube song tutorials and some tab books a go for a few weeks and see if I can stick at it to justify the normal cost.
Not quite starting from scratch.
I picked up the guitar last week for the first time in probably two years and had another go with some old tab books. Seems I can still manage a few coherent notes. Definitely stronger on riffs/power chords over proper chords after the lay off.
Surprised myself as it seems I can still manage most of the rhythm part of the The House Jack Built (or at least the version I have in a tab book).
I also realised I need to know what I'm learning well enough to hear it in my head and see it on paper/screen. Without both I can't connect the information and send it to my fingers.
My bass is currently 175 miles away in my parents' loft along with my other guitar and a very large ambition exceeds talent Marshall VS100R bought in my early 20s.
For Fender Play, you can get a 60% discount code pretty much all year round. If you search for "Fender Play discount code" then one will turn up.
I've subscribed off and on for a few years and I've always managed to find a 60% off code. It's good value at the price, but not so much at full price.
For learning bass, Fender play broke the beginning stuff into small basic chunks. It was pretty dry and boring though. The songs they had you play sounded nothing like the originals. Gave up on it pretty quickly.
Yousician bass lesson were awful, but having an easy to follow and slow down tab scores was really good. It’s more for practice though and for that it’s amazing fun. Just done two years but taking a break to it as I’ve taken a discounted year of Tomplay instead for a change.
Used Yousician for Uke and acoustic as well and the lessons were far better for chord based instruments. The technology can tell if you’re muting a string or not hitting it cleanly. As a fat fingered bassist that gave a good clue to what strings I needed to concentrate on.
Most of these have a free trial period I’d try them all, one at a time to see if any suit
For guitar, have a look at Justin Guitar - https://www.justinguitar.com/
All his Beginner/Intermediate courses are free.
Thanks all.
Good ideas there. I'm a metal/grunge/rock fan so also been looking up a few tutorials based on what I know / like.
Having spent a few hours getting my eye / hand back in this weekend I also realised a couple of things about my setup.
Bottom E is waaayyyy too loud and it dominates the whole sound. I think that might be a pickup height issue so I shall fiddle around with that a bit.
I absolutely cannot figure out how to get a decent moderately distorted sound so I need to find a basic guide to tone and pedal setup.
The clean tone of this guitar (Aria Les Paul copy from the 90s) is decent no matter what I do with the amp (ancient Park G10) but getting a decent metal distortion tone with my old DOD Metal Maniac is eluding me. I've just googled them and seen they're selling for 3x what I bought it for from a friend in about 1993!