Jamorama Review

I've heard a lot about Jamorama , so I decided to try it out for myself. Find out what happened when I tried Jamorama.

It's quite astounding how many different ways you can go about learning how to play the guitar.  There are a ton of courses out there.

The sad thing is that most aren't that great.  Sure, they'll tell you what you need to know, and where to position your fingers on the strings of the guitar, but it's a very cold way to learn guitar.  Unless you are incredibly motivated, you are going to give up.

Most of the books and/or videos that you find on learning how to play guitar don't give you any kind of motivation.  There really is no way to test yourself and see how well you have improved.

The best way to go about learning how to play guitar is obviously to go find yourself a teacher.  There is only one small problem though.  IT'S REALLY EXPENSIVE!!

Of course it's great to get instant feedback from a human being who is in the room with you who can tell you what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong. I (and I'm sure, many others) don't really want to pay $40 an hour for the privilege.

When you consider how many lessons you'd have to go to, the costs are really going to add up.  If you're rich or financially well off, then that is definitely the way to go about doing it. 

This was the problem that I was having.  I'll admit......I got into rock n roll a little late.  Instead of discovering it in your teen years like most people do, I discovered it in my mid 20s.

It's not something I am proud of, but when I was teenager, I used to listen to the lame teeny-bopper garbage that I now make fun of.  Hey.....what can I say, I was a late bloomer.

But one day, I heard the song "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith on the radio.  The rest as they say is history. It was the most delicious guitar riffs (I didn't even know what a riff was at the time) I had ever heard.

There was something about it that gave me a bolt of electricity from my feet all the way to my brain.  It was in my bloodstream and I was hooked.

I became a big Aerosmith fan on that day. I bought a few of their albums and I started listening to Classic rock radio.  I got into all the British Invasion stuff (Beatles, Who, Rolling Stones).

Then, just as any rock fan will tell you.  One thing leads to another.  I got into Punk rock, and worshiped bands like the Clash, The Ramones, The Misfits.  I got into more artsy/alternative bands like The Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth.  To put it simply, I was a rock n roll junkie.

But the thing was that I wanted to participate.  I didn't want to just listen to it.  Obviously when you think of rock n roll, you think one instrument:  The Guitar.  So I made it my mission to learn how to play guitar.

I knew I wasn't going to be Jimi Hendrix, but hey.... I just wanted to be able to play.    

I Tried A Lot Of Guitar Books/Videos

This was something that I really wanted to do!!!

So, when I say I tried a lot of books and videos, I mean I tried A LOT. 

I just couldn't get it.  I was trying to follow the instructions on most of the books that I got, it just wasn't working.

The books would tell me where to put my fingers when I wanted to play a note, but when I played it, it sounded .......well.......kind of crappy. 

After all the books that I've read, I was getting a little better.

But I still wasn't very good. I wasn't even good enough to be in a crappy second-rate Punk band. It just didn't sound good. I had a really difficult time going from one note to the next.

The really frustrating thing for me is that I was practicing a lot, I had blisters on my fingers, and I really didn't have much to show for it.

I don't think I have to tell you that I was extremely frustrated. I saw videos of rock stars just belting out these heavy guitar-driven songs.  Their fingers would be all over the neck, and I was sitting there, wondering "how the hell are they able to do that?"

I remember telling my friend, Patrick about how much I was struggling with learning how to play guitar.  He told me that he was really toying with the idea of learning how to play also. 

I wished I could tell him that it was easy, but to be honest, I was ready to throw in the towel, and call it quits.  He knew how much it meant to me. He said that if I ever find a course that works well for him, he'll definitely tell me about it.

I was so disgusted with my lack of progress that I gave him my acoustic guitar.  I remember handing him the guitar and I said  "here.....see if you can figure it out".

Out Of The Blue

It had been about 3 weeks since I gave Patrick my guitar.  I had been really busy because I was in the middle of a moving to a new apartment, so I haven't had a chance to see how he was doing.

I was actually finishing eating dinner, and I thought "I haven't spoken to Patrick in a long time.  I should give him a call". 

Wouldn't you know, as soon as I get done thinking that, I get a call from Patrick. We politely chit chat, and catch up with one another.

I asked how's it coming along with the guitar?  He said enthusiastically "It's going great!!!".   To my shock, I uttered "are you serious"?  He replied "absolutely".

He told me that he learned to play his first song the other day.  I honestly thought he was lying.  I told him quit kidding around.

He told me to hold on and put me on the speakerphone.  He went to get the guitar and proceeded to play "Blackbird" by the Beatles.  It was really good.  I mean, no one was going to confuse him with George Harrison, but I was able to spot the tune right away.

I sat on the other end of the phone just completely stunned with silence.  There were so many things going on in my mind.

First, I was so angry and jealous.  He was so much better just after 3 weeks of playing the guitar than I was after 4 months.

You could guess why that would make a person upset.  I began to think I was genetically predisposed to not being able to learn to play an instrument. For some reason, I didn't think I had the right DNA for it. 

The other thing I was feeling was curiosity.  I thought "what the hell did he do that I didn't do?"   

He told me that he just bought a course online.  It was called Jamorama.

I had never heard of it. He told me what it was about and he sent me a link of the site to my email.

After I got done talking to him, I went to my computer and checked out the site.

It was a nice looking site, and it definitely told you what the course was about.  The course looked like it had A LOT more information than the other courses that I had previously bought.

HOWEVER, I was so hesitant, because let's face it:  I was burned before.  But Patrick kept on telling me how great the course was, and how much it helped him.

Should I Or Shouldn't I?

I hadn't picked up a guitar in 3 weeks, so I knew I was rusty.  I was debating whether I had the energy or the motivation to go through it again.  Then I got the sign.

My next door neighbor was blasting "Kick Out The Jams" by the MC5 on his stereo.  This is one of my favorite songs.  I found it to be too coincidental. 

I got my credit card out and proceeded to buy the course. I saw that they had an unconditional money back guarantee.   

So, I figured that if this course didn't work for me, than I will just ask for a refund.  That's more than any other course or book that I bought offered me.

You know how I said, there was a lot of information in the course?  HOLY CRAP! They weren't kidding. It was like the guitar version of "War and Peace". 

The course with the books, videos, tutorials, exercises, etc....covered every single little nuance about guitar playing.  

As I was reading the course, just following along one step to the next, I realized something. All of the books/videos that I had taken previous to Jamorama, were very general.

What I mean by this is that they explained guitar playing in a very "cliff notes" sort of way.  They gave you the general instructions, and you were supposed to follow along.

Jamorama was WAY more intense than that. You can tell that it was created very meticulously.  There was a lot of time and money spent on this project, and it showed.  The interactive software that came with the course was worth the price all by itself.

Getting Back On The Horse

Patrick gave me my old guitar back (he just got a new one), and I proceeded to take the Jamorama course. 

I won't lie to you.  At the beginning, I was VERY RUSTY.  

I felt as if I just got a new set of fingers and I didn't know how to use any of them. But I just took it one step a time, and followed along the very specific plan that Jamorama provides to its customers.

I was able to get in and out of notes smoothly.  The guitar slowly but surely was beginning to sound like it was being used for its intended purpose. :)

It wasn't just the detailed training that the course provides, but there were a million little hints that I would have never thought of by myself that really made the difference.

I was at my second week of training, and I really felt that I was growing as a guitar player.  It finally started to make sense to me.  I got to see how much fun it really was.  Before it just felt like torture. 

My girlfriend was in the kitchen listening to me practice, and she said, "you know what......it's really starting to sound good".  That made me feel great.  Because in my mind, I was doing better, but it was really nice to hear it from a fellow human being.

That next morning, I thought about doing something that I thought impossible at one time.  I was going to play an actual song.  I had the sheet music for Fire and Rain, by James Taylor.

I proceeded to try to play it. 

The first time I played it, it sounded more like "Fire and Pain." Let's just say it didn't sound good.

I tried it a second time.............not so good.

A third time.........not great but better. 

A fourth time..............not too bad.

A fifth time................Hey......when did I turn into James Taylor?  LOL.

I was so thrilled that I played a song that I knew.

I was so proud of myself that I woke my girlfriend up so I can play her the song.  I was like a little kid. 

I began to play the song, and she recognized the tune right away, which thrilled me, then we began to sing it, while I played.  I had such a great sense of accomplishment. 

How Did It Turn Out For Me?

Well.....it turned out quite well for me.  It has been about 4 months since that day, and I have gotten a lot better.  I can play a lot of songs on command, which is something that I would have never thought possible.

Patrick and I, and couple of other guys are beginning to start our own band.  Right now we are not sure what kind of band we're going to be, but hopefully we'll get that settled real soon. 

But basically I wanted to create this website because I know what it feels like to have that passion for learning how to play music, but most of all I know what it's like to struggle to learn how to play because you are not getting the right information.

Jamorama is a course that really has the beginner in mind, and I'm living proof that even the most untalented musician could learn how to play guitar.

It's also not just about learning to play guitar.  That's great and everything, but it was so much more than that.

The sense of accomplishment.  Look, I know that learning to play guitar isn't exactly like climbing Mount Everest, but hey....to me it felt like an uphill battle, and once I made it to the top, I was really proud of myself.

I appreciate music more than ever before. Something interesting happens when you learn to play a musical instrument. It's like you are taken behind the curtain.  You understand how difficult it is to create a piece of music, so you appreciate it even more. It's kind of like going to film school and appreciating how difficult a job a director has.

Try Out Jamorama For Yourself

PS: Remember that this comes with an unconditional money back guarantee, so if you have any problems with Jamorama, or it did not work as well as you were hoping it would, you can always send it back for a full refund.