I spend more time on YouTube than I’d like to admit. Whether I’m watching comedy videos, vlogs, hockey stuff or guitar vids, there’s an endless amount of content to watch each and every day. In my weekly newsletter, Six String Sunday, I try to feature the best posts, lessons, gear, and videos. I’ll typically always have guitar videos to share each week, because there are so many great instructors out there.
The great thing about YouTube is the fact that we have SO much to watch, but at the same time, that’s also it’s downfall. Without watching a bunch of videos, and potentially wasting time, how do you know what’s good? That’s what I’m here for. Here are 10 of my favorite guitar YouTube channels, with a short description on why I love them.
Ola Englund
Ola Englund never disappoints. I love his guitar playing, how he’s an indie guy who built his own guitar company, and how he interacts with his fans on YouTube. Whether it be reviewing gear, answering questions, or teaching you a weird Swedish word of the day, Ola’s vids are a great way to learn not only guitar, but about the industry.
Ben Eller
I’ve taken lessons with Ben Eller, and interviewed him for Chasing Sound, which you can check out here. I’ve gotta say, he’s as cool of a guy in real life as he is on YouTube - just a genuinely nice dude, who loves guitar. On top of not being a jerk, he can really play, and is a great teacher. I’ve loved watching his Weekend Wankshop videos. Ben is great at guitar AND bass, and you should definitely check him out when he plays with Andy Wood.
McRocklin
While he’s definitely made a bigger dent on Instagram, Thomas McRocklin also has a great YouTube channel. His videos range from playthrough lessons to behind the scenes looks at some of his coolest guitars (check out his vids if you’re a fan of Kiesel or Ibanez guitars!) I’ve also been lucky enough to take a lesson from Thomas earlier this year, and the guy is truly an amazing player. You can see he puts the time in each and every day to get better.
Paul Davids
I can’t get over how incredible Paul Davids’ videos look. The production that goes into these videos is amazing. Paul always seems to come up with cool topics and ways to present them. He’s a great player and a fantastic teacher, with videos on everything from understanding odd time signatures to how to approach arpeggios, and lots more. Some day I hope to have enough production chops to make my vids look as good as Paul’s!
Levi Clay
I first learned about Levi Clay when I was checking out Guitar Pro. Levi is a great player, but he might be an even better transcriber! It’s always fun to learn from Levi (I’ve picked up a few of his books on Country guitar), check out his video podcast, or watch him rage out against something in the guitar community. Plus, if you want to get started with transcription, I can’t think of a better person who’s a guitar player, to start with.
Robert Baker
Robert Baker is another guy that seems like he never runs out of video ideas. I always enjoy learning from Robert, whether it be cool ways to learn how to shred (no matter what age you are), practice workouts, or his numerous livestreams over the weekend. In addition to being a great player, he also has a pretty awesome collection of guitars and gear!
David Weiner - Guitopia
It’s amazing to me that David Weiner doesn’t get more credit than he does currently. He’s been part of Steve Vai’s band for over a decade, and has been teaching guitar for longer than that. I’ve stuck with him since his early Riff of the Week days, and have been a member of his Guitopia site since he transitioned the brand over. Dave is a killer player, and one of the best guitar teachers out there. While not trying to sound like an ad for his Guitopia site, it’s less than 4 bucks a month, for YEARS of great guitar videos. I can recommend it highly!
Rick Beato
Over the last couple of years, Rick Beato has gained a huge following on YouTube, and for good reason. I love watching his guitar videos, I also love watching his more theory based videos, and of COURSE I really enjoy his What Makes This Song Great? series. Rick is a super smart guitar player and engineer, and if you haven’t checked out his videos yet, you’re missing out!
David Wallimann
David Wallimann always impresses me with the sheer amount and quality of videos he puts out each week. One day David can be teaching us about a “secret” note he added to make his pentatonic scales more awesome, and the next he can be focusing on how to learn modes. David seems like a super nice guy, and I love how helpful his videos are. He’s also been giving away a ton of backing tracks, and is developing some really helpful online tools for guitar players to use.
Pete Thorn
Pete Thorn is another guy who has been absolutely killing it on YouTube over the past couple of years. It’s wild, but some of the songs that Pete writes for his gear demos, sound like they should be on an album. Oh, and if you haven’t checked out his albums, those are great too! Not to mention, the guy played for Chris Cornell! Pete is another guy who can show you how to play guitar, and also how to make a living in the industry. I love his videos, and think you should check them out if you haven’t already!
Honorable Mentions and Who’s Your Favorite?
Wow, I can’t believe we’re already at 10 guitar YouTube channels. If you’re not on here, that doesn’t mean I don’t watch your channel. I didn’t mention other great channels like Music Is Win, That Pedal Show, Jim Lill, Texas Blues Alley, Jared Dines, Stevie T, Kmac2021, Samurai Guitarist, Adam Neely, Darrel Braun, Phillip McKnight, Tim Pierce, Rick Graham, Troy Grady, Tom Quayle, Martin Miller…ok I gotta stop!
Those are all channels I watch, whenever they put out a video. Not to mention guitar gear videos, guitar store videos, and SO many more. As I said before, there’s a ton of great guitar content out there, and you can find out what I think is best each week in my newsletter!
Who’s your favorite guitarist on YouTube? Let me know by reaching out on Twitter, Instagram, or on Facebook. And oh hey, if you want to subscribe to Chasing Sound's YouTube channel, you can do that here.