Review Insights · App Store
Gibson: Learn to Play Guitar
Zoundio · 11,634 ratings · ★ 4.8
4.8
★★★★★
11,634 ratings
🎯 Build a better version
Top complaints - extracted from 35 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"lesson"
8 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Bernie’s. I want Jazz theory for advanced player. Only beginner lessons here." - Beferguson
2
"lessons"
7 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Bernie’s. I want Jazz theory for advanced player. Only beginner lessons here." - Beferguson
3
"subscription"
7 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Great Guitar Trainer!. The app is no longer worth the subscription fee after they got rid of all the great songs they used to have in the library. How to do you call yourself a guitar app when you remove AC/DC, Jimi Hendrix, Metallica, Alice and Chains, Cream, et…" - Mach_X
4
"songs"
6 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Great Guitar Trainer!. The app is no longer worth the subscription fee after they got rid of all the great songs they used to have in the library. How to do you call yourself a guitar app when you remove AC/DC, Jimi Hendrix, Metallica, Alice and Chains, Cream, et…" - Mach_X
5
"guitar"
5 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Great Guitar Trainer!. The app is no longer worth the subscription fee after they got rid of all the great songs they used to have in the library. How to do you call yourself a guitar app when you remove AC/DC, Jimi Hendrix, Metallica, Alice and Chains, Cream, et…" - Mach_X
6
"song"
5 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Great Guitar Trainer!. The app is no longer worth the subscription fee after they got rid of all the great songs they used to have in the library. How to do you call yourself a guitar app when you remove AC/DC, Jimi Hendrix, Metallica, Alice and Chains, Cream, et…" - Mach_X
7
"play"
5 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Bernie’s. I want Jazz theory for advanced player. Only beginner lessons here." - Beferguson
8
"playing"
5 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "meh. having to sign in after every update is a nuisance. slow learners don’t make it thru all lessons; only fast learners with years of guitar playing experience will finish course. we all pay the same, of course." - Not Timoteo
9
"trial"
5 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Great during the trial. It is really cool at first. You think yeah it’s worth it. Then after you buy it unless you read closely you realize all the cool stuff you were learning goes away unless you pay a subscription fee. Seemed expensive to start with the.n to ta…" - zerovirgil
10
"crashes"
5 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "App is crashing. Currently the app is unusable because it crashes when starting a song. I just started a trial and this is not a good sign at all." - grayphd
11
"paying"
4 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Version 6.0.2. I have just updated the app and now all the lessons are gone those were the main reason for me paying the subscription don’t get me wrong it’s a great app but what the h*ll man all my progress has disappeared into the void I’m gonna need my…" - 3ino4
12
"cannot"
4 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Cannot Log In on iPad app. I am unable to log in to the iPadOS version of this app, stating there is no user associated with my account. Although, I am able to log in on my iPhone and MacBook no problem." - littleatom7
📋 All 35 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Bernie’s
I want Jazz theory for advanced player. Only beginner lessons here.
Timing is off
The app would be fine if the backing track aligned with the tracking. The app wants you to play notes about a half second before it fits the music. Terrible.
Cannot Log In on iPad app
I am unable to log in to the iPadOS version of this app, stating there is no user associated with my account. Although, I am able to log in on my iPhone and MacBook no problem.
meh
having to sign in after every update is a nuisance.
slow learners don’t make it thru all lessons; only fast learners with years of guitar playing experience will finish course.
we all pay the same, of course.
slow learners don’t make it thru all lessons; only fast learners with years of guitar playing experience will finish course.
we all pay the same, of course.
Up charges!
The premium subscription for 19.99 is misleading when you can’t even access the second lesson without being up charged 4.99.
Not impressed
New to guitar, starting learning from this app thought it was great. Up until I pushed play and passed a level without even touching the guitar. Was in a completely quiet room and the app was saying I was doing perfect, then too high, too low, missed. Showed I hit 45% accuracy and I didn’t even have my guitar in my hands. Trash
Disappointed
Really disappointed with the app, after I renewed my subscription many artists disappeared, Hendrix, nirvana, metalica, Beatles, foo fighters and others.
The website still show some artists that doesn’t exist in the library.
Costumer service doesn’t answer, it’s is a terrible experience.
100% regret of this anual subscription.
The website still show some artists that doesn’t exist in the library.
Costumer service doesn’t answer, it’s is a terrible experience.
100% regret of this anual subscription.
Broke People Can’t Use!!
I downloaded it and after the first few lessons they make you pay for everything else. You cannot learn ANYTHING without emptying your pockets!
don’t get it
you basically cannot do anything without paying for it. you get a lesson on ONE string then you can’t go further
Great during the trial
It is really cool at first. You think yeah it’s worth it. Then after you buy it unless you read closely you realize all the cool stuff you were learning goes away unless you pay a subscription fee. Seemed expensive to start with the.n to tack on a fee. Just disappointing. I am not one to complain what things cost. This just seemed unfair. Frankly I felt scammed..
Gibson
It’s really good but the tuning needs work
App is crashing
Currently the app is unusable because it crashes when starting a song. I just started a trial and this is not a good sign at all.
Completely Unstable
Great app when it works, but unfortunately its completely unstable and crashes anytime you try and do a lesson. Hopefully they push out an update soon to fix this bug. Deleting and reinstalling doesn’t work and it crashed on every device I have tried
Crash
I paid $200 for lessons on this app and it crashed every time it tries to listen to how I’m playing. I’m not that bad am I? Seriously. The app crashes before I can even play.
Crashes constantly
Tried the free trial and after each lesson the app crashes when trying to go the next lesson. I have to go back in each time and restart. Did that for about ten minutes but got too frustrated. That is annoying and enough to make me look at other options before buying paying.
App crash
Soon as I start a lesson the app crashes. I’ve went back in 10 times in a row trying to get a lesson going and crashes every time. Frustration is a bad part of trying to learn! I deleted the app and cancel trial after 10 minutes.
Hard App to Use
App is not easy to use. App uses phone speaker but it doesn’t often register what you are playing. Furthermore, the app is not fun and hasn’t taught me anything. I have played guitar in the past and wanted to get back i to it. There has to be better options.
Pricing????
After day 7 how much????
Not working for me
Just subscribed was very excited; however, nothing works for me I can not play songs or advance, it just keeps asking to subscribe. It will not do anything but the very first lesson nothing else. Emailed them not even a courtesy email back that they are working on the issue
Horrible
Constantly says too low no matter what adjustments I make. Contacted support for some help and was ignored. Regret that I wasted my money on this app
Can’t log in on new iPhone 17
I love the app, but I got a new iPhone 17 and I cannot log in. I am using the same userid and password that I use on the Gibson website.
No way to cancel trap!!!!!
Zero
Free Trial then How Much?!
How much is this thing after the free trial. I can’t find it anywhere. It’s like it’s going to be a big surprise or something. Is it Monthly, 6 Months, Yearly? I don’t like surprises with my money.
Great Guitar Trainer!
The app is no longer worth the subscription fee after they got rid of all the great songs they used to have in the library. How to do you call yourself a guitar app when you remove AC/DC, Jimi Hendrix, Metallica, Alice and Chains, Cream, etc from the app? They say there “licensing challenges” which really means that they cheaped out decided to bank the subscription profits rather than pay the licensing fees. I call BS. The song library on the Fender app is much larger and going strong.
Less Material for Experienced Players
More and more, the focus for this app is on beginner and intermediate players. It has become very rare to get a lesson with an “Advanced” version, which is their terminology for an accurate song lesson. Instead, they provide simplified versions where the parts and solos sound barely like the original songs, and are watered down to something that a less experienced player can play. They have also completely gotten away from the lessons with actual video showing the teacher play the song, and only provide a short audio narration prior to the simplified part’s tablature being played through. In fact, many of the legacy video lessons with fantastic accurate lessons on great classics were removed at the beginning of the year. There’s just not much for me here anymore.
Version 6.0.2
I have just updated the app and now all the lessons are gone those were the main reason for me paying the subscription don’t get me wrong it’s a great app but what the h*ll man all my progress has disappeared into the void I’m gonna need my money back if this isn’t fixed
Try it for a month first
This app seemed promising but after 3 weeks of daily lessons, I’m no better at guitar. I also did not like the “augmented reality” piece, which involves playing out of key notes in the name of an easier learning curve. This app is really well built and functions great! I just did not take to the teaching method. Ultimately, I’m glad I did not buy the annual subscription.
Ok
The picking up of the notes is not that good with a phone. It works sometime and sometimes it doesn’t
Needs to keep up with competition
There are plenty of apps out to learn. This one starts in beginners and jumps around in skill sets while lacking some of the options with the other paid apps
Don’t use for tuning
Tuning is super wonky, ended up breaking a string because of it. Didn’t use it as a learning app
Was Doing Well Until….
I got so far along and then the app just force closes on its own. Paid a lot of $$$$$$ for this.
Disappointed
I feel a little bit scammed , I bought the platinum subscription then 1 month later they take all the “famous songs” and try to get me to buy another yearly subscriptions just to get them back🤦🏼♂️
Song catalogue
The song catalogue is tiny, and mostly sad.
Missing songs
Not a single lesson for a Jimi Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughan song but Hendrix is the thumbnail for the 60’s songs list. Make it make sense🤨.. is it because they were more known for playing on Stratocasters or something?
Fun, but….
Using the app is fun and has been helpful, however while I pay the same amount as other users, i have access to fewer songs. I have been told that licensing for the songs is regional, however, licensing rights are, as far as I can tell National. I am in the USA, but do not have access to the same songs as other USA users. I feel a bit cheated, paying the same as those who have a better product.
Sentiment summary
95%
Positive (4-5★)
2%
Neutral (3★)
3%
Negative (1-2★)