Free Online Music Lessons for Beginners: Guitar, Piano & More!

Want to learn guitar, piano, or another instrument without spending a fortune on lessons? Whether you’re learning yourself or have a child interested in music, there are some fantastic FREE online music lessons that can help you get started!

When my son wanted to learn guitar, we signed him up for what he called a “Rock Star” class. He loved it, but it was incredibly expensive! I wish I’d known about these free resources back then so he could have tried it out before we invested so much money.

Money-Saving Tip: Start with free lessons before committing to private instruction. You’ll find out whether you actually enjoy playing an instrument without spending hundreds of dollars!

Best FREE Online Music Lessons for Beginners

1. JustinGuitar – FREE Guitar Lessons

JustinGuitar is one of the best places to start learning guitar. The free beginner course walks you through tuning, chords, strumming, and playing your first songs.

Lessons are organized step by step, making it easy to follow along even if you’ve never picked up a guitar before.

2. Hoffman Academy – FREE Piano Lessons

Hoffman Academy offers more than 400 free piano video lessons, making it a particularly good choice for kids and families.

Lessons cover everything from finding notes on the keyboard to reading music and playing songs. Optional premium learning materials are available, but the video lessons are free.

3. MusicTheory.net – FREE Music Theory Lessons

MusicTheory.net offers free interactive lessons covering notes, rhythm, scales, chords, and reading sheet music.

It’s a useful resource for anyone learning piano, guitar, violin, or another instrument.

4. Teoria – FREE Music Exercises

Teoria offers music theory tutorials and exercises to help beginners practice reading notes, identifying chords, understanding scales, and training their ears.

5. Zebra Keys – FREE Piano Tutorials

Zebra Keys offers beginner piano lessons covering keyboard basics, chords, scales, and music theory.

6. Ultimate Guitar – FREE Guitar Tabs & Chords

Once you’ve learned a few chords, Ultimate Guitar is a useful place to find songs to practice.

It offers guitar tabs and chord charts for thousands of songs. Some content is free, while additional features require a subscription.

7. Berklee Online – FREE Sample Music Lessons

Want to learn from a music college? Berklee Online offers free sample lessons and educational handbooks covering topics such as guitar, piano, vocals, and music production.

These are samples rather than complete free courses, but they’re a good way to explore different musical interests before paying for instruction.

8. YouTube – FREE Lessons for Almost Any Instrument

Don’t overlook YouTube! You’ll find beginner lessons for guitar, piano, drums, ukulele, violin, singing, and plenty of other instruments.

Try searching for your instrument followed by “beginner lesson 1” and look for a complete lesson series rather than jumping between random videos.

How to Find Cheap Musical Instruments

Before buying an expensive new instrument, ask friends and family if they have a guitar, keyboard, or other instrument collecting dust in a closet.

You can also check Facebook Marketplace, thrift stores, yard sales, and local music shops for used instruments.

If you’re shopping for something new, compare prices first. I actually bought my son’s trombone on Amazon for about half of what our local music shop wanted at the time!

Another money-saving tip: Ask local music stores about instrument rentals. Renting can be a smarter option for kids who are still deciding whether they want to stick with an instrument.

Don’t Forget Your Local Library!

Your local library may offer free access to music-learning resources, online courses, instructional books, and even musical instruments you can borrow!

Programs vary by library, so check your library’s website or ask what resources are available with your library card.

Starting with free lessons is an easy way to explore a new hobby without making a big financial commitment. You might even discover a lifelong love of music!

Looking for more ways to learn without spending money? Check out our Educational Freebies for more free learning opportunities.