Guitar Start GuideIf you’ve searched YouTube for your first chords, you’ve almost certainly landed on Andy Crowley. This Andy Guitar review is for the complete beginner trying to work out whether his free videos are genuinely enough to learn on, or whether you’ll hit a wall and need to pay for something. The short answer: the free course is a brilliant starting point, and for many people it’s all they’ll need for the first few months.
Who is Andy Guitar?
Andy Crowley is a UK-based guitar teacher who has built one of the most-watched beginner guitar channels on YouTube. His style is patient and unhurried — he repeats things, he demonstrates slowly, and he assumes you know nothing. That last part matters more than it sounds. A lot of “beginner” content quietly assumes you can already change chords cleanly; Andy doesn’t.
Alongside the free YouTube library there’s the Andy Guitar app and website, which bundle the lessons into ordered courses and add song tutorials, backing tracks, and a paid membership tier for people who want structure and extras.
What the free YouTube course covers
The centrepiece for beginners is his “10 Day Guitar Starter Course” plus a large bank of follow-up lessons. Across the free material you get a genuinely complete on-ramp:
- Holding the guitar, tuning, and naming the strings
- Your first open chords — E minor, A minor, D, G, C
- Basic strumming patterns and keeping time
- Changing chords smoothly (the real beginner bottleneck)
- Dozens of full song tutorials using those chords
The song lessons are where Andy shines. Learning “three chords and a strum” in isolation is dull; learning them because they’re the actual song you wanted to play is what keeps you picking the guitar up. If you’re still weighing up self-teaching in general, our Start Here guide walks through the whole beginner path.
Free vs paid: what you actually get
| Feature | Free (YouTube) | Andy Guitar app / Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner starter course | Yes, complete | Yes, reordered into a clean path |
| Song tutorials | Hundreds | Hundreds, plus members-only songs |
| Structured progression | You assemble it | Done for you |
| Backing tracks & chord sheets | Some | Full library |
| Ads | Yes | Ad-free |
| Cost | Free | Around $10–15/month at the time of writing |
The honest takeaway: you are not paying for locked-away secret knowledge. You’re paying for order, convenience, and the removal of ads and distractions. That’s a real value for some people and unnecessary for others.
Where the free course falls short
Two weaknesses show up once you’re past the absolute basics. First, YouTube itself works against you — the sidebar, the ads, and the temptation to hop to a different teacher mid-lesson all fragment your practice. Second, free video gives you no feedback. Andy can’t hear that your G chord is buzzing on the low E string. Apps that listen to your playing, like the ones we cover in our guitar apps guides, close that gap in a way a video never can.
If you value a single, paid-for course that holds your hand from lesson one to your first solos, a subscription platform such as Fender Play or Guitar Tricks gives you that spine. Andy’s free content is more of a self-serve buffet — fantastic, but you do the plating.
Is the free course enough?
For your first three to six months? Almost certainly, yes — if you’re disciplined. Andy’s free library will take a motivated beginner from zero to confidently playing a handful of songs. The people who struggle with a free-only approach tend to struggle with self-direction, not with the material. If you know you need someone to tell you exactly what to do next, that’s the moment to consider a paid course or the Andy Guitar app.
If you want structure over guesswork: Andy’s free videos are genuinely likeable, but when you’re ready for lessons that follow a deliberate order, Jamorama is the course we’d graduate you to.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Andy Guitar really free?
The YouTube channel and a large part of the website are genuinely free. There’s an optional paid app and Premium membership that reorganise the lessons and add extras, but you can learn the fundamentals without spending anything. It’s a similar model to JustinGuitar — see our look at whether JustinGuitar is really free.
Is Andy Guitar good for absolute beginners?
Yes. His pacing and repetition are aimed squarely at people who have never held a guitar, which makes it one of the friendliest free starting points available.
Do I need the paid app?
Not to learn the basics. Consider it only if you want an ad-free, pre-ordered path and the members-only song library, or if you find yourself getting lost choosing what to watch next.
Andy Guitar vs a paid course — which should I choose?
Start free with Andy. If after a month or two you crave more structure or feedback on your playing, move to a paid course. There’s no downside to beginning with the free material first.
What to Read Next
- Jamorama Review 2026: Is It Worth It for Beginners?
- Fender Play Review 2026: Worth the Subscription?
- Guitar Tricks Review 2026: Still the Best Online Course?
- More reviews & comparisons
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