Sonora Guitar IntensiveReviews of learnwithsonora.com

Like many players, I had reached a plateau and felt like I hadn't improved in years when I found Sonora (it was guitar mastery intensive back then!) I finished the program more than a year ago and then signed up with the fellowship program to continue my studies with a mentor - in essence to try and apply the fundamental skills I learned at Sonora. This program is pricey, and I thought for over a year before enrolling. But here's the thing - you get what you pay for. There is no magic in becoming an excellent musician - you need to practice. Sonora doesn't sell a pill you take, they have created a community to help guide you, and a curriculum that (when you practice) really helps get your head around the guitar. If you are serious about practicing and learning, Sonora is an excellent resource, and for me, money well spent. Sure, you can go figure it out on your own and save the money, but that will take you many, many years. I'd rather learn faster and pay some excellent teachers to help me along the way. In the long run the program is more effective and probably cheaper than doing it on your own. I'll end with this - I don't waste money on programs anymore. Sonora gave me what I wanted. I have a lifetime of practice to keep me busy, and my money, when I spend it, is now spent on master classes with excellent teachers who I never could have studied with before.

Sonora is a great freagin’ program to join if you are just beginning guitar, an intermediate player (like me) or even for the advanced players. Their program is very easy to understand. For me, I’ve been able to connect dots, in musical sense, much faster than I’ve ever had before. Sonora has also helped realize that I’m very knowledgeable about music theory I general. I never knew what to do with certain musical information, because I never knew how to apply it. But Sonora has helped me uncover some of those “mysteries” and showed me how to apply the “newly discovered knowledge”. One of my favorite things about the Sonora program, was their screening. After asking me a few questions regarding music theory, they paired me a “pre-mentor”, if you will, whom I had a handful of meetings with. This “pre-mentor” then set me up with my mentor, Rob Garland. Rob has been my “Mr. Miyagi” so to speak. Guiding me, and showing me tricks and tips, and helping me comprehend what I already know and applying that to my playing whether that’s recording or preforming. I’m looking forward to expanding and my knowledge with Sonora. Thank y’all -Jeffrey

Excellent program that teaches you the music theory and gives you the exercises to master the guitar. Obviously the more time and effort you put into your practice, the more you'll be rewarded!

Sonora is invested in your progress. Hands on approach. I experienced everyone I have come into contact at Sonora as response and mindful. Thanks for all the effort!

I started with Sonora back when it was GMI and i've never looked back. I was in a self-taught rut as a player and needed to go back to the beginning. With many years of playing experience i needed a course that understood a seasoned professional needing to unlock a new path without losing my musical voice. My mentor TJ was very insightful and really helped me develop a deeper understanding of my instrument and harmony. Playing should be fun and Sonora is a super enjoyable platform to learn with - I'm still using it daily!

Sonora approaches guitar education quite differently than most guitar instructional methods. Sonora employs a holistic approach so you always know why you're working on a particular task and what it means in the bigger picture. A unique and incredibly important feature is the daily video check-in with your mentor. Each morning, I send in a short video of my playing to my mentor via an app that Sonora provides. My mentor then responds back the same day with feedback, what I'm doing right, what I'm doing wrong, what I'm going to work on next and more. (I should mention that the mentors are world-class, professional guitarists themselves.) This back-and-forth on a daily basis keeps you moving forward, nips errors in the bud before they become ingrained, mitigates "slacking off" and results in accelerated learning. Concurrent with the mentoring, is a self-paced, online curriculum that uses adaptive technology to help you focus on the areas that you need more work on and keep you moving down the learning path. The curriculum is extremely well-organized and utilizes proven learning methodology. The instructors and staff are attentive to each student's needs and the weekly group workshops and group office hours with my personal mentor are fun and informative. It doesn't take long for you to become part of a community of like-minded learners. Having been down the traditional path of weekly lessons with its typically slow progress, I am now experiencing dramatic improvement in a very short time. Put in the daily effort and you'll see results quickly!

Teachers are excellent, Curt in one-on-one video sessions was amazing and articulated many things I needed to work on. The lesson programs were helpful and I have been using them as a resource for over one year after completing the three month intensive.

Following is a copy my review that I posted on Google a few weeks ago. I now have my mentor/teacher and am getting even deeper into the work and the challenges. Here's the review from December 2023: I am just getting started and don't have my mentor/teacher assigned yet, but I have been doing the curriculum and going through some of the recorded classes and will say this program is very helpful. I'm a professional musician; composer, pianist, keyboard player, but have never made progress on guitar. Sonora's program keeps students focused on learning the fretboard, understanding chord progressions, and learning various playing styles. Their system paces through exercises and has you review them in a way that you can achieve and retain the skills. While I don't need much work in music theory or song analysis, the fretboard work and styles are helping me move forward in ways that I never did with YouTube videos and tips from players/teachers. Having a consistent system is the only way to get past the "plateaus". The course is not inexpensive, but if you want the personal challenge, or have been stuck for years (like me), or if you can kind of play but want to raise your abilities, I highly recommend this program.