Sonora Guitar Intensive Reviews 44

I joined Sonora through the "Prep" program a few months ago. I've been "playing" with my guitar for years, but just in the short time I've been with Sonora I can see much improvement! Sonora gives me focus for practicing and also fills in my knowledge gaps with a little music theory that helps it all fit together. I'm really glad I found Sonora and would highly recommend their programs. I've just joined the "Core" program and can't wait to get started!

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.

I found Sonora online and thought it sounded different from most other guitar lessons online as it talked about truly understanding the instrument not simply learning a few chords and playing songs. Believe me I am not an experienced guitarist or musician but although I am far from my goals at this part in my journey I have learned and now understand more than I ever thought I would. I can now use the entire fret board and am starting to learn how to improvise. The instructors are all so very helpful and encouraging. I especially can single out Mike Chisnall. When I am met with frustration he will take the time to approach it a different way to help me understand and always encourages. If you really want to discover what you can do with your guitar I recommend this course!
Norma G

I don't know enough to rate it yet! So far everyone has been super nice and willing to help!
Update: Great place for structure and cohesive practice environment. Recommend as part of practice routine

Going from one lesson a week with a guitar teacher to then transitioning to a program like Sonora was a game changer. You are able to improve your skills drastically. With step by step guides on what to practice, why you're practicing what you're practicing and a clear path to fretboard fluency. I've made many connections with things I'd been playing for a long time but didn't understand, and beyond. It's a great feeling being in the hands of an amazing program like this along with their outstanding mentors.

This way of learning the guitar has been such an amazing experience. I appreciate the Sonora team and respect their mission. It truly has been a dream come true for me. I gave up guitar at a younger age due to the lack of practice structure and feedback. The curriculum, masterclasses, open sessions, and 1:1 mentorship provides a constructive game changing feedback loop that is unmatched.

he Sonora Guitar Intensive is a great (and intense) program that helped me break out of a rut in my guitar playing, and I have made real progress since then. More progress than in the last 10 years, in a matter of months. It does take some dedication, but if you are looking to get further in your practice, check out SGI

My initial months in the Sonora Guitar Mastery curriculum were super engaging and inspiring. Without a doubt, Sonora saved me through the pandemic when there were no gigs and no jams, and me and my guitar were at a loss. The daily exercise flow with the software is something I truly enjoy and still return to three years later. I have become more agile, stronger, and more confident with these practices. My understanding of the fretboard has greatly increased. 7th chords make me so happy! My songwriting has definitely more options for chord forms and directions. I think it was worthwhile to pay extra for the weekly individual instruction time with one of Sonora's great teachers because I had someone to answer to, and that engaged me even more. Arianna helped me ground the concepts and forms I was learning into actual badass chord melody arrangements of a Stevie Wonder song and a song of mine that she helped me write and arrange. Highly recommended!

Sonora really lays out the platform, program resources, people resources, and sets expectations expertly up front.
They have really built a platform/service that adapts to each students needs, while also creating a learning environment in a digital space.

Very helpful in leading you in the right direction towards guitar fluency. After just 3 months with it I felt I understood the fretboard layout far more than before I had joined.

Sonora has a great set up, fantastic flow and well thought out format. I've made so much progress in my playing and understanding! The mentorship that is available is amazing and the multiple weekly classes are unmatched by any other program.

This program helped me to the next level: years of online you tube lessons, Guitar Courses through good sites like Truefire, occaisional live lessons did not give me a coherent approach to the guitar. Sonora Guitar Intensive gave me a core curriculum and their mentorship program provided me with my own mentor to get feedback on assignments, tailor my progress and that discipline of the curriculum and the frequent feedback from my mentor allowed me to make leaps in my playing. I play in a jazz combo and my band mates notice my improved ability to support the music in my comping, better rhythm, and better solos. The audience has noticed to. Importantly, I'm playing with better time, better facility and having a blast. Thank you Sonora Guitar Intensive. I highly recommend it.

Sonora is a very well conceived and intensive guitar program. The curriculum itself is wide and encompassing, yet focused. It is presented in a "building-block" manner that allows the student to incorporate new learning with built-in timed reviews so that new concepts are not easily forgotten when a new teaching is presented. The mentorship is an invaluable method for rapid improvement. Videos from all the mentors at Sonora are accessible students, and from what I have seen, every mentor is a world-class player who actually knows how teach teach and share his or her knowledge. PLUS, everyone at Sonora I have encountered is just plain cool, kind, and caring.