Learn To Play The Guitar Online- Why This Maybe The Better Choice

Private Guitar Lessons

Up until about 10 years ago private guitar lessons were the only way to go. Let’s take a look at the outline. Your first lesson will start with the instructors’ curriculum and your goals as a guitarist. He/She will take you through basic music theory, chord theory and you will move on into playing scales and barre chords and if you’re lucky you may even have an instructor that will teach you your favorite songs from time to time. This method is probably the best for one on one individual instruction. The instructor will guide you through exactly where to place your hands, timing and strumming progressions. However, private guitar lessons can be very expensive and time consuming. You will be practicing the same thing over and over again for at least 15 min/day until the instructor feels you’re ready to move on which can cost you upwards of $40/hour. Plus, you will have to fit these lessons into your tight schedule. All in all it might be a good place to start to see if you’re disciplined enough to learn guitar.

Class Room Instruction

This is a great place to start to learn the basics. Usually these types of lessons are for a set period of time once a week for about a month and a half. You will only learn the basics unless you move on to the intermediate classes. With this instruction the teacher will generally be teaching you chords and rhythm only. The classes just aren’t long enough to teach much more unless you move on to other classes. This can be a very cost effective way to see if learning the guitar is something you want to continue to pursue. However, you could get bored or fall behind since there will be minimum one on one help. I’d check them out for the true beginner though.

Guide Books

This style of learning is for the self motivated individual who likes to figure a lot of things out on their own. You see guide books are only going to give you photos of where to place your fingers. You will not be listening to the way it sounds or even if your guitar is in tune. I would recommend guide books to the student who has already taken lessons before and wants to take some more advanced lessons. Picking up a guide book is always good for reference. However, it’s the cheapest method if you’re looking for cost savings. I learned my first six chords from a guide book without any physical instruction.

DVD’s & Video Instruction

These can simply be wonderful. Over the years this method has improved 10 fold. The video quality is outstanding and they’ve pretty much perfected and revised the lessons over the years from frequently asked questions of students. However, you will usually be taught by one instructor and lessons are not updated unless you buy the latest copies of DVD’s. All in all a great place to start!

Online Guitar Lessons

This is where all the buzz has been lately and for good reason. This is the closest to private instruction as it gets. However, there are many more advantages. You will be taught by several different instructors. These instructors will be specialized in the genre you want to learn. The lessons plans are updated and many online guitar lessons have live instructors that you can ask questions to once a week. Also, they have online communities set up like social networks where you can hook up with other aspiring guitarists like yourself. The prices are very reasonable. They range from $14.95 to $19.95/mo for the very high quality lessons from instructors with degrees such as from the Berkley School of Music. These by far outweigh any of the advantages that you might consider from the above methods.

All in all, my highest recommendation would be to take online lessons for guitar. Hope this helps. Hope you enjoy learning the guitar!