Senior Instructor at Halifax Guitar Lessons
Learning to play the guitar is a pretty popular thing to do. Most people have either tried it or thought about trying to learn.
Our culture revolves around music and most of it is guitar driven so it makes perfect sense that so many people would want to learn to play.
Thanks to the Internet most people tend to buy themselves a guitar and then go online to find free lessons so they can learn it without having to waste any money. Plus, it is convenient since you do it when you have time and are available.
Unfortunately, this usually ends poorly. Most people I teach today have tried to go online to learn to play but they ended up frustrated and thinking they may never be able to learn.
We do not want that to happen to you.
Here are 3 reasons why you should invest your time and money with in-person guitar lessons in your area instead of going online where you are likely to get frustrated and possibly quit altogether.
1. No Interaction
This is a really big problem with online lessons.
Most of the guitar students I have taught have tried to teach themselves online. If it was so awesome why did they seek me out?
When they come in to see me they can’t usually play anything all the way through and if they can it’s usually not very smooth. They are usually quite frustrated with their playing and I do not blame them.
When I see them for the first time they have many questions they have no answers for and are really happy when I can help them. You do not usually get this with online guitar lessons.
Many times, I can get them to fix something quickly by watching what they do. I point something out that they are not doing properly or fix a bad habit they have developed and things go much better. Again, you do not get this online.
Some of them tried for months and got nowhere. Just think if they invested that time with a good teacher how far they would have been already? Don’t let that be you. Find a good teacher and supercharge your progress!
2. Learn Bad Habits
This is related to the first point. When I get new students who have tried to teach themselves online they are usually riddled with bad habits.
Because you have no interaction with a teacher when you go online you have no way to know what you are doing properly or not.
That’s probably why you can’t do everything the guy on the video is trying to get you to do. Or why you can’t change chords smoothly and quickly. Or why you can’t strum very well yet.
Bad habits limit you. They stop you from progressing quickly and can back you into a corner once you get to a certain level.
With an in-person guitar teacher they will notice these bad habits and they will help show you more effective and efficient ways to do the same thing so you learn it properly and sets you up for success down the road.
This is one of the most important reasons to get an in-person teacher. Even if they never teacher you any more information and just helped you fix all of your bad habits, you would make a lot of progress.
But you want more than that!
3. No Long-Term Plan
This is the most damaging problem over the long term.
Taking lessons online tends to be random. There are a few people who put your through a beginner program and teach you a couple of chords. But even then, it’s not necessarily geared for long-term success. They are only looking at making you happy right now.
Most other online lessons are random though. You get to pick what you want to learn each day. And although it may be fun for a while, sooner or later you will start to feel like you are just repeating the same things.
You get stuck. And this is another common problem I see a lot. The only way to cure this is to know how to get to the next level, and the next one after that and so on.
You need a long term plan so you can become a really good guitar player over time. But where do you find one of those?
Finding The Right Teacher For You Is The Key
Taking guitar lessons in person is definitely the best and fastest way to learn how to play guitar.
However not all guitar teachers are the same. It is very important for you to find a teacher who will understand all of the points presented in this article and help you to learn things properly.
And most teachers can typically help you with the first two points however the third point is where things are usually are missing which is unfortunate because it is the most important and foundational element needed to help you get really good on guitar.
Make sure you find a guitar teacher that will create a specific and personal long-term plan just for you to reach your goals with guitar.