Senior Instructor at Halifax Guitar Lessons
You have a guitar, you are ready to go, you want to learn. A logical thing to do next would be to go to the Internet to find free things to get you going right?
That’s when it hits you.
Wow! There are a lot of different options to learn from online. Pretty awesome! More options means you get to pick all the best ones and you should be playing in no time!
Right?
What Are Some Sources To Use To Learn To Play Guitar?
What you will find is the Internet is filled with many free and paid resources that all seem to promise results. So many that it can become incredibly overwhelming to try and figure out which one to start with.
You could also buy some books or DVDs instead. This was the way to go before the Internet so maybe these could work. There is a huge selection of these available too.
You could hire a teacher to help you to learn to play guitar of course. And again, there are many different options available in this realm and they are all different.
Should you pick just one and go with that? Or should you try a variety of approaches? What’s the best way to go about this?
How Many Sources Are Good To Use To Learn To Play Guitar?
Some people think it is a really good idea to supplement one method of learning to play guitar with other materials. The problem with that is when you are first starting to learn, how do you know what materials are good for you, or bad for you?
And even if they are good for you, maybe it is not the right time for you to learn it. It may seem like it won’t hurt to try different things or to see if your current method is showing you things the same way as another one does.
However there is a real danger that it will sidetrack your progress and cause confusion and frustration. Since you are not focusing on what you are being taught with your current method, you will not practice it as much and you can start to doubt it even if it is better.
I am not saying all methods are great or that all methods can get you the best results, but if you are making progress and are moving forward in your playing you need to learn to trust the method you are using, at least for now.
You are wasting your time and possibly money if you keep jumping from method to method.
Stick To One Source When Learning To Play Guitar
The best thing to do when you first start learning to play guitar is to stick with only one source or method. That’s because this will be less confusing and keep things in a specific order that should help you develop skills incrementally.
If you jump around from one person to another or from one method to another you will likely end up getting conflicting information which can cause confusion, frustration and ultimately will stunt your progress.
The best method will be fun, challenging and interactive. It does not mean there will be no frustration or no challenges. Learning to play guitar is going to cause both of those.
However, of all the methods mentioned, there is one that will give you the best chance to get all of this at the same time.
What Is The Best Single Source To Learn To Play Guitar?
Learning to play guitar is not the easiest thing to do in the world. Your fingers are not programmed to bend the way you need them to, strumming is new thing, and then to try and put it all together? Not that easy.
The best source for you to use and to help you get through the initial difficulties to learn to play guitar is to find a great teacher to help you. Who will guide you and interact with you through the entire learning process all the way to your goal.
Learning from a qualified teacher will help alleviate most of the frustrations mentioned in this article because they will have specific strategies to overcome those things much easier than you could try to guess at.
They will see what is happening and immediately be there to help diagnose and correct things that could hold you back and frustrate you.
To help you progress faster with a good teacher you should stay focused on what they teach you and avoid trying to check what they are telling you online or try different ways.
Even if that teacher is not perfect, you will progress much faster in the beginning if you simply stick with their methods.
Once your skills become more proficient and you can play decently you can then branch out and seek information from other sources to help complement your learning. Even better, ask your teacher what he recommends instead of guessing on your own.
Resist the temptation to go online or seek out many different ways to learn to play guitar at first. Instead find a good teacher to help you and you will progress faster and be a lot less frustrating.