Do You Really Need Guitar Lessons?

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You’re desperate to learn to play the guitar, but what’s the best way to do it? The internet is packed with helpful advice: theory, chords, scales, what seems like millions of different kinds of guitars… but you have no idea where to start. Is getting guitar lessons always the best solution? Here, Guestblogger Bart Hennephof lines up every option available to the complete beginner and also asks the question: how important is it to learn to play with the help of a real guitar teacher?

Guitar Teachers

First, we’ll look at why getting the help of a good guitar teacher might be the best route. In my personal experience, it’s all about the feedback you get – as well as the encouragement. If you’re sitting one-on-one with a guitar teacher, you’re getting direct instructions, guidance and corrections if you get something wrong – which is really important during the first stages, so you don’t form bad habits like an incorrect and uncomfortable playing posture. This includes the way you hold your body and your guitar as well as the position of your wrists, your fingers, the plectrum, your technique etc. If you learn any of these things incorrectly, this can actually inhibit your ability to learn more later. It’s these kinds of details that only a guitar teacher will be able to see, which is the biggest advantage of getting in-person lessons. A teacher can also immediately gauge your level, guide you further and will know just the right exercise or song that will help improve your technique so that, step by step, you can get better. This way of learning also helps students to avoid setting their expectations too high, preventing any frustrations during the learning process. A good teacher will also offer advice on how best to practise. For example, a lot of beginners will often try playing along to a song they’ve just learned, even though the original recording is actually too fast for them. A teacher can also show you that, by starting with a few notes or chords, you can slowly build up your knowledge rather than rushing or trying to play things that you’re not ready for yet. What’s often seen as a block to getting guitar lessons is the cost. If you want to get one-on-one lessons rather than group lessons, then the cost goes up, and if you want lessons from a conservatory-taught musician with a broad knowledge of music then it will cost you even more.

Guitar Lessons Via a Webcam

I often give guitar lessons and songwriting and production lessons online via Skype. The biggest advantage of taking guitar lessons this way is that it gives you a lot of teachers to choose from, no matter how far away they live. In theory, it means that you can get lessons from someone living as far away as the USA, Australia, India, Norway or France – you name it. But, of course, the question is: are online guitar lessons as good as in-person lessons? It depends. In theory, the teacher will still be able to see your playing posture well enough, so can offer guidance on where you’re placing your fingers and holding your wrists. However, to really get the most out of the lessons, you’ll need a good webcam (luckily most laptops come with good ones built in these days), and a good internet connection. You also need to make sure to pick a teacher who speaks English or your first language really well. Also, squinting at a small smartphone screen won’t cut it – you’ll at least need a laptop screen or a desktop monitor so you can see everything as clearly as possible.

The downside of online lessons is that you can’t really play along with your teacher that well (like if you’re improvising while your teacher plays a blues riff), simply because of the slight sound delay that you always have to deal with over the internet. If you’re just having a chat, then you rarely notice any delay, but if you want to play in time with another musician then it just doesn’t work. However, playing and improvising is something I don’t really do with students until they’re a little more advanced. Some students aren’t learning to play to be good at improvising either, and improvising isn’t for everyone. Generally, getting guitar lessons this way can be great, but is maybe better for more experienced players who have some concrete questions and are more specific about what kind of techniques they want to develop and so on. A little communication is always lost over a webcam so complete beginners might find it more difficult to progress this way.

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Learn Songs Yourself

The benefits of getting lessons from a real guitar teacher should never be underestimated, but there’s also Youtube, chord sites and music books that can all support self-study. If this way of learning suits you better, you can actually get pretty far. Below, I’ve lined up all of the possible options:

Free Online Content

There are plenty of sites overflowing with free chord progressions, guitar tablature and sheet music for songs, but not all of them will actually be that good, so try to find the sites that have a more professional look. These days, anyone can make a website but not everyone has studied music, so I think it’s important to find a site written by someone who’s able to explain the theory behind a song really well, including why the specific chords of a song have been used or the scale it’s in and so on. This will ensure that you’re really learning something new from each song. Unfortunately, you’ll come across a lot of free chord sites that often list the incorrect chords or guitar tab for the song they’re supposed to teach you to play. This makes it clear that the site isn’t written by experienced guitarists. Another disadvantage of using online sites like this is that there’s so much choice, you might struggle to see the wood for the trees. Yes, you will be able to find every song you can think of, but a lot of it (especially a lot of the free content) can just be misleading.

Using YouTube

On YouTube, you’ll also find countless tutorials that will claim to help you learn to play the guitar: everything from how to tune your guitar to how to play a specific song. Some are really helpful and give you a clear view of someone playing the song or solo before they take you through each part, step by step. Since you can see where they’re placing their fingers and their playing posture, studying with tutorials like these can work really well and help you progress. Just note that, while a lot of easy songs will usually be explained really well, some YouTubers may be playing more difficult songs incorrectly. So with YouTube as well, it can be a good idea to do a little research about the ‘teacher’. Do they give guitar lessons? Have they studied music or gained a lot of knowledge and experience some other way? This will prevent you from learning to play a song from someone who might have made a really enthusiastic and fun video, but doesn’t actually know exactly how to play it or explain it well.

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Using Paid Content

There are a lot of sites that offer study material that you can pay for and download, like sheet music and tablature. The good thing about sites like this is that they’re usually really professional, run by professional teachers or musicians and you can be confident that the material is correct. Using sites like this can save you a lot of time and research, and then you know that you have the right chords in front of you. It’s also nice that you only have to pay for what you actually want to learn, so you can leave the songs and theory that don’t interest you. This kind of paid content is really handy and a safe bet but it does mean you need to invest at least a little money here and there since quality seldom comes for free.

Music Books

Music books are still being printed, and can offer great step by step guidance and even lesson programmes. You can even buy just one lesson book and keep yourself busy for months. Guitar books cover everything, whether it’s just titles like ‘Playing the Guitar for Beginners’, ‘An Introduction to Solo Guitar’ or books about more specific techniques like ‘Flamenco Guitar for Beginners.’ Every book will make it clear what its contents are about and teach you certain styles via a clear method. There are also books of complete albums or collections of songs by specific bands or artists, all transcribed into tablature. Often these books are actually made in collaboration with the artists or have been approved by them so you can be sure that the material is correct. One of the nice things about learning to play the guitar using a book is that you don’t have to spend hours staring at a screen (which can be really tiring for your eyes) and, since you’re looking at a real paper book instead, you can actually make your own notes and easily mark your place. What’s less nice about learning from books is that the writing can sometimes be a little dry or written in a way that, because you’re dealing with terms you’ve never heard before, might be harder to understand. It’s those moments where it would help to have someone who could explain things to you.

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Websites With Lesson Programs

Another way to learn is using sites that offer full lesson programs. The biggest difference from using various chord sites, videos and books is that you’re not just dealing with a disparate bunch of songs and bits of theory but a structured and thought-out lesson plan that builds up and helps you progress. So it’s much more like taking a course but then, online. Most of these sites are accessed by paying a subscription, and from there, you can look through a broad array of lesson programs and get access to accurate sheet music that you can either read online or download. You can also follow the program at your own pace and new courses are added all the time, accommodating everyone from complete beginners to guitarists who want to learn to play country, blues, take a singer-songwriter course – the list goes on. Using these kinds of online courses can also often be cheaper than getting in-person lessons (so around £15 a month instead of around £30 a week).

My Personal Favourite?

I would say that the best idea is always to start learning from a real teacher. Then, following a couple of months or years (this might differ from person to person) you’ll have a good base of knowledge to work from and can start using other resources to study on your own, whether it’s using free online content or paid sites. If you want to be sure that you’re learning the basics correctly and want well-structured and efficient lessons but can’t afford a teacher, then an online course will be the best option.

Happy playing!

What’s your preferred learning method? Let us know in the comments.