Teach Yourself Guitar

If you aspire to learn music properly, it would be a great help if you had a teacher, a guide or a mentor that will enable you to understand the complex facets & help you build a strong foundation on which you can develop your skills.

Imagine a 6th grader declaring he will not be attending school anymore as he believes he has already learned everything that one needs to learn and know in life. Sounds absurd, right? Well, it is quite unfortunate that this is the same attitude that many guitar students have about music.

Most of us can remember some great guitar players out there who have never had a single formal music lesson in their life, and yet they still seem to become legends.

Most people look at these guitar players and think “Hey if that person can achieve on their own, why shouldn’t I be able to?” It is a legitimate question, and of course, there are certain things you can learn on your own. However, many novices fail to deal with issues such as lack of motivation which kills the spark of learning.

Private Lessons

When you study under a licensed private music instructor, you get to enjoy your instructor’s full attention and focus for an entire class. You can profit from the experiences & programs that have been planned and tailored to your specific needs, goals, and learning style. You can advance swiftly and efficiently because the lectures are made just for you. You can make constant progress towards your personal goals.

Factors Influencing Private Lessons

  1. Private Lessons – Most new students may not be comfortable or confident in their skills and abilities. This might prevent them from playing to the best of their potential in front of others just yet. Group classes can be frightening for these students. Private lessons allow the chance for students to work on music relaxingly until they are ready to play in public or in front of others. This removes the pressure some may feel at the beginning.
  2. Perks of Hiring a Good Coach – Hiring a music teacher can make all the difference in achieving your goals. When you find the right fit in a teacher, you can avoid much of the frustration and be astonished at what you are capable of. You will be surprised at the pace of your progress as you will have an experienced hand guiding your journey. Finding a great Guitar coach with the appropriate discipline, drive, and passion for guiding you is vital.
  3. The advent of Technology – Another great option with the advent of technology is taking guitar lessons via apps like Skype, FaceTime, or WhatsApp. This route is suitable for students who live in communities with few teachers. A lot of popular Guitarists like Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machines also run online lectures and Classes to enable more people to cultivate their talent for the instrument. Skype lessons can potentially allow you to take private lessons with one of your favorite players—from the comfort of your own home, or even while you’re traveling.

Group Lessons

Group lessons can often be more economical than private lessons, and this is one of the most crucial factors for some parents. Quantity doesn’t always equate to quality. Aside from the financial benefits, experts claim that students often respond well to a group setting.

Group lessons provide children with the ability to improve socially by making new friends and rivals. It also allows them to collaborate with and learn from. Seeing their peers play can be a valuable motivator for students, too. Being around kids with different strengths can help your child acquire their desire and talent.

Factors Influencing Group Lessons

  1. Learning from your Peers – Students gain a sense of belonging when you do a group activity with others. That can be fun and rewarding. Their peers can also motivate you in the class. If you want your children to have an enjoyable experience, and meet some new people or try something new, then group classes might be your best bet. If you are in it for the social experience, then give a group class a try. Often musical interpretation is taught with musical concepts such as structure, dynamics, and rhythm. The foundations of music taught in music classrooms, or private lessons are given a practical application in the group setting, where students can start to understand & help each other apply their learning.
  2. Progressive Curriculum – There is a vital advantage of group guitar lessons. You can find other students to play the instrument with, who are at the same level as you are difficult. To be one of the greats, you also need an outstanding musical ear. To be able to play any requested song, you need to listen. You have to listen carefully to sounds, pitches, and rhythms. A trained ear can feel the rhythm and grant you the ability to perform what you hear without having to rely on reading notes from the sheet. Hearing music and being part of a group helps you develop that skill.

Online Guitar Lessons

Studying how to play the guitar can be relatively easy if you have the right teachers. Today, with all methods to learn guitar music theory and learning how to play the guitar, it has not just become a hobby and a way of making a living as well. Guitar lessons, nowadays, do not require direct interaction with a music teacher. The Internet has created multiple ways of learning how to play the guitar, from video tutorials to online classes.

Features of Online Guitar Lessons

  1. Fender Play – Fender play is an online tutorial created by Fender. With Fender Play, you can start with a platform that was developed after consultation with online educators to develop a systematic program that is capable of mimicking what they can from a live instructor. This platform sands off the rough edges of the YouTube music lecture world and focuses the education on getting results by playing songs. For the platform, you can start with a free trial & then upgrade to the actual account. Fender play also has a list of online lectures available for Bass Guitars, Electric Guitars, Acoustic Guitars & Ukulele. They also have tutorials available from famous mainstream guitarists.
  2. JamPlay – JamPlay is one of the largest online guitar lesson websites and contributes over 4,392 video lessons in HD quality. They have training lessons with a wide range of performance levels from beginners to the advanced level. This will enable you to play & learning techniques, including strumming, picking, and maintaining your guitar playing. They have courses for different styles of playing. Whether you want to shred, play country, or jam some bluesy licks, they have everything. Plus, their system works so much better than going down to a local music store to take lessons or trying to find free lessons online. Their system works. You will start learning so much faster than you did before. Some of the most popular videos cover rumba Flamenco, playing Iron Man by Black Sabbath, picking technique, and playing a melodic rock guitar solo.
  3. The Relevance of Feedback – These platforms tend to appreciate the feedback. Meaningful online feedback is crucial to all online education-based environments. Feedback occurs when the learner and instructor communicate using oral and written. This feedback provides the platform with critical information about tweaking course goals and performance expectations to suit the pace of the learner. The input also allows the learners to get tips and advice to understand the basics better & build a stronger foundation
  4. Other Online Guitar Lessons – Other notable online guitar learning sites include Guitar Tricks, Jamorama, Tom Morello Masterclass, Truefire, ArtistWorks, Play Worship Guitar, Guitar Mastery Method, Guitar Control, etc. JamPlay and Guitar Tricks are the two giants of the industry. You can read our comparison of the two here.

YouTube

With a billion hours of video content. YouTube, over the years, has become a behemoth of education & tricks for novices across the spectrum. These videos can always be either pre-recorded or live lessons so they’re accessible and there’s no limit to how many you can watch, making them another excellent option for beginners.

Factors Influencing YouTube Lessons

  1. The attractive price point of $0 – Free videos on YouTube allow you to learn at your own pace, in your own time. By logging in a specific lesson request into the search engines, you will likely be confused for choice over the resources available. You have to pick the channels that you find the most effective and then get started, you have to make sure that you bookmark the site and come back to it as and when you can. Many channels make use of other online freebies such as offering backing tracks and chord charts to help you learn the fretboard. You have to follow the channels & artists for the best stuff.
  2. Posting yourself – With guitar cover videos, you will be able to follow along with a proficient guitarist as they play along to a song you want to learn. If you’re a novice, guitar covers are a great tool as they explain a breakdown of the notes in the song and often come with special training exercises that may help you play the more challenging parts of that particular song. Watching them rip through a song you’re struggling to learn can be humbling but remember that you don’t know how many takes they went through before they got it right. You should also start posting videos of you playing to help you keep up the motivation.  However, we would strictly recommend that you block the comments in your original videos or not look at them to prevent yourself from getting demotivated.
  3. Understand interpretation – You can also understand the interpretation of different songs as interpreted by your new online coach. Interpretations enable you to add a bit of soul to your music. It also allows you to understand the depth of the song, which will then enable you to memorize the songs & chords more easily.

Guitar Books

The guitar book can lead you by the hand from simple scales to fun licks that you can recognize. Even if you’re a seasoned player, a guitar book can be a useful reference for the chords you rarely play. That’s why it’s essential for guitarists at all levels to keep learning and honing their craft. We leaned toward the beginner flavor, but even a pro can benefit from having any of these on their shelves or in the studio.

Factors Influencing Guitar Books

  1. Info Products – The Guitar books present the beginner players with a quick introduction to the instrument. It is often aimed at complete beginners. These books usually do not include complicated theoretical lessons. These books typically cover a lot of diagrams, which can be helpful to beginners. These books have a reputation for being intimidating, primarily if the page is focused on reading music. Learning to read music is essential if you wish to upgrade your musical talents to the next level. You will be fine if you ’don’t know how to read music yet. It is rumored that The Beatles didn’t know how to read music either at first. These info Products cover a wide range of topics, including arpeggios. The approach the author takes has to be logical and accessible with plenty of examples and exercises to make it stick.

Conclusion

While all of these have a certain degree of Pros & Cons, what is truly important is that your students continue to practice & learn the songs. You should start by just learning the chords in the song individually. Then, practice transitioning between the chords. And, when you’re feeling confident and trying singing the lyrics no matter in what setting you are learning the instrument.

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