Private Teacher or Online Lessons – What is the Best Way to Learn?

[noob]

Hi,

I recently bought a guitar and wanted to know what the best way to learn is. I’m really not sure if I should look for a private teacher or if I should save the money and learn online at my own pace. It seems like there are a lot of free and cheap options online, but I don’t even know where to start. I know the traditional way to learn is with a private teacher but I’m still not sure what to do. Please help.

What is the best way to learn the guitar?

[guitarsan]

Hi noob and welcome to the forums!

I general, I would say that the best way to learn the guitar, or any instrument for that matter, is with a private teacher. The feedback that you get in a face-to-face setting is invaluable. With an experienced teacher, you should be able to improve at a much quicker pace and without developing too many “bad habits”. Having said that, there is also a wealth of information online that you have access to 24/7 that you can use to complement your learning, later on.

My suggestion is that if you can afford it, get some private lessons from an experienced guitar teacher in your area, and once you have a good foundation to work with, use all the online tools that are available to you. Everybody is different, but taking anywhere from 6 months to a year of lessons would be ideal (at least). Practice hard and don’t get discouraged as learning an instrument takes time.

Don’t be fooled by good guitar players that CAN’T teach, there are a lot of those out there. Playing the guitar well DOES NOT mean you can teach how to play it. So ask around for a good teacher. A good teacher should be able to take you from point A to point B by focusing on learning songs and providing real musical applications for everything you learn. For example, the best way to learn chords is in the context of a song, so learning a simple 3 chord song is the best way to learn your first chords.

Once you learn basic chords and have mastered a few songs, you can hit youtube and learn other songs on your own. This would be a great way to complement your private lessons and can actually help you improve faster.

If you can’t afford private lessons, then I recommend online teachers like Justin Sandercoe and Marty Schwartz.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

[noob]

Thanks for the lengthy reply! I’ll start looking for a teacher in my area and will let you know how it goes.

[Author]

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