Guitar Instructions - The Best Way to Learn Guitar

You've Got the Guitar - Now What?

Finding good guitar instructions that will guide you through the key steps to becoming a great guitarist can be hard. If you've picked up a guitar for the first time and all you know about it is that it has 6 strings, a body and a neck, what should you do with it next?

This is the quandary that many new guitarists find themselves in and it can be quite an overwhelming position to be in. I'm going to offer you some advice on your best way forward in the hope that it will help you on your way to mastering this fantastic instrument.

Can You Teach Yourself Guitar?

A very common question that I am asked is whether it is really necessary to pay for lessons from a teacher, or whether it is possible to "teach yourself" by listening to recordings of your favourite guitarists and working out what they are playing by ear.

Well, I could make this into a long story, but let's keep it short: you will be placing yourself at a huge advantage if you get good guitar lessons from a professional guitar teacher. There are many reasons for this, some of which are more obvious than others.

The Benefits of Guitar Lessons

The biggest benefit of getting private tuition is feedback. Not the feedback you get if you stand too close to your amp with the gain turned up! No, here I'm talking about immediate, verbal feedback on your playing. A good guitar teacher will let you know if you are using poor technique, for example.

A lot of guitarists who are "self--taught" have developed bad habits because their poor technique has not been corrected promptly by a teacher. The result of this has been that their poor technique has become engrained in their playing style. I know guitarists who have found themselves limited in their playing for some inexplicable reason and who have tried for years to get beyond a certain level of playing. When they eventually realise the mistakes they are making it can be too late to correct them because the poor technique has become such a fixture in their playing that they cannot play any other way.

One example of this was a guitarist who was struggling to increase the speed of his solo playing. He just couldn't understand why, after years of practice, he was unable to increase his picking speed beyond a certain tempo consistently. Upon closer examination by a professional teacher, he discovered that the way he was holding his pick was somewhat unorthodox. The result was a rather awkward and inefficient technique that prevented him from picking at high--speed consistently in anything more than short bursts.

Another reason guitar instructions from a qualified teacher are a good idea is that private lessons can be tailored to the student much more than any book could ever be. During one--to--one lessons your guitar teacher can focus on particular songs that are in keeping with your musical tastes and can help you by offering expert insight into difficulties you might be experiencing with aspects of your playing. They can also suggest exercises and songs that will help you to overcome these difficulties.

So, what it really boils down to is that private guitar lessons from a good teacher are the best way to learn guitar. They will help you learn faster, avoid you developing any bad habits in your technique and can keep the lessons relevant to you in terms of both your musical tastes and your developmental needs as a guitarist.

Online Guitar Instructions

That's all very well if you can afford private lessons, but what should you do if you can't afford them? Well, there are plenty of resources available online these days and many of them are free. However, the old maxim that you get what you pay for is as true here as anywhere else.

You can find a lot of material on sites like You Tube, for example. The main problem is finding the good information in amongst the less good (or just plain wrong) information. There are a number of websites that offer free lessons and these are well worth seeking out, but in my opinion it is well worth paying for a decent online guitar course.

Compared to private face-to-face lessons they work out quite cheaply and a number of them are well structured with a syllabus that progresses in a logical and clear way, building on what has been learned previously. One of the biggest problems when learning guitar is knowing what to learn next. There's no doubt that You Tube can teach you a few things, but when it comes down to it you'll just be trawling through the internet chasing the latest shiny object that's caught your eye, irrespective of whether it is the best thing for you to study next or not.

Randomly picking up things here and there is not the best way to learn guitar. You need a structured and logical syllabus in order to make good progress and get to where you want to be.

So take my advice and get yourself some quality lessons with a qualified teacher or, if you can't afford that, buy a decent online guitar course. Proper guitar instructions will be worth the investment.

Still not convinced that the best way to learn guitar is with a professional guitar course or private lessons?

Check out the free guitar instructions and advice on learning guitar available at the Guitar Instructions Website.

As well as giving you free guitar lessons, the guitar instructions website takes a look at the best guitar course available for beginners.