Many new guitarists believe that taking formal lessons is the only way to effectively learn how to play the guitar. While being taught by a private instructor may seem like the way to go, it is expensive and often causes a loss of interest.
For most people, it is much more satisfying and rewarding to discover and accomplish something on their own, such as learning to play the guitar. Self teaching has become more and more popular over the years among new guitarists.
Self teaching is becoming the choice of an increasing number of guitarists for several reasons. Firstly, self teaching is free. Formal lessons can be a costly expense of both time and money. The guitarist may choose to buy learning tools such as books, but no time investment or obligation is required. Self teaching allows the guitarist to relax and learn at his or her own pace. This provides for a more enjoyable learning environment.
The second reason self teaching is more effective is the myriad of learning resources available to the guitarist on the internet. Tons of lessons and valuable learning information can be found for free on the internet. In addition to this, tablature websites allow the guitarist to learn all of his or her favorite songs. Tablature is a special musical notation developed specifically for the guitar. It is much simpler to read and understand than regular musical notation.
Another reason why self teaching is a smart choice when learning guitar is because lessons often cause a loss of interest in the instrument over time. This is likely because lessons do not allow the guitarist to work as his or her own pace or choose the time and place of the playing. Because of this, lessons can quickly become a burden to the guitarist causing a loss of interest in learning guitar. Self teaching allows the guitarist to relax and learn on his or her own time.
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4 Responses
As a self-taught guitarist I agree with the benefits of course, but I really recommend lessons as well. You don’t have to take them often, I sometime go twice a month and sometimes twice in six months – all depending if I need a push. Taking lessons has made me cross important thresholds.
I tend to agree with what you have to say about formal lessons. My guitar teacher was uninspiring and he didn’t want to teach music I was interest in when I was a teenager – Metallica. I didn’t enjoy the lessons and found them boring and limiting.
I remember one of the most satsifying experiences of my early guitar learning days was working out the intro solo to “Fade to Black” all by myself. I took me about an hour, but I grew so much in that hour.
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While I started as a self-taught guitarist in High School…lessons helped me get rid of a myriad of bad habits that were holding me back, as well as giving me extreme focus for particular things I wanted to improve on.
You don’t really discuss the time cost of trying to figure out what you need to learn if you teach yourself. The nice thing about having a teacher is they have already gone down that road and know where the time sinks are and can help you avoid them if the payoff isn’t worth it.
Obviously, I am a tad biased as I derive my living from teaching guitar these days…and I think you are right that occasionally, perhaps often, people get stuck with a bad guitar teacher who is not able to speed up their progress and insists on them following a set path at a set pace.
A good teacher is going to help you work at your pace on your goals, but with a clearer focus, and the ability to help you learn from their personal mistakes and experience.
I think a mixture of the two is best. For one I think the reason I’m quite creative compared to a lot of guitar players is that I taught myself. But it is also helpful to take lessons since a teacher can point out your weaknesses and blind spots.