Dec 5

There are many ways to learn how to play the guitar so let’s take a look at the most common. If you are wanting to learn how to play the guitar this article should really help you to decide which route to take that will work for you.

The first way to learn how to play guitar is by purchasing books. Books can give you a good visual “hard copy” of what you are learning to play. They usually include good chord charts that help you reference what chord you want to learn. While books can help in some ways, they have proved inferior to the other methods of learning the guitar that we are about to look at. There is unfortunately no audio or video to help you along and show you how to play the chords or lessons. My suggestion is save your money and skip the book learning.

Second, is learning via CD and DVD packages. These usually include a guitar book that give you an audio and video to reference what you are playing. Honestly, just stay away from CDs…If you can’t see how to play it you are going to learn improper techniques. DVDs are far superior since you get the “show-how” from the instructor showing you exactly how to play. Usually video lessons are organized into a much better and easier approach to learning how to play guitar. The downside with DVDs is that they are usually expensive and cumbersome. Besides having to wait in the mail (which can take 2 months!) you have to have a TV and DVD player handy. A much better start but let’s keep going!

Third, you can take guitar classes. Most schools and colleges offer guitar classes. You can probably find some music schools that give guitar classes in your area too. These can be good because you are seeing first hand how to play the lesson. The major downside to classes is that you don’t get to learn at your own pace and you can’t learn whenever you want because you are at the mercy of your class schedule. Since you are taking class with dozens of other students the pace is usually relatively slow so everyone stays caught up. This can really slow down your learning if you want to learn quickly and easily. Classes can also get very pricey!

Fourth, you can find a guitar instructor to take private lessons from. Obviously private lessons are the best route of the methods we have discussed so far because you are getting 1 on 1 teaching. If you find a good teacher, he or she can really help you learn to play guitar. Here’s the downside you may not know yet but I experienced myself. Private lessons are very expensive! When I was taking lessons I was paying about $300 a month for just 4 lessons. Also, I had to travel about 30 minutes each way to my instructors studio. And there were lessons that I left and felt like I had really only learned about 5 minutes worth of material. So I quit taking lessons when I felt like I was taking 2-3 hours out of my day and spending way too much money for a lesson that I couldn’t take home with me to practice.

Fifth, the way I find superior to all other methods is online video guitar lessons. Here’s my reasons why!

This method includes the text and video you need to see and hear how to play each lesson. Also, since they are online you can always pause, rewind, fast forward, and replay lessons as many times as you want at anytime! You can really go at your own pace, practice lessons as many times as you need to get it down perfect, and do it from your home without having to travel to and from lessons. Finally, online video lessons are much much cheaper than classes and private lessons and just as effective. Save the money, save the time, use technology to your favor and try online video guitar lessons.