Recently a large number of web sites have come online that hope to help users learn to play the guitar. As a music educator I am always wary of any site that attempts to teach someone to play a musical instrument like the guitar without any personal instruction. There are several reasons that, in my opinion, a person should not try to learn to play the guitar online.
The first reason that a new student should not try to learn to play the guitar online is that even the most detail oriented student cannot notice every mistake that they might be making. Incorrect hand placement, failure to arch the fingers the right way, or simply holding the guitar the wrong way can lead to frustration and possible failure. A professional guitar teacher can help you avoid these problems by noticing them and correcting them before you learn them the wrong way. Once a guitar player learns something the wrong way it is ten times more difficult, and sometimes painful, to get them to change to the correct way of playing. The best way to learn to play the guitar is to learn to play it right the first time. A professional guitar teacher can do that for you.
The second reason that a new student should not try to learn to play the guitar online is that a student is much more likely to give up on an online guitar playing course than she is to give up when taking private lessons. Many of the online guitar playing lessons are free or very low cost. While this may seem very attractive, in the end most students that try this method give up after a very short time. By hiring a guitar teacher to give you weekly lessons you will subconsciously be more dedicated to the idea of learning to play the guitar. By paying a reasonable amount to a real person to have them dedicate their time to your own personal success you will find that you will also get better at a faster rate and in turn be happier with your new abilities.
While it is obviously possible for a student to learn to play the guitar through a web site it is not the ideal way to learn to play the guitar. To have the most success in the shortest period of time and to have the highest probability of success, a student must take lessons from a professional guitar teacher.
Chad Criswell - Chad Criswell is a professional educator and freelance technology writer for numerous online and print publications throughout the United ...
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