Technology really has changed the way we gather information. If I were an investor, I would definitely look into fluffy house shoes and pajamas. Soon, we will never have to leave home. I see a world where the only people on the streets are delivery services and the few who dared to get out of their pajamas to see the light of day.
I jest a bit, but you get my point. We have the capacity to become college graduates in just about anything without having to leave home.
In the 15 years of teaching guitar and seeing the Internet evolve as it has, I have developed some perspective on learning guitar the new and hip way online versus old school instruction done live in person with an instructor.
As I mentioned, I have been teaching roughly 15 years which amounts to roughly 35,000 lessons. Most of the students I had started with me as beginners. I found the vast majority of my beginning students breezed through the basics of guitar playing quickly and with ease. In fact, some of those students were taking lessons with me twice a week because waiting 6 days for the next lesson was too long.
I noticed early on if I were able to package my strategy for developing beginner guitar lessons into an organized, self-paced platform that was approachable. Students could progress much faster from home in their fluffy house shoes.
Sound basics are crucial to development, but most of the sound basics is repetitive work in the beginning. Something that takes a full lesson to explain may require an hour of practice before moving on to the next level of technique in that area.
As I see it, some of what I am talking about could be done overnight using online guitar lessons. Why should a hard working student have to wait 6 days to receive the next lesson after completing a goal overnight?
That’s why I love technology.
With the advent of guitar lessons online, many of my new students are now entering the studio as mid beginner to intermediate level guitar players. I no longer have to repeat the same old lessons anymore because they are widely available online. Because it is the basics, much of the beginning material matches what I teach at the studio. Those who are more ambitious about learning the guitar are able to progress much faster using online resources like Levels For Guitar due to their ability to pace themselves.
Sometimes we need to see and hear something over and over again before it clicks. I admit to that. I remember being too afraid to ask the same question over and over again of my teachers. I didn’t want to look stupid. Over time the same topic would come up and I would be forced to work it out until it was understood. It took a lot of repetition and head shakes from my instructors. Thank goodness my teachers were patient and kind.
Online instruction allows you to be able to go back and pinpoint the trouble spots by re-reading text or re-playing videos as often as needed. Sometimes the lack of understanding stems from something missed during the early stages of development. To correct this all you have to do is backtrack to earlier lessons and strengthen the weaknesses discovered in your practice routine.
While its hard to beat the hands on experience of training with a live instructor, it simply is not feasible to learn and practice with an instructor for hours or days at a time.
A big plus for having access to an instructor is the ability to close the feedback loop on breathing, technique, finger placement, etc. I try to convey these things in video, but it ultimately falls on the student to be aware and experienced enough to notice their deficiencies. Hard to do as a beginner.
Fact is sometimes we just need help.
Troubleshooting a problem by ourselves by repeating a video or re-reading the text isn’t always effective. Taking lessons with an instructor can quickly help you to narrow down the trouble areas for development and correction.
My students ask me about the things they have learned from online resources all the time. This generates interesting topics of discussion and nothing helps learning like curiosity. YouTube offers a wealth information in the area of guitar from learning songs to developing technique. Most of it is unstructured, but it is free if you can figure out what direction to take.
Our focus in developing Levels For Guitar is to remove the gaps and guess work from the learning process. Resources like this website can make a great adjunct to live guitar instruction.
Technology is making it a great time to be a guitarist.