Of all the musical instruments around the world, the guitar is perhaps the most popular and one of the coolest. However, like any other skill, playing guitar is something that needs to be learned. Choosing the right guitar lessons can make all the difference between it being an enduringly rewarding endeavor and a failed and misguided pursuit. If you are looking to learn how to play the guitar, you can choose one of three avenues, and here is a look at each one of them.
Free Options
This is often the first option many aspiring guitarists check out. After all, it doesn’t hurt if time is all you have to invest. Some might even consider it is all they need to master the guitar. Most free lessons available on places like YouTube will even give you the impression that this is really possible and some like the ones on the JustinGuitar YouTube channel and website are quite comprehensive too. However, almost everyone who picks this mode of learning guitar either abandons it completely after a couple of lessons or they never progress past the very basic skills of playing guitar.
This is because most of these free lessons often act as advertisements for paid stuff on the instructor’s website or a separate platform. These lessons also tend to be quite unstructured and progressing beyond the basics is next to impossible. Also, there is the psychological side of things and free lessons don’t offer much motivation and thus it won’t help with the perseverance needed to put the time and effort needed to properly learn to play guitar.
How Much Do In-Person Lessons Cost?
At the other end of the cost spectrum are in-person lessons. This is where you get personal lessons from an instructor. The obvious advantage is that the instructor can tailor the course according to your needs and the rate at which you learn. As should be obvious, these lessons are not cheap. One of the best in-person lessons is offered by Guitar Center and they currently charge $238 for four 60-minute online Lessons and four 30-minute online lessons.
While this mode of learning guitar can be quite effective, it is actually a bit too much. You don’t really need to break the bank to learn the guitar which, just so you know, will take many four-hour in-person classes to master
How Much Do Online Lessons Cost
That brings us to the best of both worlds – online lessons. Great examples include Guitar Tricks, Fender Play, JamPlay, and Truefire. The obvious benefit is that this option is a lot more cost-effective than in-person lessons. These online classes are also far more effective than free lessons found on YouTube. Some of the benefits of these online classes include:
- A progress tracker that helps you progress in an efficient and goal-oriented manner
- Very cost-effective as monthly costs range from between $9.99 and $19.99 and annual plans range between $89.99 and $176
- Helpful forums and communities that help you out of jams or when you get stuck trying to master a particular skill
- The ability to choose the genre and type of music you want to learn from the very beginning
- No need to go hunting for specific lessons which is often where most of the time is wasted when opting for free lessons
- A lot of additional resources like chord diagrams and song notations are available alongside the lessons that make the learning experience a lot easier
- You won’t be constantly bombarded by sales pitches and other forms of distractions
These online lessons offer the best bang for the buck and will help you learn to play the guitar effectively without being discouraged or by being sidetracked.