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Internet Guitar Lessons Blessing or Curse

Are you improving your guitar playing by using the internet?

I have a couple new students who love surfing the internet to find beginning guitar information. The good news is that theres plenty of information out there, the bad news is that a lot of it isnt presented in a logical, understandable way. Consider how long youve been playing guitar and then decide how helpful some of these sites are. For example, if youve been playing for less than a year you probably dont need to work on complex scale patterns, barre chords or dig too far into music theory. A lot of it depends on what kind of music youll be playing and how involved you want to be in the construction of the music. Some people love knowing everything about the theory while others just want to play.

Whos doing the teaching?

There are many good teachers out there, but there are even more that dont appear to have ever given a lesson. The fact that you can play well doesnt necessarily mean that you can teach. Ive seen many flawed examples of teaching guitar from players who mean well but dont realize how complicated their simple explanations are. Theres an idea called the "curse of knowledge". In a nutshell, Im explaining something to you that I think is perfectly clear while you have no idea what Im talking about.

Can the internet substitute for a live teacher?

In my opinion, yes and no depending on the student. The ease of understanding, the logical approach, and the ability to evaluate progress are the advantages of lessons with a live teacher. Your guitar teacher can spot bad habits, help with trouble spots, and most importantly, encourage you. A lot of progress depends on the feeling that youre getting somewhere. The guitar student who has played other instruments or who uses a combination of teachers can benefit from both experiences.