Learning to play Guitar: Books, DVDs, or Lessons?

For the beginner guitarist, it is pretty simple to walk into a guitar shop and buy a cheap electric guitar, say, a Squier “Fender Strat”, but another thing to decide where to go next. I’m talking, of course about learning to play the instrument. Reading Guitar Books; watching instructional DVDs by shred guitarists such as Paul Gilbert, or Zakk Wylde; Paying out for private Guitar Lessons- which route do you take? Well, I would like to explain what are, in my opinion, the advantages and disadvantages of each method of learning how to play the guitar.

Method 1- Guitar Books

Reading instructional guitar books can be a great way to improve your theory knowledge, as they can go into great depth and you can opt to read only the chapters that you want to learn about. Another great advantage of guitar books is its easy for them to provide guitar TAB and diagrams for you to study over and over again (turning to a page being much easier than hitting “pause” and rewinding/fast forwarding to the right part!).

The downside to this method of study is that you can often spend a long time reading, and not so much time actually playing your guitar! This will impact on your actual playing ability. Although, now you’ve read that, you’re probably thinking “Ok, so I’ll sit there with the book open and my guitar in my hands!”- this can be done, however it’s a lot easier with the next method…

Method 2- Instructional
Guitar DVDs

I, personally, find these great, especially for learning a specific style. Guitar DVDs also have the added advantage of you being able to sit infront of the TV with your guitar and play along. Sometimes it’s alot easier to listen to someone speak while playing rather than trying to read when you’re supposed to be concentrating on looking at what you’re playing!

Ok, so what’s the catch? Well what happens when you have a question, or if you don’t understand, or what if you want more information on a specific thing? You can’t ask your TV! This same rule applies for online guitar videos, although with these, you sometimes have the chance to email the teacher yourself. Really, this type of guitar tuition is just getting close to emulating real, professional, one on one tuition!

Method 3- Private Guitar
Tuition

This way of learning the guitar is the best, in my opinion, if you want to learn how to play guitar. It covers all the shortfallings of the previous methods: you’re able to play your guitar when taking in the information; you can always ask the teacher to stop and go over something again (like pausing a video, but better); and you can ALWAYS ask questions from your teacher, and get a direct answer!  Hmm ok, but I can’t spend hours with my teacher going over the things I need to practice or need more work on! No, but if you have a good teacher he will be giving you materials to learn from, any guitar lick you want, any scale you want to learn, any song…

I’m sure you get my point: Getting a guitar teacher is, by far, the best method for learning the guitar. Think about it, you’re sitting there, being taught all the things you want to learn by someone who has been in the same position as you are. You can also ask him questions on anything you don’t understand, and he should pick you up on any mistakes that you are not even aware of!

Just think, with a guitar book or a guitar DVD, you might think you know exactly what you’re being taught, but a professional

tutor would let you KNOW that you’re doing it right. Instead of practicing hours of something that could be wrong, and then later spending more time just correcting your mistakes and “re-learning” the same things over and over, you can spend a few hours practicing something perfect first time!

I had guitar lessons myself, and I’m a much better player from it. I didn’t just benefit from interacting with another guitarist, or musician- I actually learnt how to practice, how to think about the guitar, and I learnt what things I should know and learn to do with guitars. This direction to my playing was accompanied by inspiration, and a constant “reminder” every week that I needed to practice! So, in conclusion, every method should be used, each has its own benefits, but having your own “guitar tutorial” every week is, in my opinion, the best method, and a must for any aspiring guitarist!

November 13, 2009 at 1:03 pm | Music News and Opinions, Uncategorized | No comments