Are Guitar Lessons Worth It?

Why Taking Guitar Lessons With A Real Teacher Is Still The Best Way To Learn Guitar In 2023

The year is 2023 and there has never been a better time to learn how to play the guitar.

There are more resources online to help you teach yourself than ever before and the standard of the content is getting higher and higher.

This begs the question “are guitar lessons worth it?“

While you can teach yourself how to play guitar with a plethora of online guitar lesson resources, learning from a professional guitar teacher still remains the best way to learn guitar.

In this article, I will explore why you should still be learning guitar with a teacher if you want the best possible outcome for your guitar playing.

Benefit 1 – Personalised Guitar Instruction

Personalized guitar instruction from a professional teacher can be incredibly beneficial for students of all skill levels.

One of the most important benefits is the ability to create a customized lesson plan that is tailored to your individual needs and goals. This approach allows the teacher to address specific areas of difficulty and to help you progress more efficiently by making the lessons relevant to your own goals.

Another significant benefit of personalized instruction is the ability to provide immediate feedback and guidance.

A professional teacher can help you identify and correct mistakes, which will save you a lot of time and frustration. Additionally, a teacher can help you work on the right thing at the right time which will help you avoid biting off more than you can chew with a piece that is way too difficult for you.

Finally, having a set lesson time with a professional teacher can help keep you motivated and on track with your guitar practice.

A teacher can provide guidance and encouragement, and the regularity of lessons can help you stay accountable for your own progress. Furthermore, having a professional teacher can help students to develop a deeper understanding of the guitar, music theory, and the music industry. This knowledge can be incredibly valuable for those who wish to pursue a career in music or simply develop a deeper appreciation for music as a whole.

Benefit 2 – Faster Progress On Guitar

Imagine signing up at your local gym because you have the goal of getting fit and growing bigger muscles.

Now imagine it’s your first time in the gym and you are all alone, surrounded by dozens of machines. You don’t know where to begin, or how to use any of the machines, and could really use some help to get started.

You could waste a whole bunch of time figuring things out by yourself or researching how to use the machines on Youtube…

Or you could just sign up with a trainer who creates a workout routine, shows you how to safely use each machine and guides you through each workout so that you get maximum return on your time in the gym.

This is what it’s like having a professional teacher.

A professional guitar teacher will help you identify and correct mistakes in your playing and give you the exact exercises you need in order to improve.

This will save a lot of time and frustration and help you avoid spending months or even years practising things incorrectly without realizing it. So rather than developing bad habits that can be difficult to break later on, you establish a good habit and great technique from the beginning.

Secondly, a great guitar teacher can provide guidance and feedback on technique.

This can include things like proper hand positioning, finger independence, and tone production. By focusing on technique, students can improve the quality of their playing and develop a more professional sound.

Lastly, a guitar teacher can help you set goals and create a practice plan.

Having specific goals and a structured practice plan can provide much-needed direction for your playing and help you stay motivated.

By setting realistic, measurable goals and tracking progress, you can see the improvement you are making and stay motivated to continue working towards your goals.

Benefit 3 – The Ability To Ask Questions And Get Immediate Feedback On Your Guitar Playing

The biggest disadvantage of teaching yourself (even if it is with resources created by a good guitar teacher) is the lack of feedback that you get.

This can lead to you developing bad habits and flaws in your technique as your guess at the right thing to do.

This is why even if you are largely self-taught and can practice independently, taking a guitar lesson with a real teacher at least once a month can be extremely beneficial.

A really good mechanic will know exactly what is wrong with your car the minute you drive it onto the lot just by listening to it.

Likewise, a really good guitar teacher will be able to identify any bad habits you have with a quick glance or short listen and provide you with immediate feedback on what you can do to improve.

There have been many times when someone who has been self-teaching has been stuck with something for years before they get frustrated enough to reach out for lessons. I’m usually able to solve the problem in less than 5 minutes leaving them wishing they had started taking lessons years earlier.

There is no substitute for being in a room with a real teacher, so I highly recommend that you take guitar lessons with a guitar teacher, even if only sporadically the same way you get a doctor’s checkup.

If you’re looking for a good guitar teacher who can help you out, search for guitar lessons near me and pick the best guitar teacher you can find.

Benefit 4 – A Great Guitar Teacher Will Help You Learn The Right Things At The Right Time

As mentioned earlier there has never been such easy access to an abundance of guitar lesson resources to help you teach yourself guitar and with every day that goes by the number of online resources only increases.

This is a double-edged sword.

While you can get the answer to pretty much any question you have along with a detailed article or video guitar lesson to explain what to do (usually for free, you could be biting off way more than you can chew and attempting something that is way too difficult for you, completely irrelevant to your goals, or jumping way ahead of yourself.

One of the most important things a real guitar teacher can do for their students is to help them learn the right thing at the right time.

This means starting with the basics and building a solid foundation of skills before moving on to more advanced techniques.

It also means focusing on the specific areas where the student needs the most help and avoiding unnecessary or irrelevant material. By learning the right thing at the right time, students can progress more efficiently and avoid frustration.

A teacher can also help you identify a problem with your playing and help you work towards a solution whereas you may just move on to a new video or lesson topic if you were teaching yourself.

For example; If a student is having trouble with proper hand positioning, I would focus on exercises and techniques that will help them improve in that area before moving on to another technique.

By taking this approach, the student can build a strong foundation of skills that will serve them well as they continue to progress.

So Are Guitar Lessons With A Real Guitar Teacher Worth It?

So hopefully you can now see the benefit of taking guitar lessons with a real teacher.

Not only will you make much more rapid progress, but you will also save a lot of time and avoid a lot of frustration by having them guide you through a proper learning plan and overcome any flaws in your technique that may hold you back.

The deciding factor for most people will be the money factor with many people opting to teach themselves due to a lack of money.

At the end of the day, the best advice I can give is “you get what you pay for” and any guitar teacher worth their salt will save you money by getting you from A to B considerably quicker than what you could do yourself.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are also plenty of low-quality teachers out there who will be a waste of money. Ultimately you will need to do some research and find the best teacher you can because it will make a difference.

In conclusion

While some people may do very well teaching themselves guitar and may make great progress through self-teaching, the vast majority of people will do considerably better by taking guitar lessons from a real teacher.

Even guitar players who work well independently will eventually hit a wall in their playing and need help from a professional who can show them exactly what they need to do to fix it.

If you want to learn guitar and make maximum progress in the shortest amount of time possible then taking lessons from a guitar teacher will be the best investment of time and money you make.

If you’re looking for guitar lessons in Melbourne then consider taking lessons with me at my studio Melbourne Guitar Academy. You can book a free trial guitar lesson so that you can experience how much easier learning guitar from a real teacher is before making the decision to commit to ongoing lessons.

Written by Michael Gumley – Melbourne’s Best Guitar Teacher