Learning guitar is without a doubt one of the most fun things to do. However, learning entirely on your own can bring many frustrations, such as not knowing how to correct mistakes, feeling overwhelmed with too many things to practice, and not knowing how to get better results. When you finally take action to begin guitar lessons, you should be very excited... because you're about to avoid all these frustrations and make faster progress in your playing than ever before!
In This Article
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1. You’ll Learn What to Practice
One of the most frustrating problems self-taught guitarists face is not knowing what they should be practicing. This often causes people to look for as many free lessons, videos, or resources as they can find, leading to massive feelings of overwhelm and limited progress. When you have a great guitar teacher, you gain direction. The best teachers ask you about your specific musical goals and then create a custom lesson plan to help you reach them as soon as possible.
As guitar teacher trainer Tom Hess says: “When you work with a guitar teacher who teaches you based on your specific musical goals, you’re in good hands.”2. You’ll Learn How to Practice Effectively
Simply knowing which things to practice is only one piece of the puzzle. You won’t get anywhere until you understand HOW to effectively practice those things to make progress. A great guitar teacher shows you, during your lesson, how to practice what they teach so you can make progress at home. This is very different from the mediocre teacher who simply shows you licks and expects you to "work on them" on your own. To ensure you find a great teacher, look for someone with proven results and training in how to teach effectively.
3. You’ll Reach Your Musical Goals Faster
Finally, start getting excited about reaching your goals faster than ever! It’s no secret that learning with a teacher skyrockets the amount of progress you can make. Learning on your own is extremely limiting because you often don’t know what to do to get better, feel overwhelmed, lose motivation, and don’t have access to expert feedback. Once these barriers are removed, it becomes easier to fulfill your full guitar playing potential. The feeling of making fast progress and seeing yourself getting closer to your goals is truly exciting.
Frequently Asked Questions
While YouTube is a great resource, it lacks the personalized feedback and structured path a real teacher provides. A teacher identifies your specific mistakes and tailors a plan to your goals, which accelerates progress much faster than searching for random videos.
Knowing 'what' to practice is about having the right material (e.g., a scale or a chord progression). Knowing 'how' to practice involves using effective strategies to master that material efficiently, like using a metronome correctly and breaking down problems. A great teacher focuses heavily on the 'how'.
While it varies per student, learning with a teacher is significantly faster. A teacher helps you avoid developing bad habits that take months to unlearn, eliminates guesswork, and keeps you motivated, often cutting down the time it takes to reach your goals by more than half compared to self-teaching.
Conclusion
To get the best results from your guitar lessons, always do what your teacher says. Do this consistently and enjoy the process of becoming a better musician. Once you reach your goals, you’ll find that new, exciting goals present themselves, and the whole amazing process begins again!
This Article is written by Travis Osterloh @ Osterlohguitaracademy.com. See our website for more articles and inquiries!
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