Do you want to play and wonder what is the best way to learn guitar?
Is it possible to learn guitar alone or have a teacher?

After more than 27 years with the guitar and hundreds of students, I know that there is more than one best way to learn guitar for and that is a matter of what type of person you are, your budget, schedule, and location

In this article, I’ll walk you through all the tips that my students and I have gathered over the 15 years so that you can make the right choice.

Note: Sometimes it is more than one way.

First of all, to learn guitar you need this :

I want you to ask yourself the honest question:
Are you willing to learn to play in order to know how to play?

You must have the willingness to invest a certain amount of time and mental effort into the process
you will have to devote to it.

If your answer to yourself is a bit vague, wait.
Give yourself a few days to think about.

If your answer is “yes”, Let’s continue and see how you are going to fulfill yourself as a guitarist.

The two formats of a guitar study are learning guitar by yourself or with a teacher.

learning guitar by yourself

Now, you might ask yourself:

“Can I learn guitar without a teacher?”

The basic answer is yes and you can get a good level of basic skills and techniques.

You can find online guitar lesson by downloading guitar learning apps on your mobile, go to your library, buying a best seller book on Amazon which has good reviews or subscribing to YouTube channels who have full beginner courses on guitar.

If you want a more in-depth process you can find some great paid online guitar courses.
Just type in google ‘ guitar courses’ and check them out.

Prons

You will save money – If not going for the online members’ courses, your investment will only be on the guitar and accompanying equipment.
A guitar for beginners can cost around $ 200- $ 500, Depending on the type of guitar and equipment required.

Learning whenever you Choose – You can adjust the learning time to your schedule.
This is especially good if your working hours are exceptional or your work allows you flexibility in managing your hours.

You can learn anywhere – even while you are on the road and thus save driving time and effort if you had to get to the place of study.

Cons

– Making mistakes– You won’t get any feedback whether you apply the technique well.
Preventing bad technical and musical habits is essential since most of your development
as guitarists based on back and forth between you and your teacher.

A poor technique can cause infections and of course harm your enjoinment of playing the guitar.

“Can playing guitar” is an elusive concept since it’s not the case of whether you play the right notes
but mainly how you execute the technical and musical aspects.

The pre-recorded online guitar courses aren’t able to address your specific problems because they cant hear you if you’re playing a song or a lick correctly.

– Lack of mental support. 
The guitar teacher is not a psychologist but guitar learning can be a challenging process of dealing with a variable level of motivation, procrastination, the right integration of training with your already exist schedule and more.

An experienced teacher who pays attention to your specific characteristics can give you the right tools
for a healthy learning process with close guidance based on your life experience.

–Your Growing curve.
Your progress speed may be slower compared to a private lesson because you will waste time on finding information from different sources.

For example, you can find significant differences in approaches to the same subject between two different guitar teachers.
A compatible teacher is supposed to lead you through an understandable and proven method while demonstrating, explaining and help you to apply what he teaches you.

To whom is the best way to learn guitar himself?

-If you know yourself as self-disciplined.
-In case you have more time than money.
-If you have played musical instruments in general and percussion instruments in particular,
and you have reached a reasonable basic level.

If this is not the case with you, I believe that your best way to learn guitar is one of the options below.

Learning guitar with a teacher

Private offline Guitar lesson

This is the oldest way of learning musical instruments in human history.

The format of a teacher who teaches face to face and directly communicates all the professional
and philosophical knowledge he has acquired during his life.

It is also the classic and sometimes inevitable way if you are passionate about becoming a professional guitarist.

Pros

–Costumed lessons- The teacher can match the lesson to your specific characteristics such as:
the songs you want to play, your technical ability and the pace of progress that suits you.

–Physical touch- The teacher can, physically, correct your posture, the hand position on the guitar, etc.
You can watch his demonstrations on the guitar from the angle that is the most convenient for you.

This point is very important especially if you start from scratch.

I remember some students from the past who came to study with me after they started learning guitar on their own.
In all cases, it took me about eight to ten lessons to clean their playing from bad habits.

–The teacher as a mentor- A direct and personal relationship with a teacher will stimulate your growth and force you, in the positive sense, to commit yourself to it and to the process.

It will put limits on you and show you the path that sometimes most of us can not see for ourselves.
If you have a positive relationship, you can contact him for consulting between the scheduled lessons.

I always allow my students an open channel with me and this allows me transparency as to how they progress at home.

-Social opportunities- Professional and experienced teacher probably have other students with whom you can play together and actually create a “mastermind group”, go to concerts together and create a small community of your owns.
The community has tremendous power over the individual and with healthy connections between its members will expand your guitar learning to new dimensions.

-Progress pace – If you want to achieve as many goals as possible in the shortest time, this is the ideal option.

Cons

-Cost – This is usually the most expensive option. The more professional the teacher,
so the more expensive he will be.
Midtime solution can be to find a guitar teacher who is a music student at the university
who is usually cheaper than a certificated or more branded teacher.

-Lessons schedule- A good teacher is usually limited in times so you will have to adjust yourself to his available hours rather than vice versa.

Private online Lessons

Pros

-Unlimited resources – A large and diverse number of teachers in any style.

-Cost- Flexible price range for you to choose.

-Learn from the real thing – learn from teachers in your favorite style, whom you can’t find not in your town.
Think about it, learning with João from Rio de Janeiro, your private teacher for Bossa Nova.
Nice, isn’t it?

-Learning from your comfort zone– You don’t spend time on the roads and invest it in
practicing with the guitar instead.

Cons

-Lack of the physical interaction –This can limit the teacher and student understanding each other in the best way, and valuable time can be wasted on trying to understand a technical point in the guitar playing.

-internet connection– Occasionally there is a poor internet connection that can interfere with the interaction and momentum of the lesson…

Cons

Conclusion

We’ve covered all the options and one of the at list should be your best way to learn guitar.
Each one of them has pros and cons so start with the one the fits you the most.

After a while or at the same time, you can try another option from the above.
If you don’t enjoy the process but do like the guitar, move to another option or teacher.

The best way to learn guitar is, first of all, to have the basis of being patient with the progress, commitment to learning and the understanding that it will take time and effort.

I’d like to hear from you. If you have more questions please write them in the comments below.
Good luck!