He first reason I believe you need a guitar teacher is because of the poor result I’ve seen from students who tried to teach themselves. I’ve not seen any one become a great guitar player watching You Tube videos or from books or videos. Those materials can not interact with you and correct what needs correction, so the result is you just keep playing it the same way, getting the same poor result. For most people in the beginning getting good guidance on the how to hold the guitar, hand position, holding the pick and many other things are invaluable and will save you time and great frustration. I get a lot of people who see my ad and say how they tried to learn like this and gave up in frustration but thought I could help them and I did help them play what they wanted to play. Kind of sad but many times they tell me I’m their last resort to try and play. I don’t think most people would learn Karate or How to play Tennis or Golf by a video or book. The right lessons can be the difference between success and failure. Don’t spend time creating bad playing habits. Don’t spend time practicing mistakes to perform badly. Our time is precious and limited. Do you really want to keep working at something for a couple weeks or a couple months and it never gets to the point where you can play it well?
The difference with a good guitar teacher is that they will be able to see the big picture and all the steps along the way to get you there., Doing it on your own is many times no more than trial and error. Many times students don’t know what it is that they have to know to make something work. Many students who struggled told me they made more progress in a few lessons with me than in a couple years or more. I’ve heard that Tiger Woods has a Driving coach and a Putting coach, Michael Jackson trained 2 hours a day with a Vocal coach during the making of Thriller. The great guitarist, Randy Rhoads used to seek out the best teacher in the towns he was playing in and book a 2 hour session with them.
There are benefits that you receive beyond learning to play better and faster with a good guitar teacher. When you make a commitment to something to see it through is powerful in life. You will be rewarded over the time spent. Even if you can’t always have every lessons as good as you want, just remember, if you learn 50% of what you are working on, you’ve increased your skills and knowledge by 50%. That would be massive improvement in a year. Being consistent in practicing pays off. You don’t have to practice an hour a day in the beginning. 15 minutes is great with the right practice method. I tried to learn on my own and did ok, but when you commit to lessons you are saying to yourself that you are serious about learning to play the guitar. Lessons overcomes slow progress,. Many students “feel” they can’t play but when they start lessons with with an encouraging, inspiring teacher can change everything. You join that elite club of guitar players who can play songs with good strumming or picking with good timing, you are a guitar player. It only gets better from there! If you need help with guitar playing problems that frustrate you, please contact me at sidbardfield@gmail.com. I do Skype lessons or if you are local to New Orleans, Metairie, or Kenner, La. I do private lessons. Keep playing, keep moving forward!
Sid