Acoustic Guitar Learning Methods
The best way to learn Acoustic Guitar
The ‘Beginner’s Guide To Learning The Acoustic Guitar’ range was created to provide the best attainable start with your brand new musical instrument. This article helps you figure out the best learning methods for you and your acoustic guitar.
Primary options for Acoustic Guitar Learning Methods
People learn in different ways. Some have got photographic memories; some can speed read, while others can’t read whatsoever. We are all distinct, and for this reason, there isn’t one ‘correct’ strategy for mastering a musical instrument.
There are actually four key possibilities available to you, each making use of their good and bad points:
- Traditional, face-to-face, one-to-one learning
- Traditional, face-to-face, group lessons
- Video Tutorials
- AppsÂ
Whatever your individual situation, one of those four options are going to be appropriate for you. We simply need to discover which one…
Traditional, face-to-face, one-to-one courses
If you think of acoustic guitar lessons, the initial impression is probably something similar to this…
Having private, one-to-one classes can be a remarkable experience if you discover the right teacher. There truly is no substitution for absorbing all the knowledge of your teacher.
Our Founder, Robert Emery, had been taught by Ruth Nye at the Royal College of Music. She really was one of the greatest professors in the world, and the point that Robert could absorb her expertise in four years ended up being a precious gift.
There is a dilemma, however:
Not every coach has the knowledge of Ruth Nye.
In fact, the scary thing is that to be a music mentor, you don’t need to have any credentials at all. Nothing. Zip. As a complete rookie, you could be taking income from people and pass yourself off as a professional. And this, beloved viewer, could be the main downside to a traditional educator:
Quality control.
You have to choose a really skilled coach that you connect with. Who realizes both you and your demands. Who causes you to have a good laugh. Whom you look ahead to going to see every week. Whenever you can find this person, you have then accomplished a little something a lot of people fail at. Getting empowered by your coach is the magic dust that will keep you learning for many years.
Of all the options in this article, this is actually the most expensive. But as usual with things in daily life, you tend to get what you pay for…
It’s worth bearing in mind that as of 2020, many top teachers have started offering lessons on Zoom or Skype, which has made many of the world’s top guitarists more accessible than ever. You could even take weekly lessons with someone living on a different continent!
PROS
- Personalised feedback
- Lessons Adapted To Your Style Of Learning
- The Most Efficient Way Of Learning
- Can Be The Most Inspiring Option
CONS
- Expensive
- Difficult Scheduling
- Finding Right Teacher Is Difficult
- Requires You To Travel
Conventional, face-to-face, Group classes
Determined by your location, you may be able to discover group courses. The ethos is comparable to one-to-one training, however, the charges are reduced because the teacher needs to divide their time between all of the students.
For orchestral instruments, for instance, violins, group lessons are quite smart to start with. Nearly all professional violinists naturally find themselves as one of many violins within the orchestra. The acoustic guitar is slightly different, however. It is very much a solo instrument.
PROS
- Personalised feedback
- Can Be Fun Learning In A Group
- Cheaper Than One-2-One Lessons
CONS
- Difficult Scheduling
- Limited Choice Of Teacher
- You'll Learn At The Speed Of The Group
- Sharing The Teacher With Others
- Requires You To Travel
Video Tutorials
Free Courses
YouTube is definitely the largest source of video lessons on earth. There is no better place than YouTube to find instructional information for acoustic guitar. Because of the sheer level of choices on the platform, it’s impossible to review all of them.
Like the majority of mass appeal platforms, 95% of the content is complete junk, with the other 5% no cost gold dust. Discovering that 5%, however, is certainly challenging!
Countless players on YouTube have offered free video tutorials on how to play the acoustic guitar. Justin Sandercoe – ‘JustinGuitar‘ was one of the first guitar tutors to use the YouTube platform and has built his channel around teaching beginners. He’s had tens of millions of views and is one of the most respected online teachers
For those who don’t want to spend any money, and are prepared to commit some time in searching for top quality information that inspires you, then there is no superior place.
Paid Courses
With thousands of paid programs online, it’s totally unattainable to examine each of them. So we thought we would simply offer the two most desired alternatives:
Â
It’s not just another beginner’s guitar course like so many of the products around. In fact, it appeals to guitarists of almost any level, as nearly all guitarists recognise that they need to improve their fretboard knowledge. It’s also applicable to guitarists in any genre, so the potential market is all but the most experienced guitarists – not just beginners, or blues/rock/metal guitarists, but nearly all guitarists!
And no, it’s not yet another overpriced eBook – it’s a high-quality software application that you’ll love. So try Guitar Notes Master now by clicking here.
Intuition Guitar have created some excellent books and ebooks that can really help kick you off in the right direction. Take a look at what they offer here.
PROS
- Low Cost or Free
- Huge Amount of Content
- Learn Whenever You Want
- No Travelling To Lessons
- Great For Popular Material
CONS
- So Much Choice It's Difficult To Find Great Content
- Quality of Content Is Questionable
- Not Great For Classical Playing
About the Author
Hugh Richardson
Hugh Richardson is a bass player and writer currently based in London, UK. Recently, he has been busy playing on West End shows and tours including Bat Out Of Hell The Musical, Kinky Boots and Priscilla. When he's not performing, he is probably teaching or spending time perfecting his table tennis game!
You can find out more about Hugh from www.onlinebassguitar.com
Other posts by this author
You can find out more about Hugh from www.onlinebassguitar.com
Zoom Lessons
If you’re looking for that one-to-one setup, but don’t want to trek around to a teachers house every week, then online lessons can work really well.
There are A LOT of companies out there that do lessons over Zoom, so you have to be ultra careful the quality is up to scratch. Â But the service we have found that has consistently great feedback is www.lessonwithyou.com. Â We like that they offer a half-hour lesson completely for free so you can try out the service and that they offer flexible scheduling with no contracts. Â They have teachers from Julliard, Berkeley, and Johns Hopkins – so the standard is high. Â Lastly, we LOVE that they don’t as for your credit card details for the trial lesson.
Acoustic Guitar Apps
We all learn best if the teaching is tailor-made to our own personal needs. Apps are a hybrid between standard video lessons and a real-world coach. They change their educating in relation to your response to the app. Because of this, if you aren’t in a position to have in-person sessions, we would always encourage focused apps over general YouTube videos. There are many, many apps available. We recommend:
YOUSICIAN
If you’ve been on YouTube recently looking at anything guitar related, chances are that you’ve seen adverts Yousician. This resource cannot be overlooked and ignored. Any time a student brings a new song to me pre-learned before their lesson that they’ve learned on Yousician, I’m usually impressed with the results. Their prices range from $9.99-29.99 per month.
PROS
- Best Cost Effective/Quality Ratio
- Can React To Your Level Of Learning
- Great For Popular Material
- No Travelling To Lessons
CONS
- No Personal Feedback On Your Playing
- Not Great For Classical Playing
Bonus Courses...
Carlos Santana Teaches the Art and Soul of Guitar
Masterclass is the premier tuition service currently available. None of the classes is designed to make you an expert. They are designed to help you ‘dip your toe’ into your genre of choice, and then use the platform to jump off into more specialised learning.
Guitar master Santana has crafted the course “Carlos Santana Teaches the Art and Soul of Guitar”. And if you are looking for inspirational videos, from a world-class performer, look no further.
Acoustic Guitar Learning Methods - Summary
Let’s keep things easy…
If you want to play popular (pop/rock etc) music, then the best ratio for being cost-effective, but higher quality content is an App. Specifically, we like Yousician.
If you want to play like a master, having Carlos Santana as your own personal teacher in his Masterclass cannot be beaten!
If you want to play classical music, have a fantastic technique, and learn to read music, then getting a face-to-face, the one-to-one teacher is by far the best option.
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