What Are The 3 biggest Problems With Learning the Guitar Online?

There is a lot to be said for using online and downloadable guitar lessons instead of paying for an instructor. You save money, can learn at your own pace and it’s all right there – but at what cost? The following 3 problems can mean the difference between becoming a guitar legend quickly and inexpensively or giving up frustrated having wasted lots of time and money.

Sure it’s very possible to become very good and quickly be able to work out your favourite songs, jam long with friends and impress people at parties, but only if you know how to use your time effectively and have a system to keep you focused, motivated and on the right track.

If you're going to go this route you can definitely save money – but you can also waste time and end up starting over with a proper instructor to fill in the gaps which costs more down the line in time and money.

To effectively and quickly learn the guitar online you need more than just the material. You are going the self taught route with digital self training manuals – it's going to be a steeper journey, but very rewarding if you do it properly.

These are the 3 main problems with learning the guitar online that you need to be aware of before you commit and what you can do about them:

Learning and playing the guitar is a very individual process and it’s very hard to find a 1-size-fits-all online or downloadable solution that can cater for your specific needs. At the beginning this isn’t such an issue but as you get better and advance it is. Be prepared to try and map out a journey and course of your own to guide your learning

Structured learning – following on from the above point it’s important to have a specific direction to structure your learning around and be able to break it down into manageable steps that culminate toward where you want to go. Find songs and pieces you want to be able to play and give yourself timescales of when you want to be able to play them buy. Do this for beginner, intermediate and advanced stages.

Lack of motivation and focus – by far the worst problem, particularly at the beginning. Practicing and getting your fingers and hands into shape takes time, patience and motivation. Motivate yourself by always reminding yourself of what you want to achieve with your guitar playing. Make sure you listen to your idols a lot and watch videos of them playing.

Remember they were exactly where you are today and got to where they are through practice, repetition and unwavering motivation. It works if you keep at it so keep reminding yourself why you’re doing this by listening and watching your big motivators.

Remember – going it alone is cheaper and steeper but with the right mindset you can do it, it will be hard but more than worth it when you’re surrounded by adoring fans and admirers! For some more detailed tips on how to structure your learning and stay motivated check out this page on How To Download Guitar Lessons and Fast Track Your Learning in 5 Easy Steps where I go into some specifics of how to get the very best out of downloadable guitar lesson content to become a great guitarist in the shortest time.

Peter Webber is a semi-professional guitarist who has been playing for nearly 20 years now. He is the owner and author of http://www.beginner-guitar-lessons.com a site dedicated to helping those looking to learn the guitar using just online and downloadable resources.