Best Online Guitar Lessons for Beginners: What You Need to Know

Best Online Guitar Lessons for Beginners: Learning an instrument is an essential skill that everyone should attempt at least once in their lifetime. One of the most popular instruments that people want to learn how to play is the guitar, but how much are guitar lessons? It varies from place to place, but the price plus the need to drive to a location for your lessons can be quite the hassle!

If you’re considering an easier, yet still effective way to learn the guitar from the comfort of your own home, then you should definitely consider online guitar lessons. From rock guitar lessons to bass guitar lessons, you can learn to play the guitar basics in a relatively short time!

Especially during a global pandemic, virtual guitar lessons are the way to go, and today, we’ve got all the information, tips, and tricks you need to get started and get ready to rock!

Online vs. Traditional Guitar Lessons

When trying to decide if online or traditional guitar lessons are best for you, there are several things that you’ll need to consider. So, before we get to the tips about what you need to know, we need to evaluate both online and traditional lessons, looking at both their strong points and their deficits. While online guitar may be suited for some people, it doesn’t mean it’s necessarily suited for all.

Learning Style

First and foremost, when you’re debating between an online guitar lesson or a traditional one, you’ll need to take into consideration your specific learning style. For some, they need an actual person holding them accountable to work on their skills and provide immediate feedback in the same space. And, if that’s you, then you need to think more about going the traditional method.

However, if you have the discipline and motivation to make yourself practice in your free time and are more of a self-starter, then online may be best. Because online has more flexibility, you can go at a more rapid pace if you so choose. You can take as many lessons as you want unless you’re consulting with a live, virtual instructor so that you can speed through.

So, consider your personality and learning style first before moving into other factors for deciding between the two types of lessons.

Scheduling and Availability

This is a big one! With a traditional guitar lesson situation, you will typically have an instructor that may come to you, but more often than not, you will have to go to them for lessons. Whether it’s once a week or once every other week, you will have to coordinate with their availability for your lesson.

On the other hand, if you take online guitar lessons, the information is ready whenever you are. Meaning, you don’t even have to change out of your pajamas if you prefer to practice first thing in the morning before work or school! This is also incredibly helpful for parents of children who wish to take guitar lessons! While they’ll be aware of when the child’s lesson is, they will not have to make sure they get them there on time!

So, if your learning style is more of a self-starter AND you appreciate the flexibility that online guitar lessons offer, then it might just be something that you may want to pursue.

Goals

Lastly, it’s also important to consider your ultimate goals with guitar lessons. If you’re just starting out, online guitar lessons may be great for you to learn more specific skills and get some foundational work. The more complex you go with your expertise, so to speak, the more you may need to rely on something more than an online program or software.

On the flip side of this, if you are more proficient in your guitar abilities, you may want an online program or set of lessons to help you master specific skills that are weaker and need improvements. As you develop your skills, online lessons will provide you with more pinpointed work on specific skills. Now, that’s not to say that a traditional guitar lesson situation wouldn’t also be able to pinpoint your weaknesses to make them stronger. It just may be easier and more efficient to do so with lessons that are at your fingertips and readily accessible.

Best Online Guitar Lessons for Beginners: 4 Tips for Finding the Perfect Lesson

At this point, if you are feeling like online guitar lessons are something that you’d like to try, here are some tips to finding the best online guitar lessons for beginners!

1. Consider Your Skillset

Chances are, if you are reading this specific article, you are either a beginner or an aspiring guitar player! Even at the beginner level, there are varying skill sets. For example, do you own a guitar? Do you know how to read music? Do you have any previous experience playing other instruments?

All of these questions and more can lead you to an online guitar lesson website that is just right for you! For example, if you already have an understanding of another instrument, and you’re more musically inclined, you may benefit simply from watching some free YouTube tutorials on popular cords for beginners to get things started. Not only would it save you time, but it’d also save you money!

On the other hand, if you feel like you don’t have a musical bone in your body, you’ll definitely need to seek out an online program that is definitely more traditional and structured in nature. You’ll need to be walked through the very basics to start building your confidence and your skillset!

2. Easy to Navigate

When looking for an online guitar lesson site, you need something that is easy to navigate. You can “shop around” a bit and find 2-4 that seem promising. Once you find those, play around with their websites and see if they offer any 7-30 day trials.

These trials are crucial because they will let you understand both the layout of the website and the structure of the lessons. You’ll want something that feels natural and comfortable for you that is also easy to follow!

3. Look for Streaming Videos

If you have a few websites that you are considering, one thing that we suggest you look for is streaming videos. They will allow you to both see and hear the right techniques from an actual person.

If the website you’re considering doesn’t have any videos or tutorials showing you proper technique, run! There’s no way that you’re going to know that you’re doing the right thing if you can’t visually see and audibly hear what it’s supposed to look and sound like!

4. Options of a Live Instructor

Now, live video tutorials are great, but the option of a live instructor is even greater! There are some websites out there that will offer certain times where you can meet with a live instructor and they can offer real-time feedback as if they are literally in the room with you!

It’s as close to traditional guitar lessons that you can get from the comfort of your own home!

5. Consider your Budget

Lastly, one of the biggest tips to consider when finding the best online guitar lessons for beginners is your budget. Of course, not all guitar lesson websites are created equal. Some are completely free, some are incredibly expensive, and many are somewhere in between!

Here are a couple of popular online guitar lesson websites that you may want to consider:

Jamplay

At about $19.95 per month, you will have access to a variety of features for anyone from beginner to advanced! It does have a free trial, so you could always give a try before putting forth money!

Guitar Tricks

Similar to Jamplay in both price and availability, people are split on which they prefer! It also offers a free trial!

Fender Play

They are currently running an annual fee deal at $67.49 for the year! That adds up to a little over $5 per month! They also offer a free trial!

Justin Guitar

Completely free video lessons are provided for beginners!

Remember, there truly isn’t the best age to start guitar lessons. Whether you have a child who is 5 or you, yourself, are interested in starting to learn at 65, it’s always the perfect time to start learning something new and developing a new skill! And now that you don’t have to fret over going somewhere in person, you are afforded a lot more flexibility and the development of this skill is definitely more accessible to others who may not have otherwise been given this chance!

No matter your starting point, your age, or your budget, there is an online guitar lesson program out there for you! Take some time to find the one that works best, and you will be a guitar-playing expert in no time!