Thoughts on online classes?

[14drz]

Hello!
So I really want to start taking guitar lessons because I’m a self taught and I want to improve and be a way better guitarist. The problem is that I don’t know if I can start taking face to face lessons due to personal reasons right now so I was considering distance classes online, as a friend suggested. I’m kinda skeptic about it since guitar is a practical thing and maybe it needs a particular attention and to be done in presence. I don’t know what to do, maybe a little is better than none but I don’t want to waste my money in something that is not useful at all. What do you think? Is it worth it?

 

[budda]

gonna say it depends way more on the teacher, regardless of in person or online. And if you dont do work on your own outside of the lessons, you wont get nearly as much out of them.

 

[odibrom]

^ THIS. Teaching is only part of it, most of the work MUST be done by the student. The teacher, however, must be good/sensible/emphatic enough to understand the student's needs and problems in order to correct and guide the student to successful learning and progress.

Again, this is all good if you give TIME to study. Not doing so, it really doesn't matter if you're having online or face to face lessons...

... so, before paying, do talk with the teacher and be clear about your expectations and problems and ask for examples of what the teacher can deliver to you.

 

[Gtan7]

This can work well, not sure if you're just gonna watch videotaped sessiosn or it's going to be zoom or interactive, or you're going to video yourself and seld to teacher for feedback, lots of ways to do it

 

[manyears]

Hello!
So I really want to start taking guitar lessons because I’m a self taught and I want to improve and be a way better guitarist. The problem is that I don’t know if I can start taking face to face lessons due to personal reasons right now so I was considering distance classes online, as a friend suggested. I’m kinda skeptic about it since guitar is a practical thing and maybe it needs a particular attention and to be done in presence. I don’t know what to do, maybe a little is better than none but I don’t want to waste my money in something that is not useful at all. What do you think? Is it worth it?

Hello!
I want to say that in online learning it is very important to devote a lot of time to independent practice because learning to play the guitar online is not easy. Try cheap/free online video tutorials, or try finding video courses on YouTube. And you will understand whether this format of lessons suits you or not.

 

[Nitrobattery]

It's funny, I've been teaching for over 20 years, and when the pandemic hit and I had to start teaching online...I panicked. It was definitely a learning curve and while a lot of my colleagues hated it, I quickly found my stride and now I enjoy it more than face to face. Like others have said, whether it's in person or online, finding the right teacher is more important than where the lessons happen. Most people offer a free trial lesson or free consultation, so shop around until you find someone that you gel with. When you get the right person, it can be a blast.

 

[Andromalia]

Nerf mage.

 

[ian540s]

I've been taking online lessons for around 2 years, which is pretty long to consistently be taking lessons with one person from what I've seen.
My teacher is pretty well known in the industry and writes music that I want to learn (prog/metal), so I factor that into pricing and what I want to learn.
I will say it took me a long time to figure out what works best for me and I don't think I was taking full advantage of the classes at the beginning. Like any lessons, it's going to be a lot of off-lesson work, and the teacher doesn't have the advantage of looking at your finger placement and finer details. I just really began taking more videos of my playing and sending them to him. Which helps a lot cuz he doesn't really get to see me just playing casually.
Also, I used to jump subjects a lot without really putting in the work and staying on topic over multiple lessons to "finish" a topic. I always felt that the lesson subject had to be new, or else I was just boring the teacher (I know this is a stupid way to think) or felt like I way paying again for the same lesson over and over (my fault for not putting in more work).
Overall it's always going to be about keeping consistent on a topic for yourself to learn, so if you don't feel like picking up your guitar consistently day to day and grinding a bit then it's not worth paying for lessons. Hope this helps!