Is it possible to learn guitar or ‘Ukulele online (or from a book) by teaching yourself?
Yes, it is possible. All the information you need to know is freely available.
Maybe you’ve looked around already…
Maybe you bought an instrument, a book, and all the accessories, but you still don’t know where to start.
What if you start at a point that’s too hard? What if you learn the right things, but in the wrong order?
Maybe you’ve been playing for a while, trying to teach yourself with the help of online videos or a book, and it doesn’t seem to be going as fast as you want it to go. Here are some ways taking lessons can accelerate your progress:
Lessons can help you accomplish your goals more quickly
A good teacher can connect the dots for you and lead you to a goal.
A good teacher can give you the step-by-step sequence you need to learn something.
A teacher can tie together all of the diverse ideas you might come across and help you make sense of them.
Most importantly, a teacher can give you instant feedback and encouragement and answer your questions right away before you get frustrated or develop a bad habit that might be hard to undo.
Even if you think you can teach yourself, you’ll do much better taking lessons than you will on your own. I can guarantee that.
Do you know why?
Because when I started out, I was in exactly the same boat. I was arrogant, I had played other instruments before and thought I could teach myself.
It turns out, when I finally decided to get serious, I learned more in a month of lessons with a private teacher than I had in the previous FOUR YEARS of teaching myself!
A good teacher can be a great mentor and source of inspiration
It’s good to have someone encouraging you.
A good teacher can your mentor, helping and encouraging every step of the way.
Someone on your side, interested in your progress…
A good teacher will be invested in your progress, and will cheer you on.
A good teacher is interested in how you’re learning, whether your grasping and understanding what is being taught.
Learn the joy of making music!
Good teachers want to share their musical knowledge with you and share in the joy of making music. You can count on a positive experience with a good teacher. You can count on a good teacher not holding anything back and making sure that you learn what you need to know.
Discover something new in music and something new about yourself
Lessons let you discover new music and new techniques. If you’re taking lessons, odds are pretty good that your teacher has more experience listening to different styles of music and different players.
It’s possible that your teacher could turn you on to all sorts of styles and new music you had never thought of before. You might just find a new style of music that you absolutely love!
A good teacher can hold you accountable and keep you motivated.
Nothing is a better incentive for practicing than knowing you have to play something in front of someone in a week.
Improve your self-discipline
Lessons allow you to chart your progress a little bit more easiely than if you were trying to teach yourself. Developing the self-discipline you need to succeed in weekly lessons means that you can develop the same kind of self-discipline in other areas of your life-something that can transfer to your academic career, to your work life, your relationships, and much more!
Thank you for reading! If you’re interested in lessons with me, please get in touch. All the best to you!
-Doctor Cline
