Are On-line Lessons Good for Beginners?

By | July 8, 2013
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I’m running into this question more and more.  So I think it might be a good idea to look at some of the issues surrounding on-line lessons.

There are many ways to take on-line lessons.  Lots of music schools today have on-line tutorials which can be purchased for a fee.  Sometimes there are free videos to view as an introduction.  There are also free tutorials available on YouTube.  Everywhere you look, someone is offering lessons for free (or want you to sign up for a course, which is usually NOT free).

I love the fact that so many people are making information available on the web — I use it myself, and it can be a great time-saver for me as a teacher.  Some wonderful person has already done the graphics to illustrate a chord form, or already figured out the words to a song — I say thank you!  And while the web can be a great way to see how someone is playing a song, I think there are some things you just can’t get from a video.

For example, an advantage to the video is that you can play it over and over, as many times as you like.  The disadvantage is, if you are not understanding what you are seeing, no matter how many times you play the video, no one is going to answer your question for you, or put you on the right track.  Videos can be wonderful if the guitarist is experienced enough to grasp what they are seeing, but for a beginner, it can be very bewildering.

Today I was watching a guitarist on YouTube showing how he played the chords to a song.  What concerned me was he was demonstrating a chord form and naming it a B Minor chord.  I could tell from his finger placement that the chord was not a B Minor, in fact it had a complicated name:  Bm7no5.  As an experienced guitarist, I knew that sometimes you can substitute one chord for another, but this is not a technique I would ever introduce to someone just starting the guitar.  I would also not teach a student an incorrect name for a chord.

I do not believe there can be any substitution for the hands-on method of teaching beginner guitarists.  There is too much room for error and confusion with a video lesson.  Playing the guitar combines both intellect and feeling.  You can learn some of the intellectual bits from books and on-line courses, especially the theory, but when it comes to actually placing your fingers on the guitar, strumming or picking the strings, the student is going to progress at a more rapid pace if they have an experienced teacher at their side.

 

Gail Lees
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