Since the pandemic began a couple of years ago, online learning has grown in popularity. Before the internet became widely accessible, most people failed to learn how to play and learn the guitar without the help of an instructor, but thanks to modern technology learning have never been easier.
If you are thinking about learning to play one of the world’s most popular instruments, you might be considering taking online classes or watching tutorials uploaded to streaming platforms. Before you begin your guitar journey online, we have combined these 7 tips to help you.
Table of Contents
1. Practice
To learn the guitar you need to be motivated. Although streaming guitar tutorials online is a great way of learning, you won’t feel any pressure to practice. Instructors are known to put pressure on their students to encourage them to practice on a regular basis, so if you haven’t hired an online guitar teacher, you will have to rely on self-motivation.
When you begin practicing, concentration is of vital importance. You will need to turn off your notifications on your smart device and log out of social media platforms to avoid getting distracted. It might be tempting to stream non-guitar-related videos while on a streaming service like YouTube, but it won’t help you improve your guitar skills.
You don’t have to spend hours each day learning how to play, but try your best to spend around thirty minutes learning the basics on a daily basis, especially during the early stages.
If you decide to watch other videos online after your guitar session, why not practice silently. This is a popular method of learning that a lot of beginners do. Keep the guitar resting on your lap and practice different chords without strumming. This will help you get used to changing from one chord to the other.
2. Don’t be surprised if your fingertips start to hurt
An in-person instructor will warn their students that their fingertips will start to hurt. If you are right-handed, you will notice that the fingertips on your left hand are in pain, especially when playing the G, B, and high E string on the guitar.
Although your online instructor might not tell you this before you start to learn how to play, it’s normal and every guitarist will have gone through this stage.
However, after a few weeks of regular practice, the calluses on your fingertips will gradually build up. Over time, you won’t notice the pain, so try your best to deal with it during the initial stages of learning.
If you are struggling to deal with the pain, ice can provide short-term relief.
3. Don’t just take classes
Of course, learning the basics like how to strum, fingerpick, and play open chords is important, but you should also try to learn the following:
- Music theory
- How to train your ear
- The different parts of the fretboard
- Arpeggios
- Scales
One of the benefits of online guitar learning is that this information is easily accessible. Not all guitar instructors will educate their students on these skills, but you will find plenty of useful content online. Keep in mind that learning the guitar is about learning a set of skills, not just a single skill.
4. Download a tuning app
When starting out, keeping your guitar in tune can prove frustrating. Although you should learn how to tune the guitar by ear, most guitarists rely on a tuner to help them out. If your guitar comes with a built-in tuner or you have invested in an external tuner, great, but if not, there are tons of tuning apps readily available on popular app marketplaces.
Some of these apps are free of charge, while you will have to pay a small fee for others. Well-known guitar manufacturers like Fender and Gibson have released tuning apps over the past couple of years. These quality tuning apps will help keep your guitar sounding great.
However, there will be times you don’t have access to a tuner, so you should learn how to tune by ear. There are tons of videos that you can watch on YouTube that show you how to tune the instrument without having to rely on a tuner.
5. Download a free trial before paying for a subscription
One of the best things about learning how to play the guitar online is that it is cost-effective. Paying a reputable instructor to provide you with in-person classes can cost a pretty penny, but there are plenty of monthly and annual online courses that you might want to consider signing up for.
However, before enrolling in an online course, check to see if the instructor offers a free trial or a demonstration. There are several guitar courses online, so it might be worth your while watching multiple demo videos before spending your hard-earned cash.
Also, make sure the classes suit your level. You don’t want to enroll in an advanced course during the early stages of learning. If you are just starting out, try to find an online tutorial that teaches you guitar chords for beginners, how to replace the strings, how to tune, and how to strum. Learning the basic techniques is important if you want to take your guitar skills to the next level.
6. Subscribe to the instructors channel
If you have stumbled across a YouTuber or TikToker that uploads quality guitar tutorials regularly, don’t forget to subscribe to their channel. By subscribing, you will be notified every time they publish new content. This way, you won’t miss out on any new tutorials.
On most streaming platforms users are able to create their own playlists. Instead of searching for new content each time you go online, why not create a playlist with all the different tutorials you like to watch.
Learning the guitar online is great because you can learn at your own pace. Unlike an in-person class, you can rewatch the videos saved on your playlist as many times as you like. Also, make sure to give each playlist a unique title so you know what videos are saved on it before opening the playlist.
7. Listen to different genres online
Before playing an instrument, you probably didn’t appreciate didn’t’ appreciate different types of music. When learning how to play, most people start to appreciate different genres.
The internet is packed with tons of good music, and there are plenty of apps like Spotify and Soundcloud that can help you discover exciting tunes.
If you only learn how to play a specific genre, you will end up limiting yourself to that type of music. You don’t have to stop playing that genre, but try your best to keep an open mind by listening to different types of music, especially genres like rock, classical, indie and blues. You will get ideas from different musicians playing in these bands, and they can help influence you while learning how to play the guitar.
Conclusion
Although the early stages of learning how to play the guitar can be tough, it is a powerful instrument and playing can be a lot of fun. Technology is a tool that guitarists all around the world use to improve their skills, but you must have the right attitude and you must be willing to practice regularly. Technology can prove highly beneficial, but it is up to you to put in the hard work.
