Guitar classes can be a great way to learn to play guitar. You can find classes in your local area, and you can even find classes and lessons online nowadays. But classes aren’t right for everyone.
You should think about how serious you are about learning to play. Also think about just how good you’d like to be. Some people want to play the guitar for themselves, to have something to do on a rainy afternoon. Others want to perform. If you want to perform, you’ll probably want to take some sort of guitar lessons or classes.
If you can already play a little, formal guitar lessons can help get you over that hump. Sometimes when you learn an instrument by yourself, a few basics come very easily. But you can never move beyond those few basic notes to actually start to improve and learn more. Thousands of people never get past playing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on the piano, for instance.
A guitar class can help connect the dots for you, and take what you’ve taught yourself and apply it to future lessons. So , even someone who’s a little self-taught can benefit from music classes.
If you don’t know how to play at all, a guitar class can really help you understand the instrument and how to begin. One of the worst things people do when teaching themselves is never check themselves. They think they’re doing something right, so they continue it.
Often, if they have no teacher to help them, they do some very basic things wrong. And because these mistakes are never corrected, they learn to play improperly. Later, when they get truly serious, these mistakes have to be corrected. And it’s much harder to change how you play after 3 years than it is to changes after you’ve played for 3 weeks.
So to get a good foundation and really learn the proper way to play guitar, class instruction can be beneficial. You may just take a few beginner classes to get started and then teach yourself once you have the basics down. Or you might find you enjoy the instruction and take classes on the guitar for years.
You should also consider how you learn best. If you benefit the most from self-study, take a class or two, or a private lesson, so that you start out correctly. You could also have a friend or associate who plays help you out in the beginning to make sure you have the proper form.
Then you can go on to learn guitar yourself. And if you hit an impasse, you can also go back and take a advanced guitar class or lesson to get past a problem area.
If you don’t do well in a group like with guitar classes, you can take private lessons. Private lessons will be more expensive, however. At its heart, a guitar class can be a fun way to start and network with other players so you can help each other learn.