Learn to play guitar from home - Can everybody do it?

I think there are still a lot of people that believe you cannot learn to play guitar as well from a home study course (whether it be a dvd, online videos, book etc.) as you can taking private guitar lessons. My thoughts to this? I disagree strongly. I cannot see any reason you cannot learn to play guitar at home just as well as you could taking a weekly private lesson, although I don’t think everyone can do this.

What do I mean not everyone can do it?

Well, consider this how many people try to start a diet or a new exercise program only to not stick with it more then a few days? A lot right, that’s the same thing that can happen to those trying to learn to play guitar from home.

You need to have discipline, a plan, and a want to learn the instrument. I think if you really want to learn to play the guitar, and are willing to shell out $10-$15 bucks a week for a 30 minute lesson then you’re likely capable of learning from home, but go over this checklist before you spend any money on a guitar lesson dvd, or online product to make sure.

Are you ready to learn to play guitar from home? A Checklist for the rest of us….

1.) If you’ve taken online lessons in the past, have you practiced between lessons?

If your answer to this question is “NO I didn’t practice” then stop right here, do not pass go. If you didn’t practice when you were paying for lessons each week what are the chances you’re going to take the time to go through the lessons at home and practice on your own terms? You probably like the idea of playing guitar, but don’t yet want it bad enough to commit the time.

2.) Do you have a free 1-2 hours a week, or 30 minutes a day?

Realistically, just because you’ve decided to learn to play guitar from home doesn’t mean you can just ignore practicing and go through the lessons from number one to what ever and not spend a moment reviewing and practicing what you learn.

If you’re going to learn to play guitar from home I suggest you have at least 30 minutes to dedicate to it each day. This way you can watch or review one of the lessons, then spend the rest of the week practicing what you’ve learned. I strongly suggest Learn and Master guitar because it is laid out perfectly to follow this format. You watch one video lesson, then refer to the practice book and jam-along cds for the rest of the week to practice.

3.) Do you believe in the “learn to play in a weekend” concept?

If you think you can learn to play guitar over night, well leave my blog now go buy the first downloaded ebook or product you can find and I wish you luck. I’ve been playing guitar for probably 12-14 years now. It’s only been the last few years that I’ve taken a strong interest in improving my skills and I’m still learning every day. I can’t see (not that I’ve tried so take this as you will) how you can pick up a guitar on Friday, and by Monday morning be playing your favorite top 40 songs.

There are exceptions to this, but if you have zero musical ability right now, have never touched a guitar don’t fall for this concept.

4.) How’s your attention Span?

A lot of us, me included, have difficulty focusing on things for any length of time. If you’re one of those people it’s possible that a 20 minute guitar lesson video might be difficult for you to digest in one sitting. If this is the case you’re either going to have to break the lesson down into even smaller parts, re-watch the lesson more then once that week to grasp the techniques, or opt to enroll for private lessons instead. Hopefully with someone in front of you speaking you can focus better.

These are just a few of the points to consider before you invest any money in a learn at home guitar product. As I already said, I believe any of us can master the guitar on our own if we realie that it takes work and discipline, and it doesn’t happen over night.

If you’re interested in reading about what beginner guitar lessons products I suggest visit my main site here.

Got my copy of Learn and Master Guitar

I received my copy of Learn and Master guitar a few days ago, but I was just so tied up I didn’t have the chance until today to really get into it and take a look at what comes in the package. Here are a couple of pictures of the packaging, and dvds, cds that come with the package.

The Package (binder like holder for everything dvds, cds, workbook etc.)

The dvds and jam along cds there’s two to each package one on the front and another on the back

The first thing that struck me with Learn and Master guitar was the packaging. I’ve bought quite a few learn to play guitar products, both digital, and hard goods from my local music store, but nothing Ive bought came with this much stuff.

On first glance after opening the package I saw a “How to use this course” page fixed to the inside cover of the binder like packaging. It was a clear road map for what I was about to embark on to sharpen my guitar skills (I already play guitar and have been for sometime, how ever my theory, music reading, and technical abilities are sub par in my opinion).

The “how to use this course” page explained that Learn and Master guitar is broken up into sessions, each session builds on the previous one and of course it’s best to follow them in order. This is the first teach yourself guitar package that has handed me a plan on how to use their lessons, videos, and printed material.

The ‘How to use this course’ page I found when I opened the package up

I won’t get into all of it, but it goes on to talk about practice time requirements, the dvd’s that come with the course, lesson book, jam along cds, and the members only website for asking questions and getting support on each session.

I popped the first dvd into my player and pressed play. Each dvd appears to have 2 sessions each, and each session is further broken down into the exact parts. You can see from a sample screen shot I took of the table of contents on disc 1, session 1. I think this would make it very easy to go back and relearn just a small piece of a lesson if you needed a refresher, rather then having to fast forward though an entire lesson.

The video quality is excellent, although I’ve only gone through the first 2 sessions, Steve, the instructor, speaks slowly and the camera zooms in and out according to what is most important to be shown on the screen.

From an initial glance this product is well put together and organized. The accompanying printed material that is supplemental to each session is well put together, and gives an estimated time line for how long it should take to master each section. I’ve included a couple of pictures below of the workbook that comes with the package (my apologies for the poor photo’s I’m no pro with the digital camera).

Front cover of Lesson Book

Inside the lesson book, showing the quality of instruction provided

All in all, I think this course is going to be great. I haven’t gotten into using any of the jam along cds but I’ll be sure to post my thoughts on them when I start using them.

Get your copy of Learn and Master Guitar Here