You would think that learning to play the guitar has never been easier, what with the internet and Youtube videos…
Music shops have shelves groaning under the weight of ‘how to’ books and DVDs of poodle-haired rock stars from the 80’spromising to revel THE secret to learning to play the guitar, with little or no effort – “you won’t even need a guitar!”??

The problem however, is that there is no secret, and without good one-to-one tuition, there will always be unanswered questions which no amount of re-reading or rewinding or will answer. The truth is that there is simply no substitute for having a real live teacher sitting across from you, tailoring your lessons to your exact needs, structuring and guiding you in the best and fastest way possible to develop your skills.

Eventually the day will come when you decide to stop spending money on books that you’ll never read and DVDs which end up propping up a wonky table, and you’ll decide to invest your hard-earned cash in booking a lesson with a guitar tutor.  A good teacher will inform, enthuse and inspire – not spoon feed old rock guitar riffs and country songs for months on end.  They will ensure you understand what it is that you’re learning and show you how to get the most out of your precious practice time. They will structure your learning, motivating you, pushing you.  

It’s not impossible to learn on your own, but having someone show you the shortcuts will save a lot of wasted time, money and space on your bookshelf!  They won’t however, be able to prop up your wonky table leg – you can use your old books and DVD’s for that.

John Wilmshurst