You’re here at Guitar Lessons Cork, so this may well be a question that you’re asking yourself, as you search around trying to work out the best way to learn to play guitar!

When I first decided that I wanted to learn the guitar, there were a few useful books in the local music shop, and plenty of people around to copy, each of them showing off the chords and licks that they’d picked up. I bought the books and copied the licks, but I soon realised that I needed something more – proper lessons. So I found a teacher, and only then did I really start to make some progress, and see steady improvements in my guitar playing.

Nowadays, you can find anything quickly, about every imaginable subject, and learning to play guitar is no exception. There is an overwhelming amount of information out there, in fact there’s so much that it’s hard to know where to start. An internet search will throw up millions of pages, referring you to books, videos and online courses. Go into Cork city centre, and many other towns around the county, and you’ll find some great music shops packed with books and DVD’s that promise to teach you guitar, lined up beside all those beautiful guitars that make you yearn to master this entrancing instrument as quickly as you possibly can.

And yes . . . some of those books, videos, courses, DVD’s and websites are excellent, and will really help you fulfil your desire to learn the guitar. So, with all that great material out there, why would you need to take guitar lessons at all?

Let me phrase that question a little differently.

Why would you want to learn a complicated subject from someone who has years of experience on that subject? Why would you want guidance on your journey from someone who has travelled the road, and can help you to stay on the right path, avoiding many common pitfalls along the way? Why would it ever be a bad idea to get some practical one-to-one help and instruction with something that you are really serious about learning?

Of course, you’ll think that our viewpoint might be a little biased here at Guitar Lessons Cork! So let’s just say at this point that guitar lessons are not for everyone.  There are many different factors to consider. It depends where you are at with learning the guitar, the style of music that you want to learn, your musical goals, your own learning style, your personal circumstances and lifestyle.

Some styles such as folk and trad can be learned very effectively in a group, and some guitarists will learn much more from jamming in a band than they ever would from practising scales and arpeggios. Chords can easily be learnt from a book, but you may need some help putting them together smoothly. If you want to master classical guitar, on the other hand, you are going to need the guitar scales, the chords, and plenty of lessons, too!

Ultimately, whichever method you choose, you are your own guitar teacher. You are responsible for setting your own musical goals, for taking time in your busy day for regular practice, for making steady progress towards those goals, for deciding what to play next, for developing new skills, and for correcting the mistakes that you are bound to make.

When you look at it like that, it’s a big task, no matter how much natural  talent you have, and no matter how enthusiastic you are. Taking a few lessons can only be a positive step, providing you with invaluable assistance as you learn to play guitar.

Give us a shout at Guitar Lessons Cork. We’ll be delighted to help you out, with lessons designed to suit your needs, and to help you get to wherever you want to go with your guitar playing!

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