I've been playing for 2 years and when I started, I took lessons for about 3 months. Now I'm wondering if lessons will do me good or am I just paying someone to teach me theory when I can learn it just as easy on the net?

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Yes, they are very benificial.

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theory is hard to learn on the net, at least, thats what ive found trying to learn it... and yeah, lessons are great, just stop taking them as soon as youve reached a high enough level to progress by yourself.

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that's kinda difficult if your not a music major...
i am, and i still need a little guidance.
if he wants to learn more efficiently, he needs a teacher.

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if you have a good teacher, then yes it is worth it.
but if you've got an amateur teacher who cant teach well (which usually you cant tell if thats true), then you need a new teacher

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Well Im gonna go against everyone and say that I prefer not having a teacher.

You can play as much or as little as you want to. No pressure.

There are plenty of places with online lessons that you can take your time with if you want to that show you in tab how to play exercises and stuff.


Its cheaper too.

Ive been playing for two years and im just as good as my friend who got lessons. If not better. We both wa.t to play metal but he has to learn elvis songs and beatles songs so he's not really progressing as much as he could in the metal style of playing. I can just go on the net and get whatever I feel like playing.

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sure but what about techniques the internet can't show you, what about timing mistakes, solo's, tapping and all that stuff?

having a real life teacher is well worth it, but only if he's good. don't settle for some semi-pro nitwit who turns out to be able to play anything, as long as it's jazz.

plus, if you've only been playing for 2 years, it might be a good idea to pick up lessons now since you've allready achieved the starter bit, a good musician is able to play anything, I needed a guitar teacher to get my tapping and stuff right, I teach bass myself now, which I've been playing a whole lot longer then guitar, anyways, a good teacher is worth it, saying 'it's cheaper' is a stupid argumentation, it's your hobby and you're going to spend money on it anyway, if you really want to get good, and do that as fast as possible, a teacher can definetly come in handy.

some people are born with natural talents *cough* hendrix *cough* but most people could use a teacher well, learning guitar yourself is not impossible, but it just takes longer and you might be doing stuff wrong.

Well I know enough from the net to solo in key, I know some theory, I can 4 finger tap pretty decently, I can read music and my sweep picking is alright. I haven't found learning theory from the net hard, I'm just wondering if I'm missing out on anything. Even if I didn't go to lessons for theory, I'd probably still go so I can learn classical guitar and some jazz.

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jazz=theory.

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WELL, shows ya how much I know

Hey powers, are you aware that if you abbreviate your name it's "pot"?

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congrats, you're the first to realize that.
that was the idea those 4or5 years ago when the powers
of terror were bestowed upon me( )
i was ignorant back then, but i never did drugs, so i kinda dropped
it because it was gay.

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Now I'm confused, you dropped powersofterror because it was gay or because you never did drugs? and you still use the name...?

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i dropped the idea of going around saying that those initials
spelled pot. i don't do drugs, i never will, so why say it, aye.
just powers of terror, or power soft error(long story behind this one)

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RIGHT ON!!!!

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taking lessons is worth it but only with a teacher who u know is good at teaching and theory. I'm gonna get lessons with this dude that used to teach some of my mates. I know he's good at playin and theory only problem is i dont have enough money at the moment anyway you can learn theory really easy. I just downloaded some program of the net which teaches u theory. Called Happy note or somet. It aint to bad. Its got a game on it where u learn notation by shooting the notes as they appear on the screen. It seems stupid but fuckin works.

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Fuck starting off with a teacher, while my friends where learning mary had a little lamb and avril songs, i was mastering metallica and slayer. I say teach yourself then later on when u get good enough that u feel u cant really expand your ability alone then get a teacher that will acually teach u. Not sum stupid fuck who just wants u to buy that 600 dollar guitar so HE can play it.

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If you have the guts to tell the teacher what you wants to play, it can be nice
You pay, you decide what to play.

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i always looked at ur name as power soft error, lol iunno, i never took a lesson... i bought a dvd though lol. i think i would be better if i got a teacher though. but its not only about the teacher, its how much you practice and play on ur own. you can go to a session every week and suck because you dont practice in your own time. this isnt really directed at you because u say u can already play.

I think I'm gonna take a shot at theory by myself and see how it goes, if it sucks then I'll go for lessons.

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I've been playing guitar for about 11 years now and the only guidance I've ever had was an old video tape (Begginer Rythm Metal Guitar with Nick Bowcott). I find myself to be pretty damn good and other people that I play with and that have seen me play think so too. I can play a lot of technical and difficult songs, and I can also make up "out of this world" riffs and solos. But when it comes to reading music and understanding theory and all that, I don't know what the hell I'm doing. My point is, you can become a great guitarist by yourself but it takes guidance to become a great MUSICIAN. So my advice to you is to take lessons. I'm actually planning on taking lessons my self. Pretty funny story...last year my friend (who can't play guitar to save his soul) was telling every one that I sucked at guitar because I didn't know what a harmonic was. After he explained it to me I thought "Wait a minute....I know what that is". Of course he didn't believe me until after a school talent show where me and my band played a cover to Cemetary Gates. That shut his fat face up, heheh.


Good Luck

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I've been playing for about 9 months and I would consider myself pretty decent for the amount that I've owned my guitar. I practice like a a son of a biach though. When I first got playing, I had a friend (pretty good player) show me some beginner stuff like hand position and tuning etc.

I feel that if you are starting out that it would be very beneficial to have someone show you what is good and what is not. I am refering to habits. Once you learn some bad habits, it is difficult to unlearn them. That's the importance of getting a teacher for the beginning.

Theory, on the other hand, I try to apply it to what I am doing. You need to read like there's no tomorrow to begin understanding it. Theory explains the 'why' in music. Why does it sound good or not, for example. It's all about knowing the background. What's a power chord? It's the root (tonic) and it's fifth. Why does it sound good? Read some theory.

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