Here is another question which is asked day in and day out. The answer to it depends on what you want to achieve, what your goals are when learning an instrument. If you want to play along to some of your favorite tunes or impress that hot chick next door, you will probably be able to learn what is needed by yourself. If you want to become a good player, you should look for a teacher. This all sounds pretty obvious.
Still, there are a few ideas floating around that make people believe they can become a great guitar player on their own.
1.) “The greatest guitar players in history did not have teachers, so teachers are redundant.” Well, first of all, PR is a tricky business. Success is not only about the music, it is often about authenticity as well. If you want to be a punkrocker you better not admit on spending your afternoons learning how to fret a chord correctly. Second, have you ever wondered how many guitar players there are and how many of them really blow your mind when you hear them play? There are very few who make it without a teacher, there is a hell lot of people who suck. Now, honestly, how talented do you think you are?
2.) “I want to develop my own style, music schools make everybody sound the same.” True, if the school you have in mind is a really bad one. Many guys who now teach guitar have themselves started playing with a desire to express themselves and are very passionate players. They get what you want to do and they will help you get there. Talk to a teacher for five minutes before you start taking lessons and you will immediatly know wether he can support your cause or not.
3.) “I don’t need theory and technique for my own style.” Yes you do. There might be people who don’t, but then remember point 1. First, there is the theory of music: Some people think of it as a restriction to their creativity, which just shows that they either did not understand the concept or that they know very little about it. Everything that sounds great can be explained theoretically (everything else you would not want to play). Going in the other direction, this means that you can derive great sounds from theory. You might not want to compose music just theoretically, but generally knowledge of theory offers you more playing options in situations were you and your creativity are stuck. And as far as technique goes: It might be hard to learn at first but it will prove the easiest way to play your instrument. A bad technique will sooner or later set limitations to what you are able to play. Believe me, nothing sucks more than having a great idea but not being able to play it.
4.) “I can learn all this on the internet, there is tons of stuff on Youtube.” Yeah, tons of nonsense, too. Everybody can post a video on Youtube, claiming they have experience and qualifications like crazy just to give the worst advice possible. I don’t know whether it is the fun of playing tricks on guitar newbies or real belief in their own qualities, but you can find an endless amount of people who really should be punished for their attempts at teaching. Of course, the same goes for a huge amount of other websites as well. If you really want to learn something, go to a music school and learn from somebody who has real qualifications. Plus, and this is a huge plus, no matter how qualified the maker of a youtube video might be, he does not see what you might be doing wrong when trying to emulate his technique. And there is always more room for error than you might think. If you make your errors in front of a teacher, he will immediatly correct you. A guy in a video cannot do this.
This all comes from my own experience. I taught myself how to play and I did okay, because I had no real goals I wanted to achieve. My “mistake” was that with time the music I liked became more and more complex and demanding, and I quickly reached the limits of what I could play. I’ve been taking lessons in bass for over six months now and it really is an enlightenment. If anything it has really enhanced my creativity and opened my mind for new styles of playing and writing.
