The guitar is one of the world’s most popular instruments. While the guitar is thought to have originated in Spain, it has existed in every culture and every era, taking many different forms throughout the centuries. Music from every genre is performed on guitar, from classical to country, and from blues to heavy metal. And now with current technology, you and your child have even more opportunities to take the best online guitar lessons available via the Internet. One of the challenges of finding a guitar teacher is finding someone who can teach the genre of music you want to play. Most music teachers usually have their own favorite method for teaching guitar, ranging from books to rote teaching to jamming in a band. Online resources have broadened the scope of guitar lessons, and most online guitar sites have a number of similar characteristics. Here is what to look for in the best online guitar lessons in 2020.
1. Free Trial Online Guitar Lessons
Quite often, a company offering online guitar lessons will offer a free trial. Everybody likes free, right? But, there is often a catch to free trials. Free trials on guitar lessons are a hook, designed to get your information and get you committed to an investment. Now, some companies offer legitimate free trials, but watch out for these stumbling blocks that can end up costing you.
- Credit Card information: Often, you have to give your credit card information to even get information on the online guitar lessons that got your attention. Once the company has your credit card information, they can charge you whether you have used the product or not. Make sure the online music lesson solution gives you all the information you want BEFORE they require a credit card number.
- “X” number of free lessons: Always read the fine print. If an online guitar school is offering a certain number of free lessons with no obligation to you, there may be the proverbial “fine print”. For example, you may think you have signed up for 6 free guitar lessons, but you have to complete all 6 within a one-week period or you will be charged.
- Celebrity Endorsements: Not all celebrities are created equal. Look for disclosure statements that may reveal that the endorsement is not real. The truth is most celebrity endorsements are fake. The Better Business Bureau receives complaints all the time from celebrities who have been cheated.
- No free trial? Just because a solution doesn’t offer a free trial doesn’t mean it is bad. Read reviews about it before you decide.
Free trial lessons with Tonara Connect are hassle-free with no obligations.
2. Beginner Guitar Lessons
Online music lesson solutions are designed to reach a wide variety of skill levels. If you are a beginner with a music background, you might be able to handle a faster-paced curriculum. If you have no background at all in music, look for a solution that is geared toward beginners learning to read music or tabs.
In addition, you will need to learn how to hold a guitar, how to tune it, how to strum, and how to use a guitar pick. You may even need help in choosing a guitar on which to start taking lessons! From the ground up, a beginner online guitar solution can get you on the right path.
Advanced online guitar lessons will offer training in minor keys and scales, but they will also stretch your boundaries by introducing you to different genres of guitar music. Jazz, Rock, Rockabilly, Blues, and many more genres of music are possible on the guitar. If you don’t know which one you want, try them all!
3. Styles of Music in Online Lessons
While online guitar lessons will cover basics, those basics soon diverge into different styles. Does the solution you are looking at provide that? Strumming techniques will change for different genres of music, and you will want your app to lead you in those directions.
If what you are looking for is just the basics, that’s fine. But if you are looking for an app that will take your guitar education as far as you want to go, then check out the styles available in their syllabus. You should be able to try out units in different styles of music. It may expect you to start with the beginning units in each style, but the option should be there.
4. Online Guitar Music Library
Chances are, when you buy a subscription to online guitar lessons, you will receive access to the pages necessary for your lessons. These will coach you through the basics you are learning and are usually composed especially for that particular lesson.
There is, however, a whole world of music available for guitar players, and much of it is online. Try to find out what kind of online song library your solution provides. A growing, healthy app will continue to add songs at various levels and in different genres to keep the product fresh. In some cases, the larger library will be opened up to you for an additional fee.
5. Live Sessions: Online Music Lessons
There is nothing like a personal touch when taking guitar lessons, and not all solutions offer that feature. It’s recommended that you find online guitar opportunities that offer the option of connecting with a real, live, human being. This can be invaluable to your growth as a musician.
Some solutions offer one-on-one instruction via Zoom, FaceTime, or other channels. Others allow you to submit a video of yourself playing, providing you with either video or text feedback on your progress. Online lessons have become very popular lately, and are quite effective. We’ve had many students and teachers who have thrived with the online teaching available.
6. Local Teacher Resources
Should you want to move on to in-person lessons, you’ll want someone who can build on what you learned in your online guitar classes. There are platforms available that keep a database of all of the guitar teachers that use the app. You can often contact the app company to ask for recommendations for in-person teachers in your area! Nothing can beat a true, in-person lesson with a caring and skilled teacher. Your best online guitar lessons in 2020 may actually end up being in-person!
7. Access the Best Online Guitar Lesson Teachers
With Tonara Connect, you'll have a vast range of online guitar teachers to look through to find the best one for you. Be sure to check if the teacher you're interested in is offering a free trial lesson so you can see first hand what a lesson will be like with them. Just find a teacher you want to work with, select a time for the free trial lesson, and give it a go! If you enjoy the free trial, you can book a lesson with them, if you don't, you can find another teacher! Below you'll find some of our recommendations for teachers...
