are lessons worth it?

lessons are worth it. you can go on craigslist to find a teacher. if you don't like the first one, get another one.

With a good teacher, absolutely.

To find a good teacher, ask good players who they studied (or would like to study) with.

Private lessons are better than semi-private or group; they're geared to the slowest student by necessity.

hey watch it. i've been the slowest player in a group...!

Lessons are a waste of time ..... Psyche! Noteboat!!!! .. I'm self taught but am stubborn. A teacher would have helped me greatly. Not just stubborn, but I couldn't afford one. If you can take lessons, I think it's a good idea. 8)

In a word, yes. But take some time to look for a good teacher -- one who asks you about and is interested in your goals and the style of music you like. Teacher and pupil have to be a good fit.

And welcome to the musical madhouse!

As someone who is self-taught, I would definitely take lessons in the beginning if I had the chance to do it over - even now after decades of playing I sometimes think about taking lessons. I've picked up so many bad habits along the way in my haste to learn how to play that with the help of the advice given on this website I'm *slowly* getting rid of them. However in learning new tunes if there is something I can't do I'll "modify" it to fit my playing style

Hi rhcpfan0

ALL musicians are partly self taught and partly taught by a teacher.

How so?

Even if you take regular lessons each week you will do the bulk of the actual work of training your fingers and mind in the time between lessons. A teacher provides guidance but cannot accompany you all the time on your journey. And you don't stop learning just because they aren't present. So some self teaching is both inevitable and necessary.

As for the ‘Totally Self Taught' – there's not really any such animal. We all learn from others. It might be a friend or relative who gives us tips or our ‘teacher' might have written the books we follow, the performances or music videos we watch, the websites we join or the forum posts we read. Even the music we just listen to. A teacher doesn't have to be somebody sitting in front of you.

I've had several face to face teachers. The first, who gave me an excellent basic grounding, over two terms of lessons, was well worth the money. A couple of others since were not really good value – through no real fault of their own, we just weren't a good match. My teachers now are mostly books and friends. That suits me perfectly for now, but I don't regret spending the money on the initial lessons.

Having regular lessons can be very useful, but it can also be very expensive over time, so it helps to:

a) Have a good idea of the sort of commitment you are prepared to make (you won't get far with just a handful of lessons) and

b) Find a teacher who suits you and who provides motivation as well as instruction.

Not always as easy as it sounds, but I wish you all the best with the search.

Cheers,

Chris

They really are, especially when you are starting out so you don't pick up bad habits. I took lessons once a week for two summers in a row when I was just starting and they helped me immensely. As others said, find a good teacher and stick with 'um.

Yes they worth it

I asked myself the same question when my mother asked me if I wanted guitar lesson for my birthday...

I thought: "What can a teacher learn me? I have the tab of the song I want to play and just have to play those notes to get the same sounds... I don't need a teacher to tell me where to put my finger to play those songs, it's written on the tab. I just need time to learn them" :roll:

But I had no other gift idea so I accepted to take lesson and now, birthday gift is over and I pay my lesson with my own cash since 5 months :wink:

Lessons learn me A LOT and I think it helped me to learn faster.

I'll let you know in a few weeks or maybe sooner. My wife bought me an introductory lesson for Christmas - and my first one's this Saturday at 1! I'm really excited about it and looking forward to it. I'm an oldster that bought a guitar and tinkered with it 20 years ago and re-started again with all due vigor about a year ago. Currently, I feel like I need some direction to keep going - and make even more progress- with the guitar so I think lessons will be worth it for me. With that said I've learned a ton off of this forum and watching and listening to youtube and similar things off the internet. Will I maintain the drive and commitment? I hope so and - I think so. Stay tuned.... :mrgreen:

Happy Holidays!

depends on what your definition of "it" is.
if you are setting your sights high in your expectations, then your Teacher should match them as well.
how far do you expect to go?
how long do you expect it to take to get there?
how much is it worth to you?

I had lessons for nearly two years, and when my teacher (who was very good and I admired a lot) moved away, i decided that i head learnt enough from him that i could continue on my own.

So if you can afford lessons, i would highly recommend them.

I just started online lessons threw Jamorama. I liked it cause they have a course thats based for just acoustic guitar, which is what i want to learn for now. Its pretty nice, website has a 6 lesson trail thats free. If you get the "online" (non book) version you can download the pdf's and lesson videos in one zip fall to your computer so you don't always have to be on the internet to use. Comes with a bunch of what they call Jam tracks too were you can play along with a full band. I really like it an after a week I am playing along with 2 jam tracks (I've only been playing guitar since Thanksgiving) My dad got me the lessons as a Christmas gift but it was only 40 bucks for the whole thing. Comes with some other software like a game that teaches you to hear a cord as its being played. Well worth the money IMO.

I can't see how lessons would do anything but make you better. You learn faster than being self-taught.