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The Rock Guitar Lesson Silver Bullet

The Rock Guitar Lesson Silver Bullet

There are many instructors - or maybe they're salesmen - peddling guitar lessons on the Internet. If you're interested in learning to play rock guitar, you may have checked out some sites offering instructional CDs, instructional videos, online lessons, in-person lessons, group lessons or private lessons.

According to some of these sites, anyone at all can pick up a guitar and become a great rock guitarist in short order. Obviously, that isn't true or everyone would be playing guitar and playing well. So, figuring out what type of lesson or course is right for you can be confusing and sifting through the sheer volume of information out there can be daunting. The bottom line is, there is no rock guitar lesson silver bullet, just the type that's right for you.

Let's explore how you find the right sort of guitar lesson. First, you need to know yourself and what your musical goals are. If you have had lessons or played before, you'll want to ensure any instructor or program is appropriate for your level of skill. As to goals, you should know whether you aspire to play for yourself and friends, perform onstage alone or with a band or record music for worldwide distribution.

Also, you should know what style of guitar you want to learn. Even if you know you want to play rock music, are you interested in acoustic guitar or electric? Lead, rhythm or bass guitar? Do you want to learn to read music or are tabs enough to suit your purposes?

You may find that an instructor or program that suits your early needs is not a good fit when your skill level improves or your musical goals change. Research whether an instructor or program can help you with long-range goals you may have, such as songwriting or teaching guitar yourself.

Be wary of instructors or programs that are general in nature. If you want to play rock guitar, you need to find an instructor who knows rock music and plays it. Electric guitar and acoustic guitar are quite different specialties, so make sure your research includes the areas of specialty of any instructor you find. For rock guitar, in particular, the most experienced players and best instructors may not be associated with a university or music school (unless they have started their own). Ask about great rock guitar instructors at music and instrument stores, especially guitar stores.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that there is no one size fits all when it comes to learning guitar. An instructor or program that works for your friend may not work for you. Keep in mind how you learn best. Take time to reflect on what you want from your rock guitar lessons, where you are in your musical journey and where you would like to be in five or ten years. Then take all that knowledge and search until you find the right instructor or program to make your rock guitar dreams a reality.