Electric Guitar Lessons Online by webcam

Can You Learn Electric Guitar Online? 

Learning to play an instrument is easily one of the most popular hobbies and pastimes for people all over the world. The reasons are unsurprising. Music for one, whether we play on the electric guitars of today, or the traditional instruments of old, is one of life’s greatest pleasures and can be found as a backdrop that enhances almost any experience.

Learning to play an instrument is also a great way to pass the time, meet like-minded friends and impress your peers. There’s also a great variety of both instruments and music available to learn and listen to, making these two things extremely accessible and engaging for people from all walks of life and varying interests. Genres ranging from ballads and blues to electro and jazz mean there's something for all to enjoy.

When it comes to instruments, however, there is certainly a king… At least in terms of popularity, variety and some might even argue, coolness. The instrument in question is of course the electric guitar. A staple of the rock and roll genre/movement and the starring role in many such bands. Even before they were electrified, guitars and their predecessors i.e. the lute and the oud have always been some of our most famous and popular string instruments to listen to and play.

With this in mind, there’s never been a better, nor an easier time to join the electric guitar bandwagon, since learning is more accessible than ever before… Let’s take a look at how.

Is the electric guitar hard to learn? 

Some people will tell you that learning guitar is hard, others will say that it's easy... so which is it? The answer somewhat depends on your goal. If you just want to be able to play a simple song or two, then we'd say that learning guitar is in fact quite easy. In fact, you might be surprised to learn that you can play many popular songs by simply learning a chord or two and then playing that chord over and over.

Learning guitar becomes tricky when you want to take things to a higher level. True mastery of guitars is certainly a skill anyone would want to have, but a challenge only a few are brave enough to take on. To do so, you'll not only need dexterity with your fingers, but you'll have to learn to read sheet music, understand what a "scale" is, know your "major" from your "minor" and even know the difference between the types of guitars, like Fender and Gibson.

It's worth saying that learning guitar is a never-ending journey. Even the pros are always learning and there is no such thing as a true master. The sooner you decide to start, the sooner you will catch up, but more importantly, you should enjoy the process of learning, since if you want to become one of the best, there are years and years of practice ahead of you.

What’s the best way to learn electric guitar?

There are many ways of learning the guitar, but to say any of them are the best definitely would be to ignore that everyone’s circumstances are unique, which means that the answer might be different, depending on who you ask, instead, we’re going to look at the pros and cons of different methods and let you decide for yourself which one is the best for you.

Before we dive in, it might be helpful to know that much of the expertise needed for playing an electric guitar can be acquired by learning and practising with an acoustic guitar instead, so consider this option if money or noise complaints could be an issue.

Online electric guitar tutorials and videos

In the age of the internet, sometimes the best teacher can be yourself, provided you know where to look. Due to the huge popularity of the electric guitar, there is a large amount of online content, especially on popular video-sharing platforms like TikTok and YouTube, which allow viewers to learn the basics by themselves.

By simply typing in ‘electric guitar tutorial’ into YouTube, you’ll be able to find everything from a beginner's guide to entire playlists of lessons teaching you the process step by step.

you're not just limited to videos either, you can get a lot out of downloading a free or paid app from your app store. An app will contain a lot of the same content as the videos but in a more focused and concentrated way. When choosing an app, especially a free one, it's a good idea to do your research.

Sometimes it's an issue of quality, but in some cases, the app might not be suited to a beginner, or perhaps it's specifically for bass guitars. Check the reviews before you download one. Choosing the right app can make all the difference to the rate at which you learn and help you avoid some blues. (unless that's your thing of course).

The best part about this method is that it’s free and provided you have a stable internet connection, you can do it just about anywhere.

The downside is that learning from videos means that you won’t have access to personalised feedback and there’s no physical interaction between yourself and the educator, meaning errors in posture and positioning might be harder to fix.

Lastly, learning by yourself can be quite time-consuming, since, without someone experienced to guide you, you might not even know what to learn next, or where to find it.

Guitars play music using notes and chords; when it comes to learning individual chords and simple music theory concepts such as progressions and scales, online videos are perfect. Even if you use another method to learn such as a tutor, using online videos is a great way to revise what you already know and turn trivial play into meaningful practice.

By joining a guitar class, or getting private tuition, you’ll be able to quickly progress your electric guitar learning by making use of advanced feedback and expert guidance, which other methods might not be able to provide.

In-person lessons also give you a great chance to get in touch with the community, helping you find like-minded electric guitar students and fellow players. This method also gives you more access to playing opportunities and gives you the chance to receive grades, i.e. proof of your proficiency in the instrument.

One lesser considered advantage of learning electric guitar in person is that you don’t need to necessarily invest in a fancy electric guitar straight away, since you’ll have the chance to borrow instruments from your instructor during the lesson.

Online electric guitar lessons

Finally, there are online lessons. In a way, getting online electric guitar tuition is the best of both worlds.

The key difference when it comes to a tutor is the help they can provide. If you think about it, a lesson from the web might be useful, but if you get stuck, there's no one there ready to help you out and get you back on track. Until you receive that help, your songs will continue to have the same problems. That's where tutors come in.

You get that personal connection with your guitar teacher, along with the benefits of direct personalised feedback, but you also retain the benefits of remote learning, saving you the hassle of commuting and finding time in your schedule where you can be out of the house.

The only downside is that compared with attending group classes and learning independently online, hiring an individual electric guitar tutor might be a little pricier than the other options… But wait!

The best place to find electric guitar lessons online

If you’re wondering where you can find the best value electric guitar lessons, look no further than Superprof's premier service.

Superprof allows you to find the best-rated electric guitar teachers both near and far with the simple click of a button.

Simply search for what you need on the homepage, and you’ll be greeted with the prices, reviews and contact information of music educators who will be more than happy to discuss the arrangement of lessons, both online and in person! At an average price of only £22/h for electric guitar lessons, there's never been a more affordable way to learn the electric guitar. 

To make things even better, most tutors on Superprof offer their first lesson free of charge, so you’ve got nothing to lose by trying it out.