With blogs, websites, DVDs, memberships, private lessons, forums- it's enough to make your head spin sometimes. Playing guitar has been around for thousands of years and because of that a LOT of people know about and how to teach someone how to play it. This makes your task, as a beginning or learning guitarist, choosing. You've got to make the choice of where you are going to begin, which path you'll take. Well this article is going to help you decide how you should start playing guitar by weighing out the pros and cons of each.

Teaching Yourself Guitar

Pros:

1. You can learn at your own pace and on your own time
2. You have the ability to learn what you want, when you want. No following a teachers lesson plan for you!
3. You get the bragging right of being able to tell people you taught yourself guitar
4. It's free!!

Cons:

1. There is more of a chance to have gaps in your learning
2. It's easy to lose motivation for a number of reasons (You don't progress as quickly, you don't have a set direction to move in, etc)
3. You have nobody but yourself to hold you accountable for your learning
4. The amount of free resources, and finding quality ones, can be really overwhelming when you first start playing guitar

Private Guitar Lessons

Pros:

1. You have 1 on 1 lessons. Having the lessons tailored specifically to you is unmatched in terms of progression.
2. You are taught by a professional. You don't just have some kid with a guitar and an internet connection telling you what to do.
3. You have someone by your side every week to hold you accountable for your learning. You never want to be the student who just wastes both your time and your teachers by not practicing. Great motivation.
4. You make progress faster if you start playing guitar with private lessons than you would with any other learning method

Cons:

1. It can be hard to find the time to schedule lessons
2. You have less flexibility and control in what you learn
3. It's expensive - Lessons can costs hundreds to thousands a year
4. You can get a shitty teacher. It's unfortunate but reality. Some teachers it's just a wonder how they got hired in the first place. Beware the craigslist teachers!

Online Guitar Lessons

Pros:

1. More affordable than private guitar lessons
2. Often allow you to have the flexibility of choosing what to learn
3. Most reputable online sites have everything broken down and categorized, allowing you to learn the essential techniques you want or need to learn, whenever you want. On Demand, anyone?
4. You have the freedom to learn at your own pace
5. Most online lessons have a discussion forum as well, which is great for gaining tons of useful knowledge and figuring out where you should start playing guitar

Cons:

1. Less personal than private lessons
2. You can lose motivation easier if you're not happy with your progress but still spending money. You can begin to adopt the "money pit" mentality which is no bueno!
3. Some sites just suck... Watch out for em.
4. You don't have anyone to hold you accountable, just like with teaching yourself. This can lead to a number of road blocks and plateaus.
5. Some membership sites can get expensive and begin to really add up in the end

DVD Guitar Lessons

Pros:

1. There are several cheap, high quality DVD's out there to point you in the right direction when you start playing guitar
2. DVD guitar lessons are cheaper than both Private and Online Guitar Lessons
3. You only have to make a one time payment for your DVDs. No recurring billing or scheduling appointments.
4. Often many DVD guitar lessons have a guided course to follow, helping prevent you from getting lost or stuck along the way.

Cons:

1. Some DVD lessons, however, are terrible. They sometimes can give you poor vantage points on the guitar, not include any sheet music or tablature or could be missing other useful features.
2. It can be hard to find the best ones when there are so many choices, and so many claim to be "the best dvd guitar lessons". You have to do some research first
3. DVDs break. They are an old technology in todays world and the sad fact is, unless youve got a good ripping software and the DVD isnt copy written, if yours breaks you have to buy a new one to replace it.
4. They aren't as personal as any of the above methods of learning. You often have the info on the DVD and it ends there.

There you have it. I hope that this breakdown has helped you in deciding which path to take to start playing guitar today. For more information on getting started and any other guitar related information you may need check back soon or me profile page to find out where to reach me better. Also if you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them below.

To your playing,

Dev