There's a big debate whether beginner guitarists should just try to learn guitar on their own or whether they should take lessons. Some people say that learning on your own gives you the freedom to learn your own way and not have to conform to what a guitar teacher expects you to do. Others say taking lessons will help you out in the long run.

The truth is that there isn’t one answer for everyone. Some people are better off taking lessons and others are better off learning on their own. To help you figure out which type of guitarist you are, we’ll talk about the pros and cons of both learning option and try to help you figure out what’s the best way to learn guitar for you.

The Benefits of Taking Guitar Lessons

There are many benefits to taking guitar lessons, but most of them stem from the fact that you will learn much faster when someone is showing you what to do rather than figuring it out on your own.

In addition, many people who learn guitar on their own tend to develop bad habits. As the saying goes, “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Practice makes permanent.” The more you practice doing something wrong, the more you will cement it into your playing style. A guitar teacher can help with this by showing proper technique right off the bat, so you don’t learn and practice things the wrong way.

The Benefits of Learning By Yourself

It’s pretty widely recognized that it will probably take you longer to learn guitar if you teach yourself, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You spend time learning different things about the guitar that you otherwise wouldn’t have run into had you just been taught how to do something.

In addition, when you teach yourself, you are more dependent on your own creativity and interests to drive you to be the player that you want to be. This can be a double edged sword if you aren’t careful though. The most obvious elephant in the room is that teaching yourself is completely free. Taking lessons can be expensive.

What Should You Do?

Like I said before, there isn’t a single answer for everyone. If you feel like you will need someone there to help guide you and show you how to play songs step-by-step, you should probably sign up for guitar lessons.

On the other hand, if you want the freedom to do whatever you want and not be tied down by lessons, you shouldn’t have to worry about it.

Every great guitarist has a different story. Steve Vai took lessons from one of the best online guitar lesson teachers in the world, Joe Satriani. Whereas, Eddie Van Halen didn’t take lessons at all and he learned everything by himself.

The important thing is that you get interested in playing guitar and want to keep learning. It doesn’t matter how you learn or who you learn from. If lessons help you stay accountable to a practice schedule, then good. Take lessons. If you don’t need them, don’t let other people tell you that you do. Just keep playing guitar and having fun. That’s what it’s all about.