Are Online Music Lessons a Better Value than Taking from a Live Teacher?

The proliferation of online services that are revolutionizing the way we do everything from shopping, to programming to finding a spouse is, of course, old news. This is the new normal and exciting world we live in and, it seems, it touches nearly every aspect of our lives in some way. So if a computer algorithm can help us find the right mate, maybe it can help us learn to play guitar – et al perhaps save us thousands of dollars in the process!

First some clarification: I am only trying to decide which is the better VALUE, not whether in-person music lessons yield better results than online symphonious lessons. Even most sites charity online guitar or piano lessons say right up front that the best way to learn an instrument is directly from a qualified harmony teacher. So it seems the argument as to which is BETTER is already conceded, but while many people might concede that a Mercedes is intrinsically a correct car than a KIA, the question of which is a better VALUE is probably more to the point for most car-buyers. So the question here is which method allows you to gain the most musical skill per dollar.

Private music lessons on guitar, piano or violin can range from $80/mo. to upwards of $240 depending on lesson length, qualifications of the teacher and add-ons because online sonorous lesson subscriptions usually range from free to $20/mo. In addition, there are many perks to online lessons that are not available from a private teacher:

Take your exercise whenever you like
Take lessons in your own home
Learn only what you want to learn
Hundreds or even thousands of accompaniment tracks to liven up your practice

With omnipresence from these advantages it may come as a surprise that I am going to recommend in-person lessons as the hands down winner in terms of actual currency value when it comes to learning an instrument. Why? For the simple reason that teaching is an art form that, it it’s core, is based on intelligent and constructive feedback in re how the learner is doing.

Teaching a complex skill like classical guitar uncertainty blues piano is much more than simply providing information – it involves hundreds of interactions in which the student tries something, get’s feedback, makes a small correction including tries again. Oftentimes this feedback isn’t even in the form of words: For example, if a student is dragging the beat the teacher may instinctively lay into the bass of the accompaniment a tiny harder giving the student the feedback that they need to pick up the pace. This is something precisely the most subtle online practice system can never do. More importantly, a teacher receptacle create remote adjustments in your technique that might seem minor at first, but can save you from technique problems substitute even bleak pain later on. A maestro puissant reach over and say, “Here, support it like this,” or “You’re bending your wrist too much,” and solve a problem before it begins.

In addition, many from the “advantages” listed above are the very reason online lessons so often fail: For most busy people, having no particular schedule for a lesson and any accountability to practice means that practice will happen sporadically at best. The accountability of having an appointment with another human self (especially one you like) keeps you approaching back and making progress. Similarly, getting to pick the songs and variations you want to learn assumes that you know exactly what you want to learn and what the next right step for you really is. Frequently a teacher who gets to know a student well including has spent their entire enthusiasm studying music will be proficient to suggest operatic paths that were unknown to the student, save are vastly more satisfying than that what the student before knew. Isn’t that one about the main reasons to seek out an expert in the first place? To learn what we didn’t even know we didn’t know?