Guitar Learning Methods - Audio Vs Video

[Jan King]

There are three basic guitar learning methods: book, audio and video,
and while video might appear at face value to be the preferred method,
audio guitar lessons also have a lot going for them. It should not
always be assumed that video guitar teaching is always the best.
Sure, you can see what your guitar teacher is doing, but it can also
be distracting. It might seem like it is the same as having your own
personal guitar teacher right there beside you in your own home, but
audio can be like that as well. In fact in some instances, and for
some people, a good guitar instruction book with a good CD to go with
it, is better than a DVD.
There are a few reasons for this, and if you don't believe me then
consider the following points.
1. The 'Glossing Over' Problem Have you ever written a book about a
subject - any subject - and also tried to speak about the same
subject? Have you noticed that you include a lot more information when
writing about it than you do when talking about it? It's very common.
The reason is that when you are writing you continually review what
you have written. You might do that to check the spelling or the
grammar, to make sure you haven't missed out any words, or you might
re-read it just to see how it looks or sounds. Some people even read
their work out loud to themselves. That is when you notice that you
have missed something out, so you add it to your passage. You might
even write an extra sentence or a whole paragraph to cover a point of
the topic that you had forgotten about first time round. Or added a
new idea that came to you when revising what you had written. That is
also very common.
Now, consider yourself making a video. Once you have said your piece
that's it. OK, you will play it to see how it sounds, but when
listening to it you are focussing on the sound and how smoothly you
are talking. You are trying to make sure that you are properly
demonstrating what you are talking about, and are not thinking about
content. You won't notice if you had missed something.
Even if you did, are you going to record a whole video again just
because you missed something? Human nature is just to shrug and think'
Well, it sounds OK and looks, OK, and makes the point, so it will do'.
You have glossed something over, and have not covered the subject as
comprehensively as if you had written about it.
2. The Stop-Start Syndrome If you are trying to learn something that
involves you playing, you will find it difficult to learn the lesson
while watching the video. A CD is much better, with your guitar
teacher telling you where to put your fingers, and you can focus on
what he is saying while you do it.
With the DVD your guitar teacher will likely say 'Now watch closely
what I am and doing and then do it yourself': so you watch closely,
and when you go to do it yourself, he carries on with another part of
the lesson. You then have stop the DVD, and try to remember what he
was demonstrating.
Sure, it is great to be able to see what your teacher is doing, but
sometimes it can be a nuisance and you are better getting audio
instructions that you can listen to while concentrating on your own
fingers and your own frets. This is particularly true if you also have
a good book, and the instructor is referring to the book during the
audio. The book is the main guitar teaching medium, and the CD is
secondary: letting you hear the sounds you should be making and being
given further advice with reference to a book that you can study at
your leisure.
These two problems alone would be enough to persuade me that audio
beats video any day and is the better of the two guitar learning
methods. A book with a CD provides you with everything you need: the
book that you can go back to time and time again, with its chord
charts, and tab for solo work, and the CD with added audio instruction
and recordings of the sounds you should be making. At least I did
think that
Now I am thinking differently, because there is a fourth option to the
guitar learning book, the CD and the video: the Guitar Learning
Membership Site. Now this is something else!
A membership site offers you much more than a book and CD or video can
provide, and can even offer a number of different teacher according to
the style of music or type of guitar you want to learn how to play. It
really is unbelievable: you not only get the lessons in video, but it
is also written down for you print out, so if you prefer to read books
you can do that. If you prefer the video, you can do that too.
If you don't like your teacher you can change - just like that, and if
you have finished your heavy metal lesson you can try few lessons at
classical or country guitar just for fun. In fact you can learn to
play just about every style and every kind of guitar possible on
membership sites. Talk about being an accomplished musician: With this
kind of teaching, you can be a full-fledged master of your instrument!
So if you want to learn guitar, and are looking for a good guitar
learning method, then try a membership site. You can visit it whenever
you want, it is frequently updated and you can choose from a number of
styles and teachers. Just what is needed, from somebody picking up a
guitar for the first time to an experienced professional that needs a
refresher on a few techniques?

A Complete Learning Method: http://guitarjamor.blogspot.com/#