ONLINE LESSONS

[Jaysmay]

Anyone have any experience using “Learn Guitar Now“ and John Tuggle?

I'm thinking of trying his service, I’m a Intermediate player who wants to advance and am play mostly blues. I was taking in person lessons and between covid canceling some visits ( he got covid ) and the time spent going to and from lessons think online may work better.

Any suggestions?

 

[JL_LI]

There are problems with online learning that people tend not to think about until dissatisfaction sets in. This applies to guitar lessons, college courses, and other types of instruction. Think carefully.

There is an absence of feedback. Your instructor won’t be able to stop you and say, “Do it this way, not that way,” and immediately correct the error. Many people don’t work as hard in the absence of feedback.

There may be an absence of feedback about your progress. Will you be able to say, enough of this, let’s move on?

Contracts and obligations. How easy is it to drop out if you’re dissatisfied? Are there penalties?

There is a place for on line learning as long as you have the discipline to keep up. Theory is something you can learn on line.

On line learning is also useful for what can be parceled out. Go on line to learn how to play a particular song. Go on line to learn about an unfamiliar mode. Go on line to learn their mechanics of a technique like cross picking or Travis picking if you want to learn finger style.

I’m not negative about on line learning at all but it requires self discipline that not everyone can muster. One day I was looking at a primarily on line university to check on its accreditation. I looked at its graduation rate. It was abysmal.

There was a lot I was able to learn outside of formal classes in my professional life. But it was built on a solid formal education. I can’t imagine I’d have been able to learn a profession on line. I had plenty of formal instruction in music. I’ve done well on my own. I’ve supplemented my skills with some free online instruction. I was able to learn theory beyond “classical” theory from a number of on line sources. I’m an advocate of online learning as a supplement to traditional formal instruction. This is not to be discouraging. It’s in fact the opposite. I’m trying to encourage anyone considering online instruction to have realistic expectations as to possible outcomes.

 

[The Angle]

No experience at all with John Tuggle's program. I've used Guitar Tricks and Marty Schwartz's original GuitarJamz site. GT has a vast library of lessons and songs, but I actually found Schwartz's site more to my liking, chiefly because Schwartz is an engaging and entertaining teacher.

In the long run, I think the most important factor in whether you'll get your money's worth out of an online lessons site is whether you like the instructor enough to keep coming back and working through the next lesson. The instructors at GT are very good, but I find them too stiff and dry. They never seem to be having any fun. Marty Schwartz always seems to be enjoying himself in his videos, and that's infectious. I seldom have any trouble motivating myself to start the next lesson.

So watch some of Tuggle's videos and ask yourself whether you'll be willing to listen to him over and over and over and over and over some more.

 

[telekaster1999]

Been playing 30 years and learned the ole school way, but I believe if I were starting today online I would chose Active Melody. I know nothing about the guy or the one you mentioned but the guy at Active Melody has a very simple and similar way of teaching like my uncle did me.

 

[Alex_C]

Zoom lessons. Interactive without having to travel or wear pants.

 

[ChicknPickn]

I think JL_LI drives some good points home. I can't make time in my life for an instructor just yet, but I have enjoyed JamPlay. The lessons are short and well documented. Some instructors work better for me than others, but none have been poor. I'm often challenged. I've seen my playing get better and feel that the fee is fair. But it's true that interaction, in person, with an instructor, will put your playing in high gear sooner.

 

[zoran]

+ 1 for active melody. once you find someone on youtube who's style works for your learning style, its great

 

[Mind Flayer]

If you can afford in-person lessons, I’d stick with those. They keep the student more disciplined, because you have a human being you’re interacting with who you can disappoint if you don’t work on what you’re supposed to be working on.

That’s not to say online lessons aren’t worthwhile. I use the free ones on youtube a lot. But it’s hard to keep focused and on track with those; I’m constantly jumping from one thing to another.

There’s also no substitute for just playing with someone live and in person.

I don’t take in person lessons anymore, but I started out with lessons when I began playing in my teens, and I had a great teacher who taught me a lot about things I wouldn’t have known to ask about. Things I still put into use today.

Tuggle seems good based on his free stuff. He’s been doing the online lessons for a long time; my sense is that he was one of the earlier ones to do them.