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Guitar Tutorial DVD: Use a Guitar Tutorial DVD, Book, or Online Lessons?

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Guitar Tutorial DVD or Book?

Should you choose a guitar tutorial DVD or book?

These days, there are so many ways for aspiring musicians to learn how to play the instrument of their choice. If you are an eager aspirant musician, guitarist in particular (which I assume you are, or else you probably wouldn't be reading this), then you have probably asked yourself the question: do I choose a guitar tutorial DVD or book? Should I rather learn online on my own time? Or do I visit a guitar teacher each week on a scheduled day?

Well, I guess it all depends on the type of personality you have. If you're not that disciplined and tend to slack off on things you have to do, then being tied to a scheduled lesson time might ultimately be the better option for you. But if you can push yourself to practice even when you don't really feel like it, then home study (with either a guitar tutorial DVD, book or online lessons) would be a good alternative to private lessons.

Now you will have to select a method of home study. I have chosen 3 "main" home study methods (books, DVDs and online lessons), and listed the pro's and cons of each.

1. Books

Books are a wonderful learning resource if you enjoy reading and especially if you memorize things better by looking at illustrations.

Pro's: You can take the book anywhere with you (and it doesn't get angry if you start a practice session a bit later than usual).

Cons: In reality, no one is actually showing you what to do, and if you don't know what a certain chord or note should sound like, you might have a crisis. Books only allow you to see something, but not hear it.

2. DVDs

A guitar tutorial DVD is great if you like to have something shown and explained to you by an actual person (they're also good if you're one of those people who wouldn't touch a book to save your life!).

Pro's: There is no set "lesson" time - you can practice whenever you feel like it. You can also hear what every note and chord is supposed to sound like, and if you ever forget something, you simply watch it again.

Cons: If you don't live alone, and don't have your own DVD player, this may be a problem. I don't think the rest of your family or whoever you share your house with is going to be happy if you keep hogging the TV to practice your guitar, do you? However, your problem may be solved if your computer has a DVD-ROM drive, so you can watch the guitar tutorial DVD on your computer and even use headphones so that you don't bother anyone else.

3. Online Lessons

Online lessons are the way to go if you want a combination of the book's features and the DVD's features.

Pro's: If you want to read, most online courses have a written section, and if you want to "observe", there should be videos available for you to stream or download. You can also practice whenever you want.

Cons: If the course has a download or stream feature, bear in mind that some downloads can really devour bandwidth. But once you've downloaded the video or audio it will all be worth it.

I went to my friend's house one day, and he had an electric guitar he had just bought with a tiny little amp. I turned the volume up to 10 and I hit one chord, and I said, I'm in love. -- Ace Frehley

I've Made My Choice, What's Next?

Now you simply have to choose which guitar tutorial DVD, book or online course you want to use.

There are so many available out there, but click here for a guitar tutorial DVD guide that is pretty much all-in-one. It offers guitar tutorial DVDs, a set of books, online lessons and even some computer software to help you master the guitar faster.