Learning to play the guitar can be a fun and rewarding pursuit. Whether it's your dream to become the next guitar legend or you simply want to play campfire songs, it's important to start out right. This means learning the guitar, its chords and so on. Taking shortcuts while learning might net you a song or two you can play, but it won't give you a foundation to build on. Here's where video guitar lessons can come in handy for students of all levels.



It might seem a little odd to take lessons from a filmed person online or on a VHS tape or DVD, but the truth is this type of learning works very well for a lot of students. Video guitar lessons offer a lot of perks regular classes don't. Let's look at them:

* Step by step instructions. A good video guitar lesson will begin with the basics and work all the way up to more expert techniques. This means there's no short cutting around the important things, such as guitar parts, care and so on. These instructions will be offered in a natural order and can really benefit the beginner and even a novice by teaching the fundamentals first.

* On demand. This is perhaps one of the biggest draws to video guitar lessons. Rather than having to wait for an appointed hour each week to take lessons, those who choose to go the video route can learn on their schedules when they want and as much as they want. The "teacher" is always available.

* Repeat performances. Since video guitar lessons don't involve a person whose time needs to be booked, lessons that need repeating can be repeated at no additional cost. If a particular lesson is tricky, a video student can replay it over and over again until the repetition pays off. And, since repetition and patience are the key virtues in learning an instrument, this is a real bonus.

* Visual aids. Some people can learn guitar simply by hearing and then trying it themselves. For the rest of us, however, it's nice to be able to see where fingers need to go, how the instrument is held and so on. Video lessons, just like live ones, offer these visual cues to help people along the way to guitar mastery.

* Variety. Video guitar lessons are offered by all kinds of teachers. This means the style of play can be varied greatly, which is great for students who want to learn more than one way to do things or more than one style of play.

* Cost effectiveness. In person lessons can be very costly over time. And while video guitar lessons require an initial investment, once they're paid for, they're paid for. This means no matter how many times a lesson needs to be repeated for comfort level, there's no extra charge.

* Overcoming "stage fright." Some people simply are afraid to take lessons in person because they "sound bad." By having a video teacher, this fear is eliminated. There's no one to offer up opinions.

While it's true that nothing can replace face-to-face lessons when feedback is needed, video guitar lessons can really help anyone learn the basics and beyond. The visual cues they offer, combined with the other perks make them a great way to learn a guitar. Remember, however, that a guitar is a pretty complicated instrument and it will take time and practice to truly master its playing.