Having had many years experience in learning to play a musical instrument I have learnt that in this day and age there is no need to spend out for a personal tutor (although this is a good option for people looking for a more personal learning experience), when there is the good old world wide web which presents an array of online courses that are sometimes cheaper or free. Finding guitar lessons online could not be easier, especially if one is familiar with Google or YouTube.
Guitar lessons are possibly the best examples of finding tuition online; however, it is much more difficult to find piano tutorials unless you are an experienced pianist. The same applies to learning to play the drums, keyboard, saxophone, trumpet, cello etc. Nevertheless, there are resources, tips and advice that can be found on improving playing techniques. The advantage is that you will not need to invest a large sum of money to go through personal music tuition.
The advantages of finding guitar lessons, or any other musical instrument, online, are that they can be available for free and can be downloaded at anytime. Having fixed lessons often means having to rearrange other engagements or organising your time to fit round your scheduled lesson, but you are guaranteed the motivation to learn and you will have a set practise time. Learning to play by following an online tutorial will mean that you will not have a tutor to oversee your playing techniques.
One thing that these online tutorials have is a video streaming, showing you the correct fingering technique, how to play chords and how to learn to play to tempo. These provide visual as well as instructional tuition, which may mean plenty of explanations on where playing techniques like these are played by other bands and the kind of affects they have on the music piece. Some online tutorials are provided by professional musicians who may charge for downloading video lessons; however these still make for a relatively cost effective way of learning to play.
Furthermore they are useful as you can go over the same section as many times as wish, without feeling like you need to rush through the lesson. One thing about learning to play an instrument by yourself, is that you will need to allocate practising time and stay consistent with this time in order to progress further. Most people find this hard to do without the guidance of a tutor; therefore it is completely up to you to make sure that you become accustomed to a regular routine of learning.
Part of becoming a good musician is to go over the same notes or chords over and again until you can play without making any mistakes. Imagine watching your favourite band live, where the musicians spend time trying to remember where to place their fingers on the guitar to hit the right chord or note; you would find yourself getting bored and watching the audience boo them off stage! When taking guitar lessons, it is important the guitarist strengthens their fingers by playing as often as they can. The same applies to playing the piano, bass or any instrument. Getting into a routine of playing chords for your favourite music is a good way of becoming accustomed to specific playing techniques and notes. This will then become automatic and one will be able to pick up these techniques and notes when listening to any music.
If it is a specific song you want to learn to play, the internet is your friend! There are many videos online that provide step-by-step instructions on how to play, but not all of the tutorials are based on actual tabs or notes played by the band. Often these are just mock ups of what the tutor has learnt by listening to the tune, therefore, if you are looking to play the correct notes then it is best to purchase the official music or tab book.