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A video guitar course has an advantage over learning from a guitar book and is a good way to learn guitar because you can see and hear what you should be learning. It is possible to learn from books, since that is the way most of us learned to play before the computer came along with its online teaching techniques; and while you can still purchase guitar learning books in music stores, video courses are rapidly becoming more popular.

If you started at Page 1 in a guitar book and continued to the last page, you will be able to play guitar. A lot depends on the book, of course, but that is generally so, and not only because the book teaches you well. It is because most books begin by teaching chords, since the written page is ideal for showing chord diagrams, and they fill a book up quite nicely. Therefore, if you reach the end of the book, then you must be keen, and so will have learned how to play. That's the logic.

Audio courses came along next, generally in the form of a book with initially a cassette tape and then a CD demonstrating how the chord or passage should sound. You would also generally be given a few tracks to strum along to as well. These are still available, and such courses are still sold in music stores, both traditional and online.

It is video, however, that has had the most impact in teaching beginners how to play properly. With video you can see how to hold your guitar properly, and how to finger your strings. You are also shown how to pick properly, either with a pick (plectrum) or your fingers. These are all vital skills, and video has made it so much easier to teach them.

There are those that can be available for different standards of player, and also online membership courses. Although you pay a monthly fee for the latter, such sites have a great deal to offer. Not only do they teach a beginner how to play from scratch, but also offer guitar tuition in a number of different styles, and also in the three standards of rhythm, lead and bass. The good thing about such sites is that you can take your regular course and then try a few of the advanced solo techniques as a rest from your usual stuff. It maintains the interest and gives you a bit more fun than just going through a regular video.

However, back to the benefits of video and why a video guitar course is a good way to learn guitar - or any other instrument for that matter. We have already stressed the importance of seeing the basic, such as how to hold your guitar and pick. The other is seeing how to play the strings. Have you ever learned a few chords and tried to play them to a tune that uses them? And it sounded nothing like it should? Ring a bell? Sure it doers. A lot has to do not only with the way your fingers are pressing the strings but also with the way you're using the plectrum.

Downstrokes and upstrokes give different sounds - they have to, because in one you are playing the low notes first and in the other the high notes are sounding first. Yet you are rarely advised how to stroke your strings properly in book guitar tutors. In a video you can see exactly what your tutor is doing, and copy that the same way. Then it should sound the same. You should be able to work out if you have problems fingering the strings, because the sound will not be right because the string is not hard against the fret.

A video can also show you the variations of the various chords while they are being played, so you can hear the difference and understand why they are used. Understanding is a better teacher than rote playing. Seeing is better in every respect than listening to instructions or reading them, even with diagrams or photographs.

Hearing is also a very important part of learning guitar, and it is an advantage with a video course to be able to watch the teacher play and hear what is being played. This is particularly the case with guitar playing techniques. How do you describe a hammer-on, a slide or spider walking. How do you describe vibrato or pull-offs, or even how to play the pentatonic scale up and down the frets without demonstrating the techniques visually? You can't teach these things from books, and Jimi Hendrix learned by watching other guitarists execute these techniques and then copying them.

It's a great way to learn, but not everybody is brought the same way as Jimi was and video is the next best thing to the real thing! There is no substitute for watching a master of his instrument show you how it should be done, while at the same time explaining exactly what he or she is doing. It's just like having your own private guitar teacher in your own home, teaching you personally.

There are one or two more reasons why a video guitar course is a great way to learn how to play guitar, but these are the major ones. One not mentioned is that you can replay each lesson time and time again until you have mastered it and learn in your own time and at your own rate. Irrespective of your reason for preferring video, it is difficult to see anybody being able to learn as well and as quickly without it.

Keywords: video guitar course, learn guitar, guitar learning books, guitar tutors, guitar playing techniques

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