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Olesia Vlasova

Сourse creation · learning & development strategies · 11 MIN · 09.12.2024

How to teach guitar online

Many people wonder if it’s possible to teach guitar online, given the familiarity of traditional lessons with an instructor. However, the internet has made both learning and teaching guitar more accessible, and modern online courses can rival the quality of offline lessons.
Source: Jacek Dylag, unsplash.com
For students, online guitar lessons provide resources for every skill level. With organised courses and practice tools, learners can progress at their own pace. For teachers, online teaching offers global reach and the opportunity to earn extra income without the time constraints of in-person sessions.

In this article, we’ll share tips to help you start teaching guitar online. Let’s dive in!
Why is learning and teaching online guitar a great choice?
How to teach guitar online using websites, apps, and platforms
Why do organised online guitar courses work best?
Creating your own online guitar course
FAQ

Why is learning and teaching online guitar a great choice?

Today, you can do almost anything online, all from the comfort of your home. This applies to guitar lessons, too. While traditional methods rely on a mentor to teach strumming and chords, many now realise that essential instructions are readily available online, allowing anyone to learn the basics for free.
Additionally, every student learns online at their own pace, depending on their abilities, the time they can dedicate to practice, and their goals – whether they want to play a song for their mom’s birthday in a month or learn basic chords just for fun slowly.
So, what makes learning and teaching guitar online so effective?

  • 💻

    Flexibility & accessibility: Online lessons offer flexible scheduling for both students and teachers, allowing learning from anywhere.

  • 💰

    Cost-effectiveness: No travel or overhead costs make lessons more affordable for students and teachers.

  • 👩‍🏫

    Personalised instruction: Teachers can customise lessons to meet individual student needs for focused learning.

  • 👩‍💻

    Access to resources & technology: Students can access abundant resources and interactive tools, such as real-time feedback, while teachers can leverage technology to improve lesson quality and engagement.
Source: Soundtrap, unsplash.com

How to teach guitar online using websites, apps, and platforms

You can find both free and paid options for teaching guitar online. Free websites and apps offer basic lessons, while paid platforms offer more detailed courses and extra features to enhance the learning experience.

YouTube

YouTube provides free guitar lessons on chords, techniques, scales, songs, and solos. Channels like Andy Guitar, GuitarJamz, Music Is Win, TheGuitarLesson.com, Marty Music, and JustinGuitar offer structured tutorials for all skill levels. You can also follow these channels for inspiration and even start your own to showcase your guitar journey and teaching abilities.
A key benefit of the platform is its on-demand videos, offering all learners, especially beginners, a chance to build basic guitar skills before investing in more extensive courses.

Social media and streaming platforms

Students can follow guitar players on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitch for live lessons, tips, and performances. This makes it essential for guitar teachers to have a strong online presence, enabling them to effectively connect with and inspire their students.

Zoom

One-on-one sessions with students help accelerate their learning by addressing mistakes and providing personalised guidance, making the process far more effective than self-study.
Zoom offers free and paid plans with features like screen sharing, whiteboard tools, noise cancellation, and lesson recording. The free plan supports up to 100 participants, while the premium plan allows unlimited attendees, perfect for teaching group guitar skills and theory.
Skype, Google Meet, and FaceTime are also great options, each with unique features for teaching guitar.

Apps

Teach guitar software like Yousician, Fender Play, and Justin Guitar provides structured lessons, and apps like GuitarTuna offer interactive tools with instant feedback. Although these platforms may not let you upload your own lessons, they can still be useful for helping your students focus on specific topics or practice areas.

Platforms for teachers

While apps and websites provide resources, they lack live feedback and personalised guidance. Your expertise in demonstrating techniques and correcting mistakes in real-time is invaluable to learners.
As a teacher, joining platforms like Guitar Tricks or JamPlay helps you connect with a broad audience and offer lessons to students at every level.

Why do organised online guitar courses work best?

Two key insights about online guitar learning are:

  1. Students can start by learning the basics on their own

Many people begin learning guitar by themselves. They get a basic guitar and tuner, learn the names and order of the strings, and figure out how to set up the guitar for playing. To help with this and to begin reading tablature and practising simple chords, they can use various instructional websites and YouTube videos that teach songs, scales, and techniques in an easy-to-follow way.

But.

2. The most effective approach for a student is to follow a structured course and commit to completing it.

The excitement of a beginner can fade quickly as the initial ease and fun wear off. Many websites offering guitar lessons don’t address the challenges that arise during the learning process. They often overlook important details, such as what to do when the guitar still doesn’t sound right, when fingers are sore, or when a chord won’t come together. With an overwhelming number of YouTube videos and tips, students can easily get lost in the noise. This is when many learners give up.
Most beginner guitar players benefit from a clear starting point, a structured approach, and opportunities for feedback. The key is to provide a comprehensive online guitar course.
Here’s why a course is better than self-study using open sources:
Finally, why should a guitar teacher consider creating an online course?

  • 🎸

    Income Source: An online guitar course is a one-time creation that can be sold and reused, providing a continuous income stream.

  • 🎸

    Global Reach: Teaching online expands your reach, saving time and costs while making you accessible to a broader audience.

  • 🎸

    Boosts Online Presence: Creating a course enhances visibility and provides engaging content to attract potential students.

  • 🎸

    Flexibility: Platforms like Seturon allow you to teach from anywhere, balance work and life, set your schedule, and even create asynchronous courses.

  • 🎸

    Creative Freedom: Teaching online lets you design lessons in your style, whether live or pre-recorded, while sharing your skills and empowering others.

Creating your own online guitar course

An ideal course for guitar beginners guides students step-by-step, covering finger exercises, chord transitions, reading tabs or sheet music, playing scales and simple melodies, and much more, from music theory to their first practice. Drawing from your teaching experience, you can develop and publish a fully online course on popular platforms like Coursera, Udemy, Skillshare, or Seturon.
The course can be synchronous, allowing real-time teaching and communication with students, or asynchronous, enabling you to create multiple courses on different topics that run independently, earning from your experience without needing daily lessons.
This approach helps guitarists overcome common playing obstacles and provides the opportunity to reach students globally, using the same materials and resources for multiple learners. You can combine both formats to best suit your teaching style and schedule.

Our blog covers various aspects of creating online courses, including the time it takes and how to customise a course to fit specific needs, such as creating an engaging music course.
Source: Jeremy Allouche, unsplash.com
Here are the main steps for creating your own online guitar course:

Define the target audience

First, decide on your intended audience (beginners, intermediate, or advanced players). You can base your course on your experience (the audience you typically work with), demand (the audience most likely to buy your course), or ambitions (targeting a new audience to expand your practice).

Define the topic and the goal

Choose a genre or technique that sets you apart, such as blues or finger-picking. Research your niche and gather feedback to find your unique angle. Set both personal goals (such as income or brand building) and student goals (such as solving specific problems, like learning guitar for social playing). Clear, realistic goals for both ensure the course is practical and meets everyone’s needs.

Design the lesson plan

Start by listing key skills, knowledge, and attitudes (KSAs) students must master. Then, create a final assignment that encapsulates all the course’s learnings, followed by smaller assignments for each KSA. Finally, develop lesson plans for each assignment, ensuring they lead to the overall goal, and continuously evaluate and improve the course based on feedback. Ask students to record and upload their playing for progress reviews and award certificates for course completion to motivate students and increase completion rates.

Get your tools and software

Start with free recording tools like Audacity or GarageBand, and upgrade to ProTools or Ableton as needed. Use music notation software like ScoreCloud or Guitar Pro, and invest in a quality microphone (e.g., Blue Yeti).

Create content

Whether hosting live webinars or recording a pre-recorded course, your guitar tutorials, sheet music, practice exercises, and instructional visuals. You can also create videos demonstrating techniques or performances. Consider working with a team of professionals for an engaging result – for instance, Seturon allows you to collaborate with a production team to create professional scripts and visually appealing content for your online course.

Think about how to monetise your course

You can monetise your online course with one-time fees, subscriptions, freemium models, bundled content, or paid certifications. Partner with businesses, use affiliate marketing, earn ad revenue, or host on custom platforms for complete control.

Publish your course

Once your course is ready, publish it using a learning management system (LMS) like Coursera, Udemy, or Seturon. LMSs provide a seamless learning experience for students and allow instructors to track progress.
  • Udemy
    Easy to use and has a large audience, but it primarily supports asynchronous video courses, emphasising video lessons. While the platform offers native promotion, allowing users to find your course, its effectiveness depends on course keywords, titles, and quality. Careful wording is key to ensure visibility. Additionally, the platform offers limited customisation and lower revenue potential.
  • Skillshare
    A convenient platform for independent course creators, known for its community-driven approach, while Udemy is often seen as more business-focused. However, users can only subscribe to the entire Skillshare platform rather than purchase individual courses, which may hinder promotion. Additionally, anyone wanting to publish their first course on Skillshare must apply and get approved to join the teacher community.
  • Coursera
    Ideal for institutions seeking global reach and credibility. However, its focus on large companies and universities makes it difficult for independent creators to gain acceptance, with a selective publishing process and revenue-sharing model further limiting access.
  • Seturon
    Ideal for creators who want complete control over content and branding, offering advanced customisation options and no revenue sharing. However, it requires more effort to set up and market courses. The platform also features clever adaptive tools for learners of different levels. It includes a full-text editor, allowing you to create interactive long reads – something Coursera and Udemy don’t offer. You can try Seturon LMS for free to experience its convenience and see how well it suits your needs.

Promote your course

To market your guitar course, get noticed on YouTube, connect on social media, and offer free resources (lead magnets) to grow your email list. Email marketing and partnerships can help you reach more people and turn them into paying students.
In conclusion, while the internet offers many lessons to enhance your teaching, platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and Seturon simplify connecting with students and provide additional resources. Creating your own online course is a great way to share your skills, and Seturon’s team can guide you through every stage of course creation, from development to generating revenue.

FAQ

  • Olesia Vlasova
    Editor, writer, and journalist all at once
    I’ve written and edited many articles and interviews about education, science, and AI. Learning is exciting <3

    All articles by this author
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