Online guitar lessons are now a ubiquitous and tested format for music education. A year of covid has accelerated a seemingly inevitable change to e-learning. Everyone has experienced online tuition in some form or other, and a positive result of this rough last year is that online lessons are here to stay.
Although I have taught students online for more than 5 years, I was first made aware of how well it worked back in 2011. I had become very into the style of Django Reinhardt and wanted to push my Gypsy Jazz playing to the next level. I searched for suitable Gypsy Jazz guitar lessons near me but couldn't find anyone. After reading some online fora, I found that one of my favourite guitarists in style, Gonzalo Bergara taught online. I couldn't believe it; I was able to pick the brains of such a great player from the other side of the world in Argentina! I dropped him an email and had regular lessons for about a year in between his touring.
This was 10 years ago, so what worked then is even better now with better cameras, faster internet, and all the fantastic features of Zoom. As I write this, Tremolo Guitar School has transitioned to a completely online service. We have students from all over the world, and it is amazing to meet and help so many people we could never have met in person.
Aside from convenience, online lessons can be a better option than in-person lessons. Most bricks and mortar music schools have high overheads and marketing budgets. They will often pay a low rate for teachers or only offer group lessons to get around this. So when the options are between an inexperienced tutor or having your tutor's attention divided between multiple students., I would choose online lessons with a professional, experienced tutor.
I recently asked some parents and students what they thought about their experience learning guitar online with Tremolo.
Parent - "Following the COVID lock-down, my 9yr old's regular classical guitar teacher at school was furloughed and unable to continue with lessons due to the Government's rules. Simon Rawling at Tremolo Guitar School kindly stepped in to assist, with no background on my son's ability. Simon gave my son the encouragement he needed to submit an online performance of his grade pieces to Trinity College London, and he has just received a Distinction for his performance. We are thrilled. We would highly recommend Simon and the Tremolo Guitar School and their online / Zoom-based platform for tutorials and support. Great work!"
Parent - "Tremolo Guitar School is awesome, and in just a few short weeks took my daughter from never having even held a musical instrument to playing some of her favourite songs (really!). I wasn't sure how online teaching would go, but being lockdown we had no other choice, and it actually worked fantastic, Simon was so good that being in a different country didn't hold us back at all. I'm actually really glad now that we took up lessons in lockdown as it let us find the most perfect teacher for us out there without the normal geographical ties. 5 stars from me and my 9-year-old daughter."
Student - "I've been learning guitar from Simon for the past 3 months. I am located in Dubai, and I'm a busy teacher with little time to spare, but I really want to learn to play the acoustic guitar. Even though it's only been 3 months, I am starting to see progress in my guitar playing. What I like is that I am able to choose what I want to learn, and Simon supplements this with strategies and skills to work on. It's been great."
Parent - "My son does really enjoy learning with Simon, his motivation in playing has increased, and he is able to play with confidence now even in a group. He has online lessons in a different time zone, and Simon is really flexible with the timings. Highly recommend."
Related resources
1, Get Tuned up - it's important you are in tune before you log in, so we don't have to waste lesson time getting it sorted. You can this previous blog as a guide.
2, Set up Zoom correctly - Follow our previous blog guide to set up zoom correctly