There is never a substitute for in-person instruction. It doesn’t matter what the topic. I know, I know… I run an online guitar school. I’m aware. But the truth is, online teachers need to accept the reality that we are less effective than our 1-on-1 counterparts. Shit, how couldn’t we be?

Once we do accept it, however, we need to be the best teacher we can be. How do we do this? Address our inherent inadequacies head-on and commit to finding solutions that create real value for our students.

After all, not everyone has the time or the money for 1-on-1 instruction — and it’s almost 2015 — people want to learn anytime, anywhere, on any device. There’s a real need.

Guitar is my lifelong passion, and after 20+ years of being a student, a professional, and a teacher, I created Guitargate to address the three (3) main problems that I feel prevent students from getting a quality online guitar education:

There is no interaction

This is obvious. Music is a two-way street. It’s meant to be shared. It simply isn’t possible to become a good musician if you only take and never give. You need feedback. You need to express yourself. You need to be able to ask a question and get an answer. You need to be able to see what others are doing. You need to be goofy. You didn’t pick up the guitar to never leave your room. You picked it up to play for someone… I hope.

2. There is no competition

Perhaps not quite as obvious, but equally important. When I was a student at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood (which I highly recommend to anyone who has the desire and $ to learn with the best of the best), I was blown away by how GREAT everyone was. Not good, but great. This inspired me and provided the motivation to work day and night to become better than those who were better than me. This, of course, made us all better. Music is naturally competitive. Competitive environments breed excellence. It’s real and it’s important.

3. There is no discernible curriculum

Sweet jesus is the internet filled with crap. Content overload is what I call it. Search anything guitar related in YouTube, Google, Twitter, Facebook, etc… what do you get? Content in the millions upon millions. Some is good, a little is great, most is total crap. And what’s the difference between content overload and a real curriculum? The same difference between a teacher who teaches song after song, lick after lick, week after week, and the teacher who teaches you music theory, how great players use it, and how you can use it. That’s real talk.

Those are the problems. Next time, we’ll talk about the solutions. Keep on playing. And as always, please feel free to email me directly if there is anything I can do for you:

michael.palmisano@guitargate.com

#Woof