How Much Do Guitar Lessons Cost?

How Much Do Guitar Lessons Cost

If you’re interested in learning how to play the guitar, then it’s likely that you’ll have to look around for guitar lessons at some point.

And while lessons are necessary for most people it can be a real investment in terms of cost and time.

In this article, you’ll learn exactly how much guitar lessons cost, so you can plan out your budget ahead of time and determine if it’s worth the investment.

In short, guitar lessons will typically cost anywhere between $20-$40 per 30-minute lesson. Guitar instructors usually start you off at one lesson per week, so guitar lessons will typically cost somewhere between $80 and $160 per month.

How Much Are Guitar Lessons: Average Prices

The average price of guitar lessons is around $20-$40 for a 30-minute lesson. While this is a pretty accurate estimate, there are several factors that can significantly influence how much lessons will cost.

Guitar Lesson Duration

Since guitar instructors charge based on their time, the duration of your lesson will obviously affect the price of guitar lessons.

As mentioned, when you’re first starting out, most guitar teachers will recommend 30-minute lessons to avoid information overload. Each lesson will likely only cover one or two new topics.

It’ll take a lot of practice at first to get the hang of each topic before you can move onto the next, so you’ll have to do most of your practicing outside of the lesson.

Therefore, 30 minutes is usually plenty when you’re first starting out. This will give you time to review the previous week’s material, ask questions, and learn a new concept.

For more experienced players, or if you feel that 30 minutes just isn’t enough, you can bump it up to 60-minute lessons.

This will obviously cost twice as much but will give you ample time to get hands on. Having more time for your instructor to watch and critique your play will help correct any technical errors before you form bad habits.

With a 30 minute session, you’ll really be doing a majority of the work on your own. The lessons will only be there for knowledge and guidance.

Experience Level

The experience level of your guitar teacher, as well as your experience level as a student, could affect the guitar lesson cost.

If your teacher has years of experience and has built up a reputation through prestigious music schools, then he’ll probably charge more for lessons.

On the other hand, you experience as a student might also affect the price of your guitar lessons. If you’re a complete beginner, then it will only require your instructor to review the absolute basics, such as simple chords. Since this is not as involved, the cost of the lesson will typically be lower.

As you progress as a player, guitars lessons will be much more involved and demanding on the instructor, which could affect the price of the lesson.

In addition, once you’re a more experienced player, you’ll eventually want to specialize in a particular genre of music.

Different genres of music require different skill sets, techniques, and fundamental knowledge,  which means you’ll need a guitar instructor that actually specializes in that area as well in order to progress.

Since specialized teachers are obviously harder to find than a generic teacher who can only teach the basics, the guitar lessons will typically cost more.

Where You’re Located

The price of a guitar lesson can vary greatly depending on where you live.

For example, the cost of guitar lessons at Guitar Center vary store by store. They have locations all throughout the country and all of them can charge their own rates for guitar lessons.

If you live in a rural area, you will not have too many options when it comes to guitar lessons.

Hopefully, you’ll have a Guitar Center or a local guitar shop in your local community. The nice thing is that on average, guitar lessons cost much less in rural communities.

However, you also need to factor in the price of the commute. Since you won’t have a guitar shop on every corner, you may need to drive a half-hour to your lesson. The cost of the commute can definitely add up over time.

On the other hand, if you’re located in an urban, highly-populated area, you’ll likely have a lot more options.

If you’re in a major city, there will likely be more options from teaching studios and music schools. Be prepared to pay significantly more for lessons than you would from a local guitar shop.

Guitar Teachers That Come to Your House

One of the most convenient ways to have a guitar lesson is to pay for a guitar instructor to come to your home.

However, having a private guitar teacher that comes to your home will definitely cost a lot more than going to a store or studio for a guitar lesson.

Not only are you typically paying extra to cover your teacher’s transportation costs, but you’ll also be charged more simply for the convenience.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you are having a lesson at your house, then you’ll need to have the necessary gear, such as an amplifier and splitter so both of you can plug in at the same time. If you’re someone who doesn’t own an amplifier and uses amp simulators instead, then this is something you should consider.

Guitar Lessons Via Skype

While it is nice to have a guitar teacher travel to your house to give you an in-person lesson, it’s becoming much rarer.

Instead, many guitar instructors prefer to offer guitar lessons via Skype, FaceTime, or other video platforms.

While it’s not quite the same as having someone there in person to watch you play, it’s very close, while offering a lot of other advantages.

Having guitar lessons via Skype is much more convenient and almost always cheaper than having a physical lesson with an instructor in a shop or studio.

When you consider the fact that you neither party has to pay for any travel expenses, then all you really need is a stable internet connection.

One main advantage of having guitar lessons over Skype is that you have a ton of options to find the right guitar teacher for you.

As previously mentioned, if you’re living in a rural area, then you probably won’t have too many options for local guitar instructors. Guitar lessons over video chat essentially open you up to unlimited options. Whether you need to find someone in your price range or a teacher who specializes in the type of music that you want to play, you’ll definitely be able to find someone.

How Much Do Online Guitar Lessons Cost?

If you’re looking for the most cost-effective way to learn guitar, then you might want to consider online guitar lessons.

These services are essentially a collection of guitar lesson videos that are taught by numerous professional instructors with specialties in different areas. Rather than paying for a one-on-one lesson with a teacher, you’ll be paying a monthly subscription model for access to an entire gallery of lessons.

So how much are guitar lessons online?

Online guitar lessons usually cost around $20 per month for full access to the service, as opposed to paying per lesson.

If you think about it, there’s a ton of value what you’re paying because for $20 you have a full month to learn as much as you want based on how much work you want to put in.

There’s no doubt that you can progress more as a player for your $20 when you compare that to paying up to $40 for a single 30-minute in-person lesson with a teacher.

Then, when you consider the convenience of being able to learn on your own schedule and the ability to learn from various teachers who specialize in different genres, it’s definitely something you should consider.

Guitar Tricks

Out of all the online guitar lesson services I’ve tested, my favorite is definitely Guitar Tricks.

They have thousands of lessons for beginners and advanced player, whether it’s the basics of playing, complex techniques, or full song lessons.

What I like most about Guitar Tricks is the structure. Once you complete the fundamentals course, you can choose which area you want to specialize in. You’ll then take lessons specifically geared to that genre.

On top of that, if you feel like you need extra help, you can schedule a private lesson with one of their guitar instructors, though you’ll need to be on their “Full Access Plus” plan which costs extra.

Guitar Tricks costs  $19.95 per month for their Full Access, or you can subscribe to their annual plan of $179.99 (which saves $60 for the year).

If you’re interested in seeing exactly how it works, you can get 24 lessons from Guitar Tricks completely free by clicking here. Check it out to see if it fits your learning style, you’ve got nothing to lose!

Free Online Guitar Courses

Believe it or not, you actually don’t need to spend any money on guitar lessons. It’s no surprise that with the internet, you can learn pretty much anything there is to know about any topic without spending a dime.

There is an unlimited amount of free information available online. I guarantee that any information taught by a guitar teacher can be found online for free.

When it comes to free online guitar lessons, here are my favorite resources:

Justin Guitar

Justin Sandercoe, the founder of Justin Guitar, is well respected in the guitar community for providing some of the highest quality guitar lessons on the web.

The best part is that he does it completely for free. I’d recommend any beginner start here because there are thousands of high-quality video lessons that teach the fundamentals.

In addition, since all of the lessons are personally taught by Justin, it means that the lessons are structured. Since all of the lessons are taught by the same person, you’ll know that you’re getting a consistent learning experience all the way through.

However, while this is one of Justin Guitar’s greatest strengths, it can also be its weakness.

Since all of the lessons are taught by one person, it can oftentimes be limiting.

Not only are you only getting one perspective on a topic, but you are also limited in the different styles of music that are available.

Say you want to be a metal guitarist. Good luck learning that from Justin Guitar.

Other online platforms, such as Guitar Tricks, have dozens of different instructors that specialize in different genres of music. This is helpful once you’re more experience and want to branch out into specific types of music.

Overall, Justin Guitar is still by far the best option for beginners to help them learn the basics.

You might not need to pay for lessons as a beginner when you can learn all the fundamentals from Justin Guitar. Then, after you have a solid foundation, you can get a teacher to help take you to the next level.

YouTube

YouTube obviously has the largest collection of video content in the world. You can find anything on YouTube.

There’s no doubt that you can learn everything there is to know about the guitar on YouTube without spending a penny.

However, the main problem with YouTube is that it lacks structure.

In a world where content overload is real, it can be hard to find a good roadmap that takes you from start to finish.

It can be a real pain to sort out the garbage from the gold.

There are thousands of different people teaching guitar on YouTube. When you mix and match lessons and concepts from multiple instructors, it can actually be detrimental to your development as a player.

This is why I typically don’t recommend beginners to start learning to play guitar on YouTube.

However, once you understand the fundamentals of playing guitar, YouTube can be an excellent resource to expand upon what you already know.

For example, if you want to learn new techniques, such as sweep picking, finger tapping, or slide guitar, YouTube can be a great resource.

In addition, if there is a particular song that you want to learn, YouTube is probably the best place to look simply due to its enormous collection. There’s bound to be a video lesson on just about any song you can think of.

Compared to any other online guitar lesson platform, YouTube dwarfs them in terms of the size of its library.

Overall, YouTube is excellent for free online guitar lessons if utilized properly.

Are Guitar Lessons Worth It?

To wrap things up, we’ve just covered everything you need to know about how much guitars lessons are.

We’ve identified average in person guitar lessons costs , what factors will influence guitar lesson cost, and online guitar lesson costs.

So, by this point the main question you should be asking yourself is, “are guitar lessons worth it?”

And the answer really depends.

If you want a personal guitar instructor, it’s a pretty big investment in terms of money and time.

A typical 30-minute guitar lesson will cost anywhere from $20-$40. If you feel like you need someone physically sitting next to you and listening to you play, then it’s definitely worth it.

Just keep in mind that with a mere 30 minutes a week, you’ll need to do most of your practicing outside of the lesson to make sure you can get the most of your time when you meet with your instructor. If you’re willing to put in the additional work on your own, the price of the guitar lesson is justified. 

If you know you won’t put in enough practice outside of your lesson, then it is not worth it at all.

You’ll just waste your 30 minutes with your instructor going over the previous week’s material.

Instead, you would be better off going with an online guitar lesson where you pay a monthly fee and can learn on your own schedule.

Overall, I’d say that online platforms Guitar Tricks are worth it, even if you already have an instructor because you’ll have unlimited access to learn on your own schedule.

For $20 a month you can definitely get a lot more value than you can in a 30-minute in-person lesson that cost that same amount.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Much Are Guitar Lessons?

On average, guitar lessons cost between $20 – $40 for a 30 minute lesson.

What Factors Determine the Guitar Lesson Cost?

The price of guitar lessons can vary drastically based on factors, such as the duration of the lesson, the experience level of the teacher and student, where you’re located, and the medium of the lesson (in person at a shop, online via Skype, or teachers that travel to your house).

How Much Do Online Guitar Lessons Cost?

Popular online guitar lesson services, such as Guitar Tricks cost $19.95 per month and give you unlimited access to their entire collection of video lessons.

How Many Guitar Lessons Do You Need?

You will need at least 12-24 lessons to learn the fundamentals of guitar.On average, it is recommended to have one 30 minute lesson per week. It usually takes at least 3-6 months to learn the basics of guitar. However, mastering the guitar takes a long time. Even professionals continue to learn new things even after 10 years of lessons.

Are Guitar Lessons Worth It?

For most people, guitar lessons are worth the price. While it is definitely possible to learn the guitar on your own, having guidance from an experienced player can help fix mistakes before poor habits are formed. Guitar teachers can also provide the proper roadmap to speed up your development.

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Guitar Lesson Cost

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