Learning music with YouTube or with a teacher?

With YouTube you can learn quite a lot: your first chords, simple songs by imitation, notions of theory and a lot of inspiration. What a video cannot do is to see and listen to you. That's why, whoever learns only goes forward quickly at first and then ponds, often with posture or sound habits that later have a hard time rectifying.

To most, the best answer is to choose but to combine: a teacher that diagnoses, commands and fixes, and videos that complement interclass practice.

To sum up

The tutorials work well for basic chords, scratches, songs by imitation and initial theory.
A video doesn't see you: it doesn't detect tension, crooked posture, bad digitation and tuning problems.
bad habits are learned as quickly as good and unlearned takes far more time.
Learning only often leads to bad progress: many introductions and few complete songs.
The best thing to do is to combine: the teacher sets the path and fixes them and videos strengthen them between classes.

What if you can learn with videos

The tutorials are an excellent tool for some things, especially in instruments where what you do looks at. guitar and piano you can mimic where your fingers go and compare with what you see on screen.

Your first guitar chords, ukelele or tiple, and basic scrag.
Simple songs by imitation, with the hands of those who play.
Notions of theory: note names, rhythmic figure, what a scale is.
Style references: how a bambuco, a bolero or a blues sound and how different musicians play them.
Ideas to warm up, practice or vary a routine you have already.

Instead, in instruments where sound occurs from the inside, as with singing and wind, or where tuning depends completely on you, as violin and cello, the video teaches much less, because most important things cannot be seen.

What a video doesn't see: bad typical habits

The problem isn't the contents of the tutorial, but nobody checks how you're doing them. These are habits that teachers have been redressing every day in students who have been with them:

Common habits while learning without correction
Instrumento	Common habitat	Why does it matter?
Guitar	Push far above the mast, wrist with a high bending and tighten the strings with more force than necessary.	It complicates the cebilla and quick changes and generates tiredness or discomfort with his hand.
Piano	Fingers flat or that bend inwards, falling dolls, a different digitation at once.	The passage cannot be speeded up and every new piece costs more than necessary.
Singing	Push them sharp, put up their shoulders while breathing, tighten their jaw.	The voice gets tired soon and sounds tight and can come up with a hoarseness.
Violin	Rigid arch grip, shoulder up, tuning without reference.	The sound scrape, tuning doesn't stabilise and the tension accumulates.
Drums	Rigid dolls, shoulder hits, play without hearing protection.	That's low resistance and velocity and a risk to his ears.

None of these habits can be felt in the first few weeks. They appear when you want to play something more difficult and do not come out, as much as you practice.

Other risks of learning alone

Retiring progress. The platform offers you the following video, and not the next step you need. It's common to know ten introductions and no complete song.
The illusion that's coming out. While you play, your attention's in your hands and you don't listen at all: the rhythm accelerates, the notes turn off and you don't notice them.
The tutorial unit. The videos of keys that light up or number onto the strings allow them to play without reading or understanding, and each new song requires another video.
Untrue information. Each channel has its own method and shortcuts. Without criterion, it's hard to figure out what's good for you.
Stalling and abandonment. Without goals and someone to notice your advances, motivation goes out.

What a teacher and no video can give

Diagnosis: He hears and knows from where they come from, rather than an average student.
A tidy path: what to learn first and what after, according to your goal.
Retirement at timeHe sees the tension and hears the note and tells you before it becomes a habit.
Repertoire to suit: songs that you love and that are at your level.
Constance: knowing that there's class next week is a real reason to practice.

A teacher can also be virtual. If you like to learn from home and at your times, [online music classes]](/clases-de-musica-online) keep that flexibility without giving up correction. To compare formats, check [home or virtual classes]](/blog/clases-de-musica-a-domicilio-o-virtuales).

How to combine videos and teacher

Take the video to class. If you want to play a song that you saw, show it to your teacher: she can suit your level and check how you're playing it.
He requested recommendations. Your teacher can suggest channels or videos that do not contradict what they are working with.
Slow down. The player's speed monitoring allows you to see a passage slower and repeat it with fragments, but not complete.
Practice with real references. He works his pulse with his [online metronomer]](/herramientas/metronomo)That's what I have to say.
Record and compare. Record your version, share with the video and bring to class the differences you don't understand.
Keep up the priority. The task of teacher goes first and the video is complementary. To organize time, use this [practice routine at home]](/blog/como-practicar-musica-en-casa).

Signs that you already need a teacher

You feel pain, tingling or tension in your hands, wrist, back or throat while playing or singing.
You have been at the same level for months, though you practice.
It's hard to play with them or with a lead without losing their pulse.
You want to read scores, understand what you play or get ready for an audition.
Your sound's bad and you don't know what to change.

Nothing that you have learned will only be lost. A good teacher goes from there, rescues what works and fixes what's necessary without starting from scratch.

Frequently asked questions

Can you learn guitar with YouTube alone?

The challenges are to move forward with no one to correct his or her place and his or her rhythm, and so many autodatedguitarist guitars get to a point at which they stare and seek classes.

Is it bad to start by ourselves and then have class?

No. Reaching with some basic is useful, and a good teacher takes advantage of what you already know. Just note that his first classes can be dedicated to correct posture habits: as soon as you start with a guide, less will have to be adjusted.

Do piano training applications replace the teacher?

They serve to practice basic reading, rhythm and songs amusing. But they don't see your posture or your hands, so they work better as a complement to class than as a replacement.

What tools are more difficult to learn with tutorials?

The singing, the frosted ropes as violin and cello and the winds. At all of them the essential, as breathing, purging, arc or tuning, doesn't look good at a video and needs someone to listen to you.