We covered this a bit in a recent post about learning guitar on tabs, but we feel that it is important to help you fully understand why it’s essential to have a music teacher for any instrument. When you try to teach yourself, you are guessing a lot. You don’t know if what you are doing is right, and there is nobody to show you how. So, you have to guess. And you spend a lot of time on the Internet or trying to play parts of songs over and over. You find tabs and hope that they are right. Then, of course, you actually have to be able to read the tabs. So, how does a music teacher make it easier for you? First of all, like the post about harmonising the major scale, there are some basics that you can learn to make it a lot easier for you to learn songs. Teaching yourself an instrument can be like trying to speak a foreign language from a dictionary, with no prior knowledge. You might be very clever and adept, but most people are going to fail miserably. A music teacher has already been through the process. He or she has already had to learn the basics, and knows exactly what you need to know to meet your goals and eventually be the music player you want to be. A music teacher knows when you are going to struggle, and why, and can teach you many strategies to help you get through those struggles. A music teacher knows what you need to learn to get from point A to point B, from point B to point C, and so on. A teacher knows when you need a challenge and when you need to be congratulated. Having someone who already knows how to do what you want to do, teaching it to you is much easier than trying to do it yourself. A music teacher can also help you get through the plateaus, where it seems like you aren’t getting any better. He or she can often give you just the right piece of knowledge you need to make a “quantum leap” and reach another level. Doesn’t that sound easier than slogging through books and tabs, with no idea if you are actually doing it right? Trust us: it’s much easier with a music teacher.