You don’t need to leave the house to pick up a guitar. It’s true.

There are plenty of ways to learn guitar.

The internet taught me how to play the guitar, along with helpful tips from more experienced guitarists.

Most of my learning happened in my bedroom, not in some guitar teacher’s house.

I’m not knocking traditional guitar lessons. I’m just saying they’re not always necessary.

So here are three ways you can learn guitar on your own.

Updated December 1, 2019

Listening And Guitar Tabs

This is the way I learned guitar…

I would pick a song I liked, Google “[song name] chords,” and usually end up on UltimateGuitar.com. Then once I had practiced the song enough, I’d play it on my iPod while strumming along with it.

Soon, I could play the song all on my own. By doing this, I was learning unusual chords and finger-plucking styles while also learning how to play my favorite songs.

You can find guitar tabs, chords, lyrics — all of it — on the internet. All the tools you need are right in front of you on your phone and laptop.

Online Lessons And Video Tutorials

I’ve never gone this route, but tons of people do. And it works.

And even if you’re aging and not great with technology, taking lessons online is still totally doable. It’s simple and it’s a nice alternative to traveling to your guitar teacher’s house or place of business.

You can get online guitar lessons from places like Musika Lessons, or you can simply use YouTube, which is free (I like free).

Think about it, both the teacher and the student can do this from the comfort of their homes.

Video Games

If you’re a big fan of video games, there is a video-game guitar lesson niche you should check out. There are a plethora of educational guitar games out there, but a few notable ones include Rocksmith and JamPlay.

Definitely an option for some of you gamers.

Each of these three choices has pros and cons (as does everything in life).

So it’s just a matter of picking the one that works best for the way you want to learn guitar.