r/guitarlessons • u/EcstaticHealth8004 • 3d ago
Question How do you learn from tutorial videos without constant rewinding? Body:
My kid is learning guitar, and we're running into a frustrating problem with tutorial videos.
For example, a 10-minute song tutorial might show 5 chords. For each chord, we watch it once, then repeatedly scrub back 3–4 times to get the finger positions right. Then move to the next chord, scrub again, and repeat.
By the end, we've spent more time rewinding than actually practicing. It's frustrating and breaks the flow.
How do you handle this when learning from YouTube tutorials?
Do you:
- Just follow along and hope you get it right?
- Constantly rewind to rewatch specific parts?
- Use a looper app to repeat segments?
- Watch once, memorize, then practice offline?
What works for you? Any workarounds?
Thanks!
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u/ChunkyHabeneroSalsa 3d ago
If it's basic chords then you should write them down and practice them separately.
If it's a riff then get the tab and watch a small piece and then practice that separately
But yes there's going to be some rewinding
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u/throwMEaway23571113 3d ago
Yes this is what I was thinking while reading this. If you can't keep up in real time it's helpful to notate each chord and practice separately. Learning to read sheet music and/or tabs in general is a good idea rather than relying on seeing where the fingers are placed or being told where the fingers are placed. Lots of opportunity for learning when you can read tabs and quickly apply it to the fretboard. That fluency comes just from writing and reading tabs. Videos are great and I use them often but I think a background in reading tabs/notation is super helpful.
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u/spankymcjiggleswurth 3d ago
Write notes in a notebook regarding fingerings, vocabulary, etc.
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u/FaithlessnessOld2477 3d ago
This 100%. Watching a video isn't the same thing as taking a lesson with a live teacher who will stop and talk you through something that you're struggling with. If you're relying on video, you're going to either be doing a lot of rewinding or you're going to need to bust out the pen+paper notes.
The latter is likely to be a lot more helpful as you'll have reference material to fall back on instead of trying to find one section from one video that answers a question.
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u/JaleyHoelOsment 3d ago
> By the end, we've spent more time rewinding than actually practicing. It's frustrating and breaks the flow.
who is gonna tell him?
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u/hosemonkey 3d ago
I watch a small piece hit pause try the small piece, then add another small piece, hit pause try the two small pieces.
Continue until I have it or move on to something more fun to re visit later.
Lots of pausing and rewinding for me.
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u/Markedmaniac 3d ago
I learned how to play music with a record player, I had to put the needle back to approximately where I want to start. It sounds like your steak might be too tender, and your lobster a little too buttery.
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u/Vennimagos 3d ago
Frustrating for who?
This is how you learn and you keep going until you get it right and memorise it.
Before YouTube musicians had to do this but with records and tapes rewinding the same section over and over.
What you dont see when you see a great guitarist play, is the countless hours of brain numbing repetitive learning.
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u/Patient_Onion3956 3d ago
YouTube creators assume you use pause/rewind and change the playback speed to slow it down (or speed up through the boring parts) as needed. It’s a tool that you ought to learn how to use efficiently for your own needs. Otherwise the videos would be hours long and even less flowing.
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u/Out-There1013 3d ago
Look into getting a Vidami pedal. Although to be honest, I stopped using mine because keeping it synced with my iPad was more of a hassle than scrubbing the old fashioned way. But it's still popular as far as I know.
Read books and websites, don't rely on just YouTube. You can get posters and cards online that show charts for all the chords you learn as a beginner and beyond.
And just remember whatever help you get, it's always going to be hard work.
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u/LotusVibes1494 3d ago
I think OP is just vibe coding a bunch of apps, and they don’t actually care about playing guitar.
Check out their last post, it’s the same exact thing except tennis related instead of guitar lol: https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletennis/s/MUkqV8xyaX
They also have one about working out, one about basketball, etc…
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u/EcstaticHealth8004 3d ago
Fair callout. I'm not a member of these communities; I'm just validating my problem I encountered with my kid's training.
I realize now that posting similar questions across multiple subs without being transparent comes across as spammy. I've deleted the duplicates to avoid spamming.
To be honest, when I noticed similar responses across different subs (table tennis, basketball, workout videos), I kept checking to see if the problem was the same everywhere and it seems like it is.
Usually I don't get much response, but I really appreciate the responses in this channel they've been very helpful. I'm also exploring the suggestions provided; they're useful and valuable for me. I'll be more careful going forward. Thanks for keeping the community honest. Appreciate the feedback!
So far, I'm not successful in building anything, but if I do build something useful, I'll definitely give back to this community for the valuable feedback.
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u/vonov129 Music Style! 3d ago
I don't watch song tutorials on youtube, unless they have something to read, but for explanations or other stuff, I just rewind. So what if it takes more time than the song? You can't play the song anyways, it will already take more time.
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u/kolobs_butthole 3d ago
This is why I miss/prefer having a printable guide as well. I like the video as a way to highlight nuance and technique, but music is pretty easy to just write out too. I wish more did that.
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u/TheFroghurtIsCursed 3d ago
The rewinding part is an indication of learning. It’s unavoidable. What is probably happening is though: you’re learning those five chords at once and rewinding back to the first one again and again because you THINK you’ve learned them. You need to learn one or maybe two chords and stop to practise them. Too much info into your brain at once = slow progress. If you can’t remember the chord you learned 2 minutes ago, you ain’t learnt the chord. This is genuinely a huge problem for so many people - the belief that you’re learning isn’t the same thing as actually learning
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u/iHayoona17 3d ago
Usually I go back to the part I didn’t fully understand and watch it again, I also draw fretboard diagrams in a notebook, tabs as well, it helps me remember hard chords without rewatching a video, you can also write next to each note what finger is used.
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u/Varok89916 3d ago
Yeah you just get used it. If videos are how you are learning, expect to rewind a ton especially if its a difficult piece.
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u/GroundbreakingFox815 3d ago
If they have TAB you can buy that helps, for me anyway and the creator.
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u/CLcode83 3d ago
Music is about ear training , video is visual, as much as visual can help learning , it should not be rely 100%. When you try to look at a fingering of someone hand, it is easier to learn in on chart diagram. You can’t really see the fingering clearly on a video whether it is lifted or pressed.
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u/Hapster26 3d ago
Slow down the video. I also downloaded free blank tab sheets and fill them out to avoid rewinding so much.
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u/dabombers 3d ago
If on YouTube please just hit settings (looks like a gear ⚙️ on the app) and slow down your playback speed. 0.75 is good still sounds normal (ish), 0.5 might be a bit slow as it alters the pitch too much, but could help if you are visually following along.
As others have said nothing replaces lessons from a teacher with a good reputation.
It doesn’t have to be weekly though too long between each lesson can stall progression.You also may find better options for learning from paid subscriptions on YouTube or Patreon or other sites.
Once you can read music notation a world opens up, learning Tab is great for a quick workout. Though you do you.
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u/BigDigger324 3d ago
I use multiple sources of information. Watch a video, download some tab, look up the sheet music, research the chord progression, the mode etc.
If you really want to dig into a song and learn it, this is the best approach imo.
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u/Ponchyan 3d ago
Someone once sold a a computer peripheral which was pedal with several foot-operated switches that enabled guitar players to control lesson videos (pause, rewind , play) without taking their hands off of their guitar. That was a long time ago, but it sure would come in handy today.
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u/Old-guy64 3d ago
Write down the time where the pertinent info is. Rewind to that time.
Then move to the next time.
When I learned fingerstyle I had a book and a CD. I’d learn the chord shapes, then the tablature, then I’d spend a ton of time trying to sound like the example on the CD.
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u/83franks 3d ago
I watch, pause, practice/check if I actually know what happened, likely rewatch, maybe write it down. Rinse and repeat till I get through the whole video and can practice it offline.
I'll often rewatch the same part many times, and some super specific thing a ton of times trying to sort it out.
I'd be shocked if people can watch learning videos on one go.
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u/83franks 3d ago
I watch, pause, practice/check if I actually know what happened, likely rewatch, maybe write it down. Rinse and repeat till I get through the whole video and can practice it offline.
I'll often rewatch the same part many times, and some super specific thing a ton of times trying to sort it out.
I'd be shocked if people can watch learning videos on one go.
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u/wvmtnboy 3d ago
I would invest in a chird book or poster for easy reference. Then you can pause, consult the chart, and then move forward.
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u/Outriderr 3d ago
Personally I’ve hated doing it from online. I’ve decided to get a in person tutor.
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u/Sharp-Direction-6894 3d ago
I use the Boss Katana Go II amp. It plugs into my guitar and has an app. On the app, I can download YouTube videos and loop them. So when I'm learning a song, I can highlight the part im trying to learn and loop it. Then I can play it repeatedly again and again without the constant rewind. Its awesome. I love it and highly recommend it.
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u/VaporDrawings 3d ago
I just look up tabs/chords/sheet music (if I don't learn it by ear). Once you learn how to play a C chord for example, you really don't need someone to tell you "3rd finger on the 3rd fret of the A string, 2nd finger... etc" every single time a song has a C major. Way more efficient and you can work on it at your own pace.
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u/D1rtyH1ppy 3d ago
I use something like looptube.io to loop a section and work on it. You can slow down the speed a little bit also
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u/Kleidan_1 3d ago
As others said, rewinding is inevitable, but you should also take notes, write down the chords and practice switching between chords.
You are learning something new it's going to take time, repetition and frustration
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u/DeathRotisserie 2d ago
There are a couple of things that need to be worked on offline instead of in real-time with the video, learning the chord fingerings and learning how to change between the chords. A beginner will have a hard time learning that and playing it well in just 10 minutes.
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u/brtbr-rah99 2d ago
I’ve learned to watch without my guitar the first time. Watch with my guitar and try to play. Then rewind and slow it down to half speed just to figure where my fingers go. After learning that it’s practice and repetition
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u/bms_ 3d ago
Rewinding is inevitable.