The term networking is tossed around a lot professionally because it is considered a basic principle for expanding your name, business, or career but networking can also extend to virtually anything.

We here at Guitar Lessons Critic consider this an important fundamental to learning the guitar because often beginners are learning alone and need to connect with other guitarists once and awhile to stay motivated, inspired and educated.

If you’re learning from a private instructor, awesome! If you have a good buddy who also plays, even better. But if you’re like a growing proportion of aspiring guitarists that are self-taught and learning from a guitar course you probably do not know anyone on a personal level who plays. Today, we plan to change that by suggesting 5 easy places to network.

Want Ads/Local Bulletin Boards

A great deal of outreach and networking has relocated to the World Wide Web but that does not mean you cannot find out about local music groups, clubs, etc the old-fashion way. For example, a basic scan of the community bulletin board in my hometown revealed that a local non-profit hosts a FREE open-mic/jam night at their center every Thursday night.

Also, if you enjoy the nightlife you’ll likely find a lot of local bands that play on Friday and Saturday nights at the nearest bar or club. Feel free to mingle with the band after their show and express your interest in regards to learning the guitar and connecting with the local music scene.

Music Store

Almost every town, small and big, have at least one locally owned music joint. So if an individual was to advertise, say a weekly gathering for guitarists or musicians in general, we’re pretty sure that he would post the notice at the music store.

If nothing else, the people who work at these shops love music. It’s probably their life. You can probably learn a great deal from them and hopefully network further. Just remember to give them a little business here and there.

Social Networking

Ah, the grand invention of the 21st century. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are absolute hot spots for guitarists to network. For example, a simple search of #guitar or #learn guitar may lead to thousands of results on Twitter or searching for groups or fan pages on Facebook should bring up more than a few guitar pages designed solely for networking.

Here, you can meet people who share your same passion, ask questions, answer questions, collaborate, etc, etc. The sky is basically the limit here and best of all access to these pages are absolutely FREE. You just need to “Like” the page and check back often.

Chat/Forums

A lot of the larger guitar sites offer their own forums for members to ask questions or seek advice from people who may know a little more about the guitar than you. Again, almost all of these resources are available at no extra cost and can be a phenomenal place for networking.

WARNING: Always use discretion when listening to advice and answers to your own questions. Just because someone posts on the Internet and claims to be an “expert” does not mean that said individual actually has any experience or stance on the matter. It always helps to do a little extra research.

Guitar Courses

Highly rated guitar courses like JamPlay actually include a website where users can go and network in addition to the lessons. We strongly recommend these types of courses because A) they are reputable, legitimate ways to learn the guitar, B) provide a lot of extra resources and ways to answer your questions as well as C) perfect for networking.