Originally Posted by: TonyNun
Is it possible to get really professional at playing without one-on-one instruction?

Hi Tony! Yes, absolutely you can get really professional at playing without one-on-one instruction. I'm just going to go all in and give you my full honest opinion, then get back to your original question.

Two years of taking private lessons... that's a long time, and it sounds like there's been some good, and some not so good. Take a break. Go it alone for awhile and see how things go. Private lessons are expensive, so I'm sure you won't mind saving some of that money, and you can always go back if you need to.

What does "professional" mean to you? Playing "Little Wing" is a clear goal, but its not necessarily a step to becoming a "professional" guitar player. Hendrix by many definitions was not professional. He wasn't formally trained, and didn't read music, neither of which, really mattered in terms of his development and playing style. Its good to be really clear about what it is you want to be able to play, and why.

A while back we were talking in a thread about a TED Talks show where the guy was saying you can learn anything in about 20 hours. Much of it was some what flawed, but a good point I feel the speaker raised was learning just enough so that you could correct your own mistakes. I'll wager that you're already there in terms of learning "Little Wing" and that with the help of tablature you'll be able to figure it out on your own. It would be good ear training.

Video lessons like the ones on Guitar Tricks are excellent for people who already know how to play guitar and want to learn something new. For the year I was a full member, I went through Lisa McCormicks acoustic fingerpicking course, and it was great. I did learn how to play the theme song, and came up with a lot of my own ideas along the way. The nice thing with video lessons is you can go at your own pace, its available 24/7, you can rewind as much as you need to, and the instructor never has a bad day.

Books are also a great resource. There are lots of duds, but many good ones out there also. I use mainly MIT books, and rely on reviews to help determine which ones will work for what I want to learn. Combining a good book on a subject with videos lessons can be a very effective way of learning.

Getting back to your original question, absolutely, you can do it on your own, especially since you've already taken some lessons and have the basics down. Just be really clear about your goals, work towards them, and use effective learning materials and practice techniques to get there.

Hope that helps!