The way I figure it, tools are tools whose purpose are for increased efficiency with decreased effort.

Regardless of how someone learns something 'foreign' to him or her, the bottom line is, next time it is heard it will not be considered 'foreign' and how to achieve it will be known.

Where's the down side?

As far as recommending it to students, unless it is simply a desire on their part to increase their repertoire, I wouldn't do it. I would think that it may be a bit overwhelming in general to them but more importantly, you will probably lose esteem in their eyes by palming them off to the internet. See, as their teacher, it is your job to teach and guide them so if you 'delegate' even part of your job to the internet, they may feel that they may as well use the internet for all their learning, thus knocking you out of the equation.

As always, this is merely IMO where YMMV.

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You dig?

I have no reservations about admitting I almost always use a tab, because they're almost always wrong.

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Rated "M" for meaty.

No it's not cheating. I have never heard an interview by any of the really great guitar pickers that they did not mention how they had developed their style by listening to the great guitarists that came before them. I think you pick up a lot more by watching them on you tube or wherever and observing how they play as well as listening to what they play. You develop your own style by picking up a little bit here and a little there.

its kinda funny how everybody agrees that youtube isnt cheating.
tabs arent cheating either. everybody is all for it.
"whatever helps you get there" kind of replies.
now if you mention a pay site that eaches guitar the whole place goes to hell.
its pretty much the same thing in the fact that either will "help you get there quicker".
you get the attitude of "im not paying 1 red cent to get there quicker". lol
it just kills me.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

WC Jr, I hope you didn't misinterpret my post. I have been playing and teaching myself for several years. I've used books, tab, you tube, and played with others to learn all I could. A couple of years ago I decided I needed more and wanted to dig deeper into Blues/Classic rock music. So I signed on for lessons with a Pro musician and for several months took lessons. I've got to say this was the best money I've ever spent on my hobby and I progressed more during that that period than I had during the several years proceeding that. I still don't see anything wrong with going on you tube for a little inspiration and possibly some pointers on how it's done. I believe that the lessons that you pay for online are well worth the bucks. Anyway I think that anyway you acquire it you will never even scratch the surface of learning it all.

not at all bender. your story above only adds to my point of my last post.
thank you for speaking up on your experiences.
your original post just brought me back to my thoughts on the whole thing.
whatever it takes to get you to the next level as quickly as possible w/o missing anything is worth whatever you do or pay for it.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

It's only input.

What you do with the information to make it your own music is what's important.