Learners who are organized have an advantage. Start by making list of all the things you’d like to learn. Be as specific as possible, but don’t shy away from generalities. For example, you might want to improve at playing guitar, and to gain a better understanding of music theory.

Or you may feel the need to improve your reading on your instrument. Staying with this example, here’s what your list might look like:

Get better at playing the Guitar:

• Learn to play more new chords
• Learn to play more new scales
• Improve at changing between chords
• Improve at playing barre chords
• Learn to play better rhythm guitar
• Learn how to solo (play lead guitar)
• Learn to play new songs more quickly
• Improve single note reading ability
• Improve right-hand picking technique
• Improve left hand fingering technique
• Learn “tapping” technique for soloing
• Check out some guitar learning apps

Improve knowledge of music theory topics:

• Rhythmic note values, including rests
• Pitch recognition on the staff in treble and bass clefs
• Memorize circle of 5ths
• Learn key signatures
• Learn all major and minor scales
• Learn major and minor pentatonic scales
• Learn blues scales
• Learn to spell chords (triads and 7th chords)
• Understand and use harmonic tensions (9ths, 11ths, 13ths)
• Learn how to voice-lead a chord progression
• Learn to analyze diatonic chord progressions
• Improve overall notation and knowledge of music notation software

Admittedly it’s a lot, and the above is just an example so your list could be shorter or longer.

Don’t worry if you don’t yet fully know what you want to learn, just make an initial stab at it. If you have a teacher or know other accomplished musicians, show them your list of topics to get their suggestions.

Your list will change as you progress. For now, identify all the things you want to learn that you feel would be useful and write them down. It’s a good way to get ready to look for the online tools you’ll need. It always helps to have some clearly written goals.

Referring to your list of topics, it’s time to identify potential learning resources. Then you will narrow it down to a few and prioritize where to begin your study.

But first, there are two very important questions you should consider:

1. What is my learning style? (How do I learn best?)
2. Am I willing to spend money? (What can I afford?)

Let’s address the first question. Everyone learns differently. Some people learn better by seeing and doing (visual learners) while others learn new material by reading or listening (auditory learners). What kind of learner are you?

Think carefully about the things you are good at and consider how you learned them. Do you perform well on exams after reading books and listening to lectures? Or are you better at grasping information visually through diagrams, charts, or graphs? You should be able form some idea of the learning style that suits you best.

These are important questions to consider as you develop your online learning plan.

There are personality tests such as The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator that use a questionnaire to identify psychological preferences in how people perceive the world around them and how they learn. The Myers-Briggs test is administered by trained and certified consultants who must adhere to ethical standards and maintain confidentiality.

There are other types of tests you can take online that might give you insight into your learning style and you learn best. Understanding how you learn can help you decide which learning resources are best suited to your learning style.

Fortunately, there’s a wide variety of free instructional content available to learn music theory. Return to your list of topics to begin the search for online resources. The first search you do won’t always return the results you are looking for. Google is your friend but is far from perfect.

Searching properly takes time and energy but you will find the results you need if you work at it.

Carefully consider the search terms you use. “How to” is a widely used prefix for searches, so you might try looking with and without that term, or vary the order of the words in your search to alter results. You can also try a Boolean search to get more specific results.

(A Boolean search combines keywords with modifiers such as AND, NOT and OR to narrow down your results. Searching with key terms inside quotation marks can also make the search engines dig deeper, according to Google.)

Online queries tend to return results that most others have found useful. If you aren’t getting good results right off, rethink your search terms. Even if the initial results aren’t exactly what you’re seeking, one source can lead to another, so pay close attention to the links in the pages your searches return, and also check out the “People Also Ask” questions Google displays on page one of the results.

Treat it like a game, or a puzzle to be solved, and you will eventually get to where you want to go. Learn to be creative with your searches. You will be rewarded.

Carefully evaluate the free content as you go. Blogs and websites (such as this one) offer posts and articles, which in turn can lead you to other resources. Comment threads, where they exist, can give you some idea how useful they are. Reddit can also be helpful to find useful materials, as well as other online communities on social media sites.

Instructional videos abound and run the gamut from professional “teasers” designed to get you to purchase access to courses, to amateurs making videos to share their knowledge with the world. The key here is to be selective and use search engines creatively to find the free content you want.

Now, get even more organized and make a page for each topic on your list where you can cut and paste links to your most useful results. As you look for free content and catalogue your resources, also make note of the resources that charge for access. At this stage you just want to keep track of anything that seems useful, so even if you aren’t sure about a source, include it.

Make a brief note to accompany each link describing what it is. Excel or Word works well for this purpose. At the end of this process, you should have a lengthy list of potential resources for your online learning, with a brief description of each.

The question of cost is also important. While there are many helpful online learning resources offered for free, some might not be too helpful and you don’t want to waste your time. You also don’t want to spend your hard-earned money on materials that don’t help you progress.

Usually content is worth about what you pay for it and there really is no such thing as “free.” People expect to pay for what they get and hope to get what they pay for (there is a difference). Let the buyer beware; caveat emptor.

If it sounds too good to be true, it is. If someone is after your money and promises you will become a master overnight, run! You should carefully weigh the value proposition for each source.

Having said all that, there are many useful free videos and blogs you can find if you are willing to look through a lot of useless ones. Go for it. However, if you can afford to spend a little money, your choices for quality instruction will improve.

You’ll be able to use your self-knowledge about how you learn to choose from the various methods, including video tutorials, online courses, time-shifted videos, remote private instruction, learning software, or blended “hybrid” options which might even include face to face meetings in more traditional physical settings mixed with online resources.

Online learning can quickly get expensive, especially if you are planning to earn a degree online. It doesn’t always have to be costly, but be careful to work within the budget you have. Even a small budget can go a long way if carefully managed. If paying, be sure to take full advantage of the resources. Next, I’ll briefly describe some of the currently available online music classes, along with learning resources and modalities.

Among paid options, the most common are instructional videos. Instructional videos (sometimes called video courses) are an effective way to learn a musical instrument or to study other music subjects. Full length videotaped lessons by professional musicians and master teachers show the viewer step-by-step how to play.

Instructional videos now widely inhabit the web. Formerly sold on CD or VHS videotape in music stores or by mail order, with or without an accompanying book, they can now be downloaded or streamed to your computer, tablet, or phone.

Physical copies are still sold, but it’s a lot easier and less clunky to watch videos on the web via a streaming service or by downloading a file. You should expect much more content from a paid full-length video than from the free content streamed on sites like YouTube.

One shortcoming is that most of the video courses are geared toward learning to play an instrument, and it’s hard to find many for music theory and other subjects. With streaming becoming the norm, this seems to be changing, so in the future, you will likely find more videos on music theory topics, plus orchestrating, arranging, and especially music production.

On the road to streaming, and as more people began to access the web via mobile, instructional videos appeared on mobile apps. Apps can deliver streaming video from the internet. There are many music apps for Apple IOS and Google’s Android that you can download to your phone or tablet; some contain tools for learning or will sell you short instructional videos inside the app.

Since most websites are now optimized for mobile, you can also find websites that will stream videos to your phone. Many sites and apps use a “freemium” model, where they give you some free content and then push users to “convert” to paying customers through in-app purchases and subscriptions. You can access some videos initially for free, but you must then pay to access more videos.

This raises the question of whether streaming or buying a video for download is preferable. The answer depends on how you plan to use the content. If you want to view the videos without using the internet, or want to share the content across devices via a network hub, then owning the download is better.

If you just plan to watch once or twice or always have internet access readily available, you might prefer streaming. Depending on the source, there will be a paywall allowing you to access videos after payment using their pay system or an external payments platform such as PayPal. In general, the direction has been towards more streaming than downloads.

Not all streaming sites will offer you access to specific content indefinitely, though some may. Always read the fine print before signing up for a subscription or paying for any materials. Some sites allow you to access the materials for as long as you are a subscriber, others may end your access after a set amount of time. With downloads, you can access the file forever, because you own it.

MOOCs (stands for Massive Open Online Course) became popular about 10 years ago and are offered by colleges and universities for free as a way to market themselves to prospective students. Most MOOCs are offered at specific times on the calendar, are between 6-10 weeks long, and follow a schedule of opening and closing each lesson on a weekly or biweekly basis.

A MOOC is created and run by an actual Professor, but direct interaction with the Professor is limited due to the high number of enrollees. A MOOC is like a mini-online course with homework assignments and can be a great way to learn if you are disciplined and can stick with it.

The completion rates for MOOCs are very low, so if you complete one you will be in the minority.

Some popular sites offering MOOCs are EdX, Coursera, Udemy, Khan Academy, Canvas, and UoP (University of the People). Some top-name schools, such as Harvard and Yale, also offer MOOCs directly. (Look for Harvard Open Courses or Yale Open Courses).

Although MOOCs are free to take, if you want a certificate of completion you will usually pay a small fee. EdX charges for a certificate suitable for framing. Canvas will give you a digital badge you can display on social media or your LinkedIn profile. Not all MOOCs offer certificates.

There are many websites where you can access free and paid instructional videos, along with other kinds of training. For vocalists, one of my favorites is voicelesson.com, created by Mark Baxter. Mark is a leading voice teacher teaching all styles and levels.

Mark teaches privately out of his studios in Boston, New York City, and Los Angeles. He has taught some of the top singing stars and is in great demand as a teacher for beginner to professional level learners. His site has his own books for sale, which are an outstanding resource for any student vocalist.

Mark offers free short video lessons on YouTube, private lessons in person, lessons via Skype or Zoom, and instructional videos. You can access everything through his site. You can book a private lesson with him at one of three locations, read his many articles and pointers on vocal technique, learn about vocal health, watch videos, and learn about vocal performance, all on his website.

It’s a treasure trove of resources for anyone interested in learning more about singing.

Mark’s site is just one example, and you will find similar sites for all instruments and music topics out on the web. There are many well-established teachers who base their business model on their individual website. If you find one that is best for you, you might also interact with them individually on and off their site.

As you explore the websites further you’ll see many teachers offer lessons via video chat. There’s some question about how well this works, as there are inevitably disruptive glitches while using this technology. Anyone who has used video chat services will know what I mean: delays, echoes, freezing images, and distortion in sound or image can distract from the call.

Communicating by video chat can be challenging even when it works well, with ambient noise, interruptions, and camera angles making it hard to read body language, facial cues, and to see what’s really happening.

Meeting face to face isn’t always an option. Though it has faults, video conferencing makes it possible to teach and learn over great distances, so it has been embraced by teachers and students alike. As the technology improves, it will likely be an upward trend.

A variation on the video conferencing model is the webinar. Webinars have become more popular over the last years. Think of it like a group lesson, conducted live. Students can watch in real time using their computer or their phone from anywhere in the world.

A group can gather to watch a webinar on a large screen in a classroom, with the teacher being remote and other students joining from various locations. Usually, the teacher presents a brief lecture, workshop, or master class, and then the students have a chance to ask questions.

One clear advantage offered by the webinar format is that if there is a language barrier between the participants, an interpreter can act as moderator and translator. There are many variations on the webinar theme, and the convenience and immediacy offered by webinars are very alluring, so they are bound to become more prevalent.

Students usually pay a lower fee to attend a webinar than a private lesson, and many schools use them to bring remote lectures to their students. There are many technology platforms capable of hosting webinars; one of the more popular is called Webex.

Sometimes a webinar can be recorded and turned into a podcast. A podcast is a recorded audio version of a webinar, interview, lecture, or class which is downloaded or streamed over the internet. While there are many free music podcasts available to learn from, some sites require you to subscribe or pay for downloads in order to hear their podcasts.

Another way to study online is time-shifted video. Most people are not familiar with this method, but it is actually one of the precursors to distance learning and it has been around for a while. The Teacher records a short lesson with specific instructions for the student to practice, and an assignment.

After watching the teacher’s video, when the student is ready he or she turns on his or her own camera and records himself or herself playing the lesson assignment. Then the teacher watches the student’s video and responds with a new video giving feedback and assigning the next lesson.

Streaming video over the web has made it quicker and easier than it used to be, when teacher and student would mail VHS tapes through the mail. (This was sometimes also called a “video correspondence course.”) Now it’s as simple as opening your webcam and talking or playing to the camera. This method works well when internet connectivity and time schedules present challenges to connect in real-time.

In addition to the above methods for learning music over the internet, there are now online courses offered by colleges and universities that award course credit and allow you to work towards earning a college diploma or degree online.

However you choose to learn, get organized first, gather your resources, and apply yourself wholeheartedly to the process. Don’t be afraid of the unfamiliar and try out different methods to see what works best for you, using the tips from this article. Many others have learned all about music theory online and so can you.