That is an interesting question which I don’t want to dismiss straight away, so let me put on my scholars hat and approach it from 3 different angles:

1) Correcting

This for me is a fundamental issue and is often overlooked when this topic arises. Yes a tutorial video will show you the correct way to bow a cello or strum a G chord on the guitar, but it won’t demonstrate what you are doing wrong. Your bow might not be at the correct angle, your wrist might not be moving in the correct way, your fingers might be too flat on the strings and you are getting a muffled sound. All this even though you have watched the video a hundred times and copied everything exactly. A qualified music tutor will do what a video cannot: observe and reach out to correct these mistakes before bad technique becomes bad habits ingrained in your playing

2) Accuracy

It must be noted that a lot of the material available on the internet is inaccurate and has numerous mistakes, especially tab based material. As such, inaccurate fingers may be included, wrong notes/chords and unnecessary shifts that make a piece difficult to play. This is not to belittle the players that produce the music, but it has not been verified by a publishing house or even better a recognised music board such as the ABRSM or Trinity College. An experienced music teacher will ensure the material you learn from is accurate and from appropriate and reliable sources. If not they can use use their experience to correct any errors that may be present.

3) Choice

Put simply the choice of material to learn from on the internet is overwhelming at best. As a beginner where should you start? How do you progress? What if the next recommended song is too difficult? What do you do then? With a maze of choices to choose from pupils are often left lost, going around in circles while exerting maximum effort, leading to frustration and very little progress. A teacher will cut through this for you by establishing a learning plan that will clearly take you from A to B while using the songs you want to learn from. The path is already there, mapped out over years of experience to make you the best player you can be.

Internet videos do offer instruction but it is very rigid, not correcting your mistakes, often contain errors and provide a maze of choice that can overwhelm, frustrate and delay your progress. I would strongly advise finding a personal music tutor.