streaming is different from a live gig.
i agree you'll have trouble getting and keeping a gig if all you do is play various guitar parts from songs.
on a stream, you can do whatever you want within terms of service. someone going to a bar to hear music has certain expectations - singing, full arrangement, etc.
it's true that stream viewers may have similar expectations, but the only thing being transacted is time - your time doing the stream, and the viewer's time watching it.
some successful music streams on twitch have someone taking 8+ hours recording a song in a DAW. lots of pauses, doing one track at a time over and over, etc. "most" may not be interested in watching that, but a lot of people do watch it. streaming also gives you the capability of talking to chat a lot more than you would at a gig. it can be casual, it can be tight and professional, it can be whatever you want.
will you get 100 viewers on your first few streams? probably not. but you'll be actively performing, rather than practicing and having no live experience for years.
livestreaming is its own can of worms for sure. but you can do it for 1 hour, 4 hours, whatever you want. once you setup, you don't have to move gear around, you can be as casual as you want, and you can develop a following by doing it consistently.
even if someone isn't the best guitarist in the world, if you start the stream regularly - which can be once a week, 5 times a week, whatever, just be consistent with days of the week and start time - you inevitably create a following of people who will watch you because they know they can see you at those times.
i don't know the specifics of Youtube livestreaming covers terms of service - it seems to be a constantly moving target with whats allowed. i'm more familiar with Twitch, and there is a really good community of musicians there, and viewers always looking for someone new.
i would say give Twitch a try. you won't be immediately successful, but no one is. but you're actively doing something. you can practice on stream - yes people watch that, again not "a lot" of people, but it happens.
don't worry too much about camera gear - a simple webcam is more than enough to start. if anything, make sure your audio comes through clearly - the interface you already have should work. but if even if you just use the mic on the webcam to capture your speakers in the room and voice, it's a start and will work. people aren't expecting a AAA performance on day 1.
at some point, get a mic plugged in and your guitar direct to improve audio quality. camera quality can definitely wait as long as it's decent enough to see you playing.
you'd need the software OBS to stream - it's free.
everyone starts somewhere. start now, rather than 5 years from now. people can watch you progress and improve. you can interact and get feedback from people. you can share what you do with the world now.
might there be negative comments? sure, we all get it. but it's people on the internet saying something. who cares, ultimately. you can ban them if they are just negative or stupid. it's your Twitch channel, you're in control.
start it up. do it today. we can practice forever, but if our goal is to share what we do, we can do it right now.\
take a look at the music category. there are a lot of DJ's (i wish they'd separate DJ vs instruments... but oh well). but there are a lot of guitars, pianos, etc. so many possibilities with streaming.
https://twitch.tv/directory/game/Music
