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A question that I get every so often from students is: How long does it take to learn the guitar… or more specifically, how long does it take to learn the acoustic guitar?
Or even MORE specifically: How long will it take before I become a famous rockstar in the style of John Mayer or Taylor Swift?
All of these are great questions… and they all have a very disappointing answer: “It depends…”
(Before we move on, if you’re interested in teaching yourself how to play the guitar you should check out this article)
So, in an effort to provide good information (so I don’t waste your time), I’ll try to answer this more precisely. And, like I said above….
It depends… on how much you practice.
Obvious but true. For anyone who knows me I’m all about efficiency – and making the most of my time. I’m a strong proponent of deliberate practice. This is how elite musicians become elite musicians. But it’s also how beginners (or anyone) can learn more quickly – without spending a lot of time. Essentially it boils down to practicing the right material. As I said, I’m big on efficiency.
It depends… on what you want to learn/what your goal is.
Arguably, more important than practicing, your level of skill and/or satisfaction with the acoustic guitar (or any guitar) depends on ultimate desire. If you want to expert level proficiency… it’s probably going to take you 10,000 hours (yup – that’s 20 hours a week – of practice – for 10 years). However, there is hope! As I said, it depends on your goal. If you want to be able to play your favorite songs, strum the chords, sing along, and impress your friends, it will take MUCH less time. You can accomplish this in less than a month.
Yeah…but really… how long does it take to learn the guitar??
Ok. I’ve seen some other websites give time frames (like: “if you practice regularly, in 1-2 months you can play most chords”; or “in 1 year you can play most songs”). I think that’s crazy. What does “most songs” mean? Or “most chords”? And what does “regular practice” even mean?
Annoying.
So let me give you specific examples:
Case Study 1: Steve – The Brand-Spanking-New Beginner Guitar Player
Skill Level when starting: ABSOLUTELY NO MUSIC OR GUITAR EXPERIENCE.
Goal: Just loves the guitar and wants to play. Just loves it.
Frequency of Practice: 4-5 times a week. For around 20-30 minutes. (To me – that’s A LOT of practicing).
Skill Level after 6 months: Can play rock/pop songs easily: strums the chords, clearly plays the chords with no trouble switching. Can easily learn new chords via chord chart and/or tablature. Can read tablature and play small riffs (or can learn riffs by listening to the song). Can read some standard/staff music (but hates it). Has great rhythmic timing. Can play a few of the minor pentatonic modes (for newbies – this means that he can solo and improvise). Can’t quite play barre chords but is getting there. Not interested in the theory behind music…which may limit him (at least for now).
Case Study 2: Jenn – Played Trombone 20 years ago in High School – nothing since.
Goal: Always wanted to learn, not a lot of time to practice, but really really wants to learn to play her favorite songs.
Frequency of Practice: Practice? A little bit every day – but when I say “little” I mean like 2-3 minutes (total). In between commercial breaks she picks up the guitar and plays a few chords (one of my preferred practice methods).
Skill Level after 6 months: Has memorized 5-10 first-position open chords and can clearly play them. Can execute some basic strumming patterns. Not much outside of down-up-down-up-down-up. Can execute some basic fingerpicking styles. Has reached her goal of playing her favorite songs!
The Results:
Both Jenn and Steve could call themselves guitar players. Both Jenn and Steve started playing at the same time. But obviously, both are very different in their goal and level of practice. No judgement is meant to either of them – they are both happy with their progress (and they should be!!).
When Steve practices – it is hard work – mentally. He’s actively trying to push himself.
When Jenn practices – the mental piece isn’t as draining – but she’s training the muscles in her hand and fingers to remember those chords – and again, it meets her goals.
So, like I said above, the length of time it takes to learn the guitar truly depends on those few personal factors.
Access to good teaching materials:
Lastly, having access to good guitar teaching materials will help you learn much faster. Having a great guitar teacher (who clearly understands your goals) is probably the fastest way to learn how to play guitar.
Not all of us have time for guitar lessons. I get it. I was self taught (before there were things like JamPlay, or Youtube). I think I turned out ok.
If you want to learn to play guitar for free… something like Youtube lessons, or even chord charts and tabs from Ultimate-Guitar.com are a great place to start. However… the downside is that this will take longer – mainly because you have to find all of the resources yourself (e.g. they’re not tied up in a nice little package).
If you really want to speed up the learning process, and don’t mind spending a few bucks, I’d strongly recommend something like JamPlay. It’s cheap, comprehensive, and you can cancel anytime you want (so you’re not spending a fortune). If you can’t learn to play with something like this… you’re probably not going to learn to play the guitar. As we talked about above: it depends on your goals… and how you practice.
173 replies on “How Long Does it REALLY Take to Learn to Play the Acoustic Guitar? (With real life examples from actual guitar players)”
This was a great read! I completely agree that the time it takes to learn the acoustic guitar really depends on your goals and how much you practice. I remember when I first picked up the guitar, it took me a few months to get comfortable with basic chords and strumming, but once I found the right materials and focused on deliberate practice, my progress sped up. It’s so true that access to good teaching resources makes a huge difference—finding the best guitar parts to play your favorite songs quickly becomes rewarding. Thanks for sharing these case studies; they really put things into perspective!
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Yup – figured this would help with sprucing up the bathroom. That’s clearly why I wrote this post. Good luck.
Hi, ive been playing guitar for as long as I remember. I can play any chords and switch between them with no problems. I have a basic knowledge of theory. I memorized hindreds of songs. The only thing i struggle with is keeping time with songs im playing along to. Ill be just finishing the verse when the chorus has already started. I am completely self taught but think i screwed up my rhythm by only playing tabs starting out. Do you think I could benefit from a few lessons? If so, for how long?
Hey Chris! Not sure how I missed your comment – so sorry! But – yes! I think a lesson or two would help fill in some gaps.
Honestly… It’s probably nothing to do with your playing or skill level, but more with how you practice.
I do free lessons on Friday for my twitter followers. Hit me up over there if you want some help. https://twitter.com/jakeposko
[…] Guitars are really fun to play, but take a notoriously long time to learn. […]
hi there!
I really just want to be able to write music. I started piano years ago but my teacher never taught me theory. So i was wondering if I tech myself guitar, would I be able to learn it well enough to be able to make my own songs? Do i need to know musical theory to write a song or can i just create a melody and put lyrics to it without musical theory?
ahhaha a bit overwhelmed here but hope that makes sense!
thanks for your post!
Hey Gabby!! You don’t need to know much about music to write a song. If you have a melody in your head and some lyrics to go along with it – all you need to do is record it somehow (audio or video) and you can take it from there. I started writing songs without knowing music theory – I could play a few songs on the guitar (just strumming chords and singing along). That’s really all you need. My advice would be to start by learning a few songs that you like (or songs that may be similar to the type of songs you want to write). Don’t just learn scales, notes, chords, etc on their own – it’s not super helpful when trying to write songs (at least at first) AND it’s kind of boring.
If you give me more info (let me know the kind of music you like/want to learn) and I can give you more tips!! Keep me posted with your progress!
Thanks!
I just started yesterday. I’m brand new to guitar but not to music. I played flute for 8 years as a child. It’s always been a dream of mine to learn guitar and piano. I’m a stay at home mom so uninterrupted time is not always readily available but I have managed about an hour a day so far, broken up into 3 different sessions. That includes playing along with tutorial videos and exercises so it’s actually slightly less actual practice but I feel it’s sufficient. Not so much that my hands are too sore but enough that I can work a few different things. I’ve learned 4 chords and am slowly building up speed with transitioning between them. Im not new to self teaching hobbies either. I’ve taught myself to paint, crochet, hoop dance, and cook all of which are also passions of mine. But even still, I’m an instant gratification person that easily gets frustrated. There’s so much information and so many opinions. And nothing that seems to lay out realistic expectations to set for myself. In a week where should I be?, a month?, a year?… those are the types of things someone with organization and control issues, such as myself stresses over when trying something new.
Hey Manda! First off – I love that you split up the practice time over the course of the day (rather than trying to squeeze in an hour all at once). I think that’s a great way to do it!
While there is some instant gratification that will occur, there will probably be more slow, long term progress. Learning guitar is different for everyone, there isn’t a linear learning path. Your progress will largely depend on what you want to learn. For instance, playing chords, playing melodies, learning tablature, learning to read music: these are all places that you can start, not all of them are necessary though. With so many places to start, it’s obvious why it can be frustrating and overwhelming.
I think there are a few ways you can approach learning guitar:
Option A: Ask yourself why you’re learning. If it’s to be able to play and sing a song – pick a song and focus your efforts on learning that ONE SONG. Once you’ve got it down, move on to another song. With this method (and depending on the complexity of the song) I think it’s reasonable to knock this out in a few weeks
Option B: Get yourself a beginner guitar book, find some online tutorials that have CLEAR objectives, or use something like JamPlay which lays things out for you. Work your way through the book, or video series – step by step. This will give you the satisfaction of moving through actual steps and having short term clear goals. The downside is that it can be boring to learn this way (for me at least).
Whatever you do, DO NOT try to learn everything at once. Don’t try to learn as many chords as possible – this won’t serve you.
The other thing to consider is this: Everything that you learn will build upon itself. For example: it may take you a few weeks to learn how to transition quickly between the four chords you’ve learned. But the good news is, as long as you keep practicing, the next set of chords you learn will be EVEN EASIER to transition. Even better: the chords you learn now will be applied to SO MANY OTHER SONGS – making learning songs in the future a breeze!
Good luck – and keep me posted on your progress!! If you have any other questions or need any other help just ask me!!
I’m a guitarist who’s started guitar 3 months ago for the fun but now, I’ve been serious to the point that I get frustrated with myself when I can’t play lead well and my barre chord transitions take so long. Just so you know, I’ve been practicing for more than 2 hours due to boredom. I’m in a rut and I feel like I can’t get any better at this.
Hey Raj – Don’t practice for so long. Are you practicing two hours at a time? That’s crazy. Pick something that you’re struggling with – bar chords for example. Focus your practice time ONLY ON BAR CHORDS. For like an entire week or two. Forget about everything else. Focus. Practice switching from one chord to another. Then repeat. Then repeat. Then repeat. Do it until you feel like your hand is going to fall off. There will be discomfort. There are tips that a teacher can give you from watching you play. They’re hard to describe. Things like maintaining contact with the guitar throughout your transitions. Also, maintaining the shape of the bar chord as you switch from chord to chord. Hard to describe – a teacher can help you.
Once you’re sick of bar chords. Then work on your lead.
Three months is not long.
This is a lifelong journey my friend. Keep practicing, but be patient and be PROUD of how far you’ve come. You’re doing well. Keep it up and keep me posted with your progress.
How much do we have to pay for learning in jamplay
Hey Pranali! You’ll have to visit JamPlay’s website to find out the cost. Looks like you have to enter your e-mail to get access to their pricing (which is free, but still annoying to do). You’ll have to do that to get accurate rates/pricing. But from what I recall, it’s usually between $14 – $20 per month (again, this could change, plus they offer discounts sometimes through their e-mails). Check it out for yourself. It’s definitely more expensive than YouTube lessons, but WAAAAYY cheaper than online lessons, or face-to-face lessons. UPDATE!! Jam Play usually has sales leading up to the holiday season. If you’re on the fence about using Jam Play, I wouldn’t be surprised if they offer a discount on their service in two or three weeks.
Hi,
I used to play guitar for about three years when I was younger (maybe 8-11) but I stopped playing because I just wasn’t into it. Now, I’m 14 years old, and I totally regret not sticking with it. I got rid of my guitar a couple years ago but now I’m interested in playing again. I just want to play as a side hobby and to be able to learn whatever song I’m singing along to. I want to buy a guitar but my parents are a little hesitant to get me one because they think I will lose interest again. What should I do? Should I get a guitar? If so, what is the best way to learn?
Hey Scarlet! I started playing guitar when I was about 10 or 11. I played for 3 months and then quit. I didn’t like it. Wasn’t interested. When I was 14, I started playing again, and haven’t stopped. I think I was just too young when I first started… didn’t really have the motivation. When I turned 14, my interests and motivations had changed. I think if you’re interested in playing the guitar you need to find a way to make it work. You might lose interest again – there’s no way to tell. But there’s no way to learn if you don’t have a guitar. If you don’t have a guitar you’re gonna need to get one. If money’s an issue, you should ask around (friends and family) and see if they have a guitar laying around that you can borrow (I’ve gotten many guitars this way). You can also check yard sales, craigslist, etc for an inexpensive used guitar.
Once you have your guitar, pick out a song you want to learn. Begin by learning the chords in the song (you can do this just by searching online). If you let me know the songs you’re interested in, I can steer you in the right direction.
After that, it’s just about learning one song at a time. Slowly. Pick up the guitar and play every day (not for a long time, just a few minutes).
Let me know if that helps – or if you have any other questions!
Hi Jake!
I started guitar at 16 but i was very lazy and didnt practice a lot.I turned a month ago 17 and started to play guitar seriously for a month now,im frustrated because i wasted a year and i feel myself old but my friends and parents always says 17 is an awesome age to start learning on instruments and there isn’t much difference beetwen 16 and 17..is 17 really good age to learn any instrument.I can play all the C chords,6 type of D chords and changing beetwen them…i started to learn Square Hammer’s intro.
Hey Máté! Yeah! 17 is a great age to start… but so is 7, or 28, or 67, or whatever. Just start… don’t worry about how old you are. I have BEGINNER students who are over 60 years old, and I have little kids starting as young as 5. Just do your thing. It’s ok to be a little bit lazy. I like that you’re learning the intro to Square Hammer. You’re on the right track: pick songs you like and start working on them. That’s how you stay motivated. You’ll have to be a little bit disciplined to stick with it…. but it should be fun (even if it’s a little difficult).
Also – it’s great that you’re learning chords… but can you play them in the context of an actual song? If not, what’s the point?
Everyone learns at different speeds. And we can only learn one thing at a time. But the good news is that most of the stuff that you’re learning at this level is going to be applicable to other things you learn in the future – everything builds on each other.
Good luck and keep me posted with your progress!!