How Long Does it Take to Learn Guitar?
March 13th, 2012
The question lots of people ask me when they start thinking about learning to play guitar is, “How long will it take me?”
Well, it depends on several things, not just how talented you are. Sure, having a talent for music and a good ear will help you achieve results, but in the long run, the guitarist that practices the correct way will win over the lazier, yet more “talented” musician. Why?
Playing the guitar will mean learning totally new hand and finger movements, almost like learning to walk. You will need to strengthen hand muscles that you didn’t even know existed, and on top of that, you’ll have to learn very precise, coordinated finger movements as well. The only way to learn these movement, improve your hand muscle memory, and really progress at playing the guitar, is to practice regularly.
But lets get back to the original question of how long it will take to learn the guitar. Given that you practice regularly, you can reach these stages within the given amount of time:
- 1-2 months: Play easy guitar songs (strumming a couple of chords, single string plucking songs with not much string jumping, chord arpeggios)
- 3-6 months: Play a bit more difficult songs, which require more technical elements. For example, songs requiring easier hammer-ons, pull-offs and other easier lead guitar techniques.
- 1 year: Play intermediate level songs, including many very popular guitar songs, riffs, blues, and so on. You will probably start getting a more definitive feel for barre chords at around this time as well.
- 2 years: If you practice enough, you could be playing most songs in 2 years. Of course, you’ll need to practice them before you can actually play them, but learning a song at this stage is very quick, as you’ll have mastered most technical elements already.
- 2-3 years: If you learned guitar theory during your guitar journey, you’ll be able to improvise on the guitar as well.
- 5-6 years: You can call yourself an advanced guitarist, you’ll be able to play anything you want.
- 10 years: You’ll realize how much you don’t know yet, and want to learn even more. Your guitar collection will reach a yearly average of 7-12 guitars.
- 20+ years: You’ll be playing and entertaining others all the time. Out of your 20 guitars, you only play 3, your favorite ones.
The moral of the story is that learning to play the guitar is a never ending process, but getting to an acceptable level, where you will actually start enjoying your music (and won’t drive others crazy 
), can be reached after about 6 months of regular practice.
I would like to emphasize the word REGULAR. Many beginners pick up their guitar for a couple days, than stop for a week, pick it up again, than give it a rest, and so on. This is usually caused by the fact that learning the guitar won’t happen overnight, it takes weeks of practice before you even start getting a hang of how to change chords. It’ll all part of the learning curve, but unfortunately, many beginners loose their enthusiasm after a very short time. This has always been like this, and probably always will be.
If you ever get discouraged, or stuck at any given point, just remember that even the best guitar players were beginners at one time, everyone went through the learning curve. If you endure, you’ll be left with a wonderful hobby that will be yours to keep for life, causing you, your family and friends countless hours of joy.
A pretty good trade off in my opinion!
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Hi, This is nice and practical…..very good article…Thanks
need to go for guitar classes………….
Cool article!
I’ve been playing for about one and a half years now and and so far this is exactly what I have experienced.
What a great explanation! I love the part where you say “out of your 20 guitars you’ll only play 3″ So true! Lol!
Great article. There is only one thing I would add that you hinted at. The timeline is based on practicing where learning of new techniques is the goal.
I have seen guitar players that have been playing “John Denver” style consistently for 20 years and although they are solid as a rock … they progress very slowly. This is especially true with guitar players who sing or play liturgical music. I’ve also seen guitar students with 2 years experience and a thirst to always learn new techniques. I would have to say practice hours= competency practice hours+new learning=advancement.
Also, I would add the same as others. Lessons are a necessity both because they push new techniques versus ones already learned, make deadlines for learning those techniques, and provide an independent verification of progressing.
HELP. This was a great article, so thank you for that. I’ve been wanting to play since I was a kid but just never took the time. I’m now ready to make guitar play a part of my life. My wife just brought me home a used “Washburn” 12 String Acoustic guitar (D12-12N) and it’s beautiful. I can’t stop looking at it. Unfortunately, I cannot play it yet. I have zero experience which leads me to my 1st question:
Should I learn to play on this guitar or should I get a 6 string?
I have heard that if I can learn on a 12 string, that a 6 string will be easy, but not vise versa. Also, that it’s easier to learn on a 6 string. I am most interested in playing as a lifetime hobby but I do want to learn quickly and I want to go with the best option for variety of songs. If it’s not that much of a difference then I’ll probably just use my 12 string.
Second Question(s): How often should I take lessons? How long should each lesson be? How long should I practice to get optimal results without burning out the passion?
I’m in my late 30′s and I work when I want to, so I have plenty of time to dedicate to this new life hobby. I just want to start off right. Thank you all for any advise you provide.
-Steve
tomorrow will be my first day to learn guitar . i am a little stressed i don’t know if i can cope with learning process
i was looking for more information on Internet then i found here , Thank you for great explanation . i like the part you said ( If you ever get discouraged, or stuck at any given point, just remember that even the best guitar players were beginners at one time, everyone went through the learning curve ) this calmed me , i hope this sentences stick to my mind always so i won’t lose my confidence !
Learning to play was one of the best skills I ever learned. It helps to be creative and have a lifelong passion for Guitar itself. I entirely agree lessons are the best way to learn, as there are progressions and timetables that will almost always otherwise be left unserved. Personally I pick up things pretty fast, and could play most songs on the radio after 8 months. I got a few DVDs of Guitar lessons and a couple of my favorite guitarists and that is what I use to keep myself in great playing shape DAILY and learning as many techniques as I can come across. I’ll decide in about a year (nearly 2years learning/playing experience) whether to seriously learning Classical Guitar. I probably will, as Guitar is something I’ve always thoroughly liked and now completely love. Best advice I can offer is learn on the best guitar yiu can get your hands on, practice and play more than an hour a day. It flies by when playing to the radio. Also really great to play with friends, as you can help each other get better at it and find goals and progress levels to strive for. And most importantly, play because you really love to. If you enjoy it more than most things you do, then you’re certain to get tons of enjoyment with it for a lifetime.
I have had two rounds of rehearsing guitar over the past two years. I first practised first for two weeks(no teacher, just alone)and I did learn regular easy chords (c,D,Em,E,A…) then I didnt play in about a year and a half, and then started again. Then I learnd both barre, and tabs in about four weeks(I am now during the 4th one)
so, I’ve sort of used 3 years on this. But only 6 weeks of good practise. Am I a quick learner?
I’ve been playing for almost 5 years and i have master some techniques but i also noticed that playing guitar involves much more. At first I was excited because i was noticing that i was learning and was able to play chords with no problem…as i was progressing i started to listen to a few great guitar players like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteem, and more and then i felt like I hit a wall. I got very discouraged because I asked myself “how can I ever play like them?” just looking at the videos made me realized that I was a long way far from getting to that level but one day I said to myself “if Ive gotten this far, I have to keep going. I can’t just stop playing guitar! its something i’ve always loved doing so I picked up the guitar and started playing at least two hours a day!
Everything…and I do mean everything I learned in 55 years of playing 9 musical instruments at the same time… still makes me think I know nothing and have a burning passion to improve on all of them.
Moral of the story, you can practice, but you can’t teach passion.
“Passion” in this context is simply the utter and burning desire to learn for learning’s sake. Thanks for the enjoyable article and comments everyone.