How Long Does It Take To Learn Guitar?

I guess we have all dreamt of learning guitar at some stage in our lives. It looks fascinating but requires a lot of dedication, patience, and time to master the art of playing guitar. Ask music pundits about the time required to learn guitar, and they will end up with an opaque answer. Don’t be surprised as you too asked a hazy question. It is something no one can clearly guide you about.  

How long it takes to learn a guitar varies from person to person. Some may learn it in months, and others take years, yet they cannot play guitar with perfection. Precisely speaking, it may take an average student around 1-2 months or 150 hours to learn guitar basics. However, to master this art, one needs to pass the 10,000 hours test.

While learning guitar, you will have to pass through different levels. Below, you will be enriched about the timeframe to learn guitar, some methods to learn it quickly, and lastly, we will introduce you to why people fail to learn guitar quickly.

Time Required To Reach Different Levels as a Guitarist 

Guitar learning is a process, and you will have to pass through different stages to master it. Below you will find a chart about the basic stages of guitar learning and the time required to reach and pass each step.

Why Does It Take So Long To Learn Guitar Properly?

Most of us confuse guitar learning with practicing some basic chords and a few strumming patterns. However, learning guitar is a lot more than just chords and strumming. First, a student needs to go through the fundamentals of guitar. 

After that, there come basic chords, strumming patterns, power chords, riffs, lead, and many more. Understanding all of it consumes time, so if you want to be a guitar master, you must accept that it won’t happen overnight.

What Do You Need To Start Learning Guitar?

The first thing any aspiring guitarist needs to start their journey is – you guessed it – a guitar. There is also some extra equipment you may require besides the guitar, which includes:

• Guitar strings
• Guitar strap
• Guitar pick
• Guitar tuner
• Guitar capo

Easy Ways To Quickly Learn Guitar

Learning and practicing guitar as an absolute beginner is not an easy nut to crack. However, with a dedicated routine and by following small details, one can unlock how to quickly learn to play guitar. Below, have your hands on some of the best methods to help you learn guitar at a rapid pace.

Play in Group

In the early days of learning, almost all guitarists develop bad habits that affect them in the long run. So, as a guitar master, I suggest that you play in a group. In this way, your partners will be able to ratify your mistakes and vice-versa.

Split Jamming Into Small Sessions

In my career as a pro guitarist, I have seen a lot of people jamming for hours yet gaining negligible results. It is human psychology that when you end up practicing something, your memory of it will start to fade away. So, start having small jamming sessions instead of hectic ones. Practicing the same thing with small gaps will create a loop, and you tend to remember more of what you practiced last.

Keep Your Instrument in Good Shape

You need to keep your guitar as protected as your own body. A guitar is something you need to keep with a lot of care. Because if you start learning using an out-of-order guitar, you will never be able to create proper sound and polish your skills to the best. So, keep your guitar in good shape to help you learn with ease.

Create A Supporting Learning Environment

Make sure to practice in the best learning environment. Your surroundings greatly influence your practice. That means you should really make an effort to choose your place of practice wisely. 

Researchers from the University of Washington and the University of California, Berkeley determined that there are several essential aspects to keep in mind. For example, in an ideal learning environment, room temperature, noise, layout, light, and even vegetation should all be modified so that the room can support your learning.

Get Enough Sleep

Getting an adequate amount of sleep is crucial to studying. To say sleep is taken for granted is such an understatement. Getting enough sleep does wonders for your health and well-being. Which in turn improves your performance. Make sure good sleep is one of your priorities.

Try Meditation & Mindfulness

Even musicians are using meditation and mindfulness to improve their performance these days. Relaxation, focus, and compassion are all aided by these methods.

Avoid Depending on Unauthentic Content

Today, the internet is flooded with lessons to teach you how to play guitar. Many of us have fallen victim to it too. With no offense, it is fine to say that not every lesson on the internet is correct, and you should not learn at sixes and sevens. 

Follow an authentic guitar guide, whether on the internet or locally, and start learning under their guidance. This way, you will save a lot of your precious time.

Adequate Learning Resources 

Although there are a lot of learning resources available, the ones that could actually be useful to you are listed below.

Udemy

Udemy is an online learning site where you can learn about almost anything. Usually, these courses are paid, but if you keep an eye out, you might be able to find some bargains.

Hiring a Guitar Teacher

Although many guitarists are self-taught, lessons with an instructor can be beneficial since they provide you with someone to observe your faults and promptly lead you to the corrective action you need to take. 

However, guitar teachers will serve no advantage whatsoever compared to self-study if you don’t set aside time for focused practice in between your lessons; teachers can only show you the door, but it is you who must go through it.

JustinGuitar

This website is highly recommended. This is because Justin has created an incredible resource. There are hundreds of hours of classes to choose from and a section dedicated to novices.

There’s a reason he has almost a million YouTube followers, and the course is recommended by several well-known guitarists. His introductory course will teach you around 250 songs and may be finished in a couple of months or even weeks if you are motivated.

Why Do a Lot of People Spend Years Learning Guitar Basics?

Ask people about their failure in learning guitar, and they will blame many things. However, the main reason why you fail to learn guitar is inconsistency. Some years back, we were a class of 25 who intended to learn guitar, and believe me or not, only two students were able to make it to the master level. 

I was, fortunately, one of the two, and the reason behind our success is consistency and trust in our guide. Hence, the main reason behind failure to learn guitar is nothing but inconsistency.

Does Talent Matter While Learning Guitar?

I have taught hundreds of students, and many of them are in their advanced stage of learning. However, I have never seen anyone take the lead just because of their talent. The guitar is something that you cannot master only because of your talent. It requires hard work, dedication, and patience to become a guitar master. The more you practice, the better you’ll be. There is no such thing as talent when it comes to learning guitar.

Conclusion

You won’t become Jim Hendrix by buying a guitar and practicing it for a few months. But it is fine to say that how long it takes to learn guitar depends entirely on a person’s skill and time spent practicing guitar.

The article above has guided the reader to the best of our knowledge. Whether it is about the timeframe, the learning methods, and things to avoid, we have offered you every detail about learning guitar. However, if you find any difficulty or you have any questions, please let us know.

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