How Long Does it Take to Learn Guitar?

If you have any friends or local musicians who are well-versed in playing guitar, you should probably ask them how long it takes to learn guitar. They might give a vague answer saying “It depends on the piece of string”. But several factors have a major impact on the learning process.

So, one cannot surely say that they can learn the guitar in a month or two. Perhaps, the learning process is immeasurable. Over here, we have given clear statements with some real-time examples that can test your skills and apprise you on how much time it takes to learn guitar.

So, how long to learn guitar to become a prodigy? Normally, to understand the basics of strings and their rhythm or be able to play simple songs, it takes around 150 to 200 hours of vigorous practice sessions. You can achieve this in a matter of a month or might even extend depending upon your dedication levels.

But to reach the professional height of being a guitarist, one might need thousands of hours of practice with interest and commitment. Being a guitarist is not just being a professional one, but also to strum a few chords to have some fun time trying out distinctive propositions.

First step – Fixing your goals

Before you start learning guitar make sure you fix your goals. It’s a well-known act that a guitarist never stops learning. Even if you have devoted thousands and thousands of practice hours, it’s still not enough to learn all the notes and try new tones and tunes. For this, you need to decide at what level you start to decide how long to learn guitar.

Suppose if you plan to learn a new song or your favorite one so that you can play it in front of your friends or just be able to pick up a random pleasant tune and enjoy it yourself, a basic level of practice and proficiency is all you need. The next level is if you want to become a part of a goon band or play simple songs, the basic knowledge as a beginner is not enough.

You need to practice more, and that depends on the note you want to play. However, if you are planning to play along with professional musicians, then you need professional-level training.

Calibrating your time

When people start learning the instrument, they are excited to know how much time it takes to learn the instrument thoroughly and the number of weeks or months it is going to take for them to start from simple music to learn and play their favorite songs. This is a metric process. Though you can say that in the initial days, you won’t be playing complex songs.

So, the rest is up to how much time you devote to learning. Suppose you are contributing 5 minutes per day, and then the process is going to be slow. If you can spend only a few minutes on the learning process, then it’s going to take years for you to grasp even the basic note.

Hence practice hours are an extensive and far-reaching process that decides how proficiently you can master the subject. If you can spend a minimum of 2-5 hours a day practicing notes and strings, then it’s pretty sure that you might start learning quickly and get to an intermediate level in probably 7-10 months.

Practice timings and ability

• First is the basics stage where you need a minimum of 150 to 350 hours of practice time to learn every tune and practice the string note. Though this technique isn’t the perfect one, still you will be able to string the chords together to interpret a song roughly.
• The next is the beginner level where you need a minimum of 350 to 1000 hours of practice time. At this level, you will be able to play most of the chords and be able to swing through your fingers among all the chords without difficulty. You are ready to produce a reliable rhythm with minimal errors. Eventually, you learn to understand the song mechanics which will help you to learn more songs independently.
• Next comes the intermediate level where you are now stable to learn quick notes without taking a long time to grasp tones. At this phase, most of the guitarists are happy that they can perform and compete in front of their friends, write their tones, and even improvise complex tunes. So, you are in the middle of your learning journey trying to enhance your skills. Here, you still need time to determine how much time it takes to learn guitar. This is the stage where some people gain confidence in the learning process, but you should have patience until you achieve your goal.
• Now the advanced level can take you around 2,500 to 5,000 hours. This level gives you the feeling of being comfortable playing in front of your friends. Also, this level is not something where you can give a concert, but just a player level where you can raise your confidence to face the audience. Now you are almost ready to understand the composition, music, tunes, and notes to be self-dependence in playing strings.
• Next to the advanced level, you have the pro player level where you should have completed 5000 hours of practice or even more. This is the level where you start realizing that the sky is the limit and you are on the verge of reaching the firmament. All the previous stages have helped you to understand the theory and language of music where. This level helps you to execute progress and growth. Moreover, this is when you can start making a living by playing guitar or being a part of a music band and kick-start your performing or teaching sessions.
• Now comes the final stage- master. To achieve this stage, you should have worked hard as a guitarist to understand the language of music and love every string of it. Altogether you would have worked for around 10,000 hours or even more to become a master in learning guitar. This needs immense dedication and vigorous practice sessions wherein you are in a position to fit in as a master as per Malcolm Gladwell’s theory.

Let’s make a practice schedule with a case study.

Now that we have made a rough schedule in having your practice sessions, you are most welcome to follow those guidelines along with the strategies to know how long it takes to learn guitar. Divide your practice hours into different levels wherein you get your time to spend with the guitar. Doing this can give you a fuzzy estimate of how long it takes to reach your desired plan.

Of course, this is not something that happens overnight. Several other impact factors affect the learning process, and we will explore some of their insights too. Say, around 150 hours is the average playing experience required by a person to achieve a standard level of playing. So, if we relate the example time with your practice time you might be able to get a basic idea of how long it takes to learn guitar.

A lot of people don’t find time to learn guitar, but all it takes is a matter of interest to give it some time. Maybe, if you stick to a non-routine schedule it cannot be as easy to pick up the guitar at times and you probably wonder why you are not making any progress.

Also, read about Best Beginner Electric Guitar here.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How many hours a day should you practice guitar?

If you are willing to practice guitar for at least an hour per day, then you are good to go. You will make progress in time as you are making small initiatives every day to achieve your goal. But if you are planning to practice guitar for longer hours, then split it into sessions to see the best results.

This is mainly because your mind needs focus. If you keep practicing sessions for hours and hours then you might probably end up remembering only the beginning and the ending. So, on the whole, long practice sessions without breaks are less effective when compared to those with causal intervals.

2. Is it hard to learn guitar?

It depends on your learning process. Guitars are initially tough to learn, but it gets easier when you start practicing and making proper lessons. The more you practice, the more interested to play the guitar. Also, if you listen to music that plays guitar in it, then that’s a good sign for you to start learning guitar. It’s only your will that makes it harder or easier. The benefits of learning guitar are it improves coordination, enhances concentration, keeps your mind fine-tuned, and trust me it’s super fun.

3. Can I learn guitar in 2 months?

No, if you want to become a professional guitarist from scratch then it’s going to take you at least 6 months to reach the advanced level, and the fact behind how long it takes to learn guitar is untellable. Usually, 2 months is the approximate time that people take to learn and after that, they quit. This is not going to help at all.

In a matter of two months, all you learn is to swing through the chords and try to grasp the notes as soon as possible. In that way, you enjoy, play, and most importantly learn. So, if you fix it for 2 months, you are going to end up either too fast or wonder why you have ever started learning guitar. Take time and decide why you developed your interest and how much time it takes.

4. Can you teach yourself guitar?

It’s exciting to learn guitar all by yourself, and one option is by listening to songs. It’s super fun if you know where you’re leading and the set of plans you need to follow to learn them accurately. But if not, you will end up learning the right note in the wrong way.

5. Which guitar is best for beginners?

If you are a beginner then there are certain guitars that you certainly cannot miss out to try. Some of them are Yamaha LL6, Taylor, Ibanez, Epiphone, Martin LX1E, and the Fender acoustic guitar. These guitars are designed specially to suit beginners as well as intermediates who are trying to learn guitar. The high-level ones are in a different range, and you can purchase them later.

6. What is the easiest song to play on guitar for beginners?

There are certain particular songs from which you can start your guitar journey. Some of them are Stay With Me by Sam Smith, Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison, Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns and Roses, and Creep by Radiohead. There are several other songs that you can choose to start on. But choosing an easier tune will boost your energy in learning the difficult ones.

7. How can you teach yourself guitar?

Yes, you can learn the guitar by yourself. Well, it needs the best instrument along with a lot of other factors that can affect the learning sessions. But kudos to kids who do that. It needs immense courage and hopes to be learning on your own. Moreover, you can at least get some help from people who’s got good notes for beginners.

8. What is the best way to learn guitar?

The first thing would be to choose the best guitar. Next, take up simple notes or YouTube sessions that can help speed learning. Keep challenging yourself with new stuff every day so that you don’t feel tired of it.

9. What is the easiest way to learn guitar?

Make chords using your left hand and strum with your right hand. If you achieve both skills, then music is your recipe.

10. How long does it take to learn acoustic guitar?

It can take around 6 to 18 months for you to become comfortable playing different notes without breaks in between.