Playing guitar is so cool, but How long does it take to learn to play the guitar well? This article will cover most of the questions that are written in FAQs for beginners.
Playing the guitar is one of the best ways to spend your time and maintain your good health, both physically and mentally. Because of that, you are wondering whether you should learn how to play it. However, you are somewhat hesitating.
You are eager to learn, but the time and efforts that go with it make you feel discouraged. You also have tons of questions, but after times and times researching, you still haven’t got explicit answers.
If you find yourself in that exact situation, then congratulations, you have found the things you need.
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In this post, we collect the most frequently asked, beginner’s questions about the guitar and learning how to play it.
We hope that they can help you figure out what you want to do with your music learning.
So, here they are:
1. Is It Too Late To Learn Guitar?
There’s a saying that you are never too late to start learning, and this is true with music as well. The time doesn’t matter, what matters is your will to learn.
In fact, being a “late boomer” has its own advantages.
Firstly, you have been “trained” through your career/job. Hence, you will be more self-disciplined and have some good time-management skills.
You will also be more realistic with your learning targets, and also have a clearer image of what music you want to play. These are important since you don’t want to drown yourself in impractical thoughts.
Besides, being an adult means that nobody can put pressure on how many minutes or pieces you should play. You decide what and when to do that. So, you can say it is actually quite fun.
2. How long does it take to learn to play the guitar well?
When starting to play an instrument, this is the thing you want to know the most, so you can make learning plans and so on.
But instead of that, I think you should care more about what you can learn at a specific time. Knowing this helps you track down your progress and know what to do next.
Here are some references for you:
1 – 3 months:
- Playing basic open chords (A, E, G, etc.)
- Getting a feel for rhythm and strumming
3 – 6 months:
- Getting hold of the basics
- Understanding your strengths and limitations
- Playing more open chord like C, D, E
6 – 18 months:
- Playing the above chords and some harder ones like F, Dm or Bb.
- Beginning to explore scales and more complex things like theory
3. Can I Learn Guitar In 3 Months?
Besides the legendary “How long does it take?”, the “Can I learn in XX months?” is also a popular question when talking about learning to play the guitar.
The answer is “yes”, and at the same time, “no”.
You can’t because learning to play an instrument is a process that involves years and even decades of CONSTANT efforts. 3 months hardly make anything out of that.
But on the other hand, you can, if you know what you could do and couldn’t do. For example, you can’t expect to be playing Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody in just 3 months, but you can learn the basics that help you play the song later on.
So, in short, you CAN learn the guitar in 3 months, but JUST simple chords, scales, and a few playing techniques.
4. Is It Hard To Learn Guitar?
As I mentioned above, learning to play an instrument is a lifetime process, so there is so much way it would be easy as a piece of cake.
But it wouldn’t be so hard either – if you are passionate, your method of learning is good enough, and you know where you are.
For example, if you just want to learn some chords to strum along with your favorite songs, then that would be simple.
However, almost no one stops at that. You want to explore the full potential of the guitar. You want to be somewhat like those guitarists you’ve admired.
And that’s where practice goes in. This is the KEY to make things easier for you. If you don’t practice, every single thing in this world is hard, even your chores.
5. Is Guitar Easier Than Piano?
For a beginner, learning to play the piano is somehow easier than learning to play the guitar. It’s not really about how long does it take, it’s about the approach.
With the piano, you just hit the key, and a sound is made. Besides, all the notes on the keyboard just repeat in the same pattern, so it’s simpler to remember: you go left with lower notes and vice versa.
On the other hand, to make a sound on the guitar, together with strumming or plucking the string(s), you will also have to work on the frets. Reading music is also a problem when the order of the strings goes upside down in tabs.
But, of course, this is just relatively true, since each player is different, and since each instrument is “hard” in its own way.
6. Can I Teach Myself How To Play The Guitar?
Absolutely yes. However, you will have to figure out the way on your own.
You know, many people start their way through self-learning. But strumming along with the songs will bore you very soon as you get stuck in the same place.
So if you want more, you must take some time learning basics like major/minor scales, note patterns, guitar theory and much more. It will make you feel not-so-good at first, but once you get them, playing will be way easier.
To do that, you need to set a schedule. The time for practice doesn’t have to be fixed, however, you should spend the first few weeks with the basics above.
And yes, you should also get some friends or join in some communities so that you can enjoy learning to the best.
7. Should I Learn Acoustic Or Electric Guitar First?
You might have heard someone say that you should take acoustic first because it’s more “beneficial”, or you should take electric first as it’s easier to play. But the answer is “It’s all up to you”.
Acoustic guitars use the body to make the sound louder, so its strings are tougher to deal with. Therefore, your hands will have to work harder. On the contrary, electric guitars use amplifiers and pick-ups to do that for you, so you won’t need to put so much effort in.
However, on the “convenience” side, acoustic guitars win since you can play anytime and anywhere, whereas electric guitars will need to be plugged to amplifiers before playing.
And you know what, over time, you will naturally want to try playing the other type, so don’t worry about that too much.
8. How Many Hours A Day Should I Practice Playing My Guitar?
Actually, this depends not only on how much free time you have throughout the day, but also on your body too. You neither want to use all of your time to play the guitar only, nor overwork and then hurt your fingers.
If you are busy, you can just do 30 mins. On your days off, you can do 3 hours or even more. Just do what you can and let the rest go.
It’s the quality that matters, so be happy and consider practice as a way to explore music. But make sure that you practice CONSTANTLY instead of doing 6 hours a day and then take 5 days off.
You can make a journal to note down what you’ve learned as well, so you can look back sometimes to see how far you’ve gone.
9. How Can I Choose The Best Guitar?
There’s no such thing called “the best guitar”, there’s only “the best guitar for yourself”.
To find that guitar, you will have to consider a lot of factors, starting with understanding about the very instrument, choosing the type, setting a price range, doing some research online, and then comes a trip to the guitar shop.
You will want a guitar that is attractive enough to get you to pick it up and practice every day, but that guitar also needs to be affordable and easy to play. Or else, you will end up investing your money into something that you never give a second look at.
Besides, don’t miss the chance to ask experts or staff at the guitar shop about literally everything. They work with guitars every day, so I believe they can help you with your problem/questions.
10. How Much Should I Spend On My First Guitar?
Well, it’s your own money, so you can just spend all of it on a guitar. But, no one would do that, right?
For your first beginner guitar, the price range of $200 – $500 is a good one, because almost all the guitars below this level are just garbage with bad sound, poor construction and such.
Of course, you can purchase a used guitar if you are worried about such a price. But we don’t recommend that since you are not experienced enough to know if it’s good or not.
And yes, you can also buy much more expensive ones if you like. They will be more durable, easier to play and have better sounds. But, they will be a disaster if you give up learning after a few months like most of the beginners do.
Conclusion
Above are the 10 most frequently asked, beginner’s guitar questions regarding common problems like “How long does it take to learn to play the guitar well?”, “how hard”, “which one to choose” and such.
They can’t cover all of your worries as a newbie in the music world, but at least, I believe it did bring you a different aspect of being a musician.
It’s not easy at all, but it’s not that hard. So if you are devoted enough, give it a try. Who knows if you discover a whole new you?
