How long does it take to learn guitar?

Many people want to play the guitar, but don’t know how difficult it is. So, in this article we try to answer the question how long does it take to learn guitar.

First of all, the answer to this question depends on several factors that need to be analyzed separatedly:

  • How much time do you play every day?
  • What kind of music you’re interested?
  • What kind of resources you’re using?
  • What level you want to achieve?

Daily Effort

One of the main factors that you need to consider is how much daily effort you’re prepared to put into learning the guitar.

If you’re just spending 10 minutes per day, it will certainly take more time than someone who spends 10 hours per day learning the guitar.

Even worse, there are people who want to practice just once or twice a week: this may take you even more time!

That’s why there is so much variation on the time to learn the guitar.

The ideal is that you have a solid play time every day (Monday to Friday). If you spend one hour per day this can be a solid start for your learning plan.

Music Styles

Another important factor in the time it takes to learn the guitar is the music styles you’re interested. It is not a secret that some music styles are easier than others.

For a quick example, you can compare pop music accompaignment to jazz soloing. It is easy to see that it takes more time to learn all the complex chords in jazz than playing songs with just three chords.

This means that you need to be realistic about what you want.

For another example, consider playing blues songs to playing classical guitar. There are very talented people who spend their whole life learning classical guitar. Chances are you cannot learn advanced classical guitar in just a few months.

What Resources are You Using?

Another factor in the time it takes to learn the guitar is the amount and type of resources you’re using.

If you’re leaning by yourself, it will most probably take more time than enroling in a well established course with expert teachers.

So, if you want to reduce the time to learn the guitar, you will want to hire good teachers and get a good guitar education.

What Goals do You Want to Achieve?

Finally, there is the question of what you want to achieve as a guitar player.

Do you want just to play some gigs with your neighborhood friends? Or do you want to play as a soloist?

Do you want to play some guitar riffs, or do you want to improvise jazz songs?

These are different goals, which require different times.

In the case of rock guitar riffs, you may do it in a few months. But good jazz improvisation may take you several months, or maybe years to get.

Conclusion

The answer to how much time it takes to play the guitar is unique.

It depends on what your goals are, and what time and resources you want to use.

If you really want to play fast, you need to use the best resources, and spend your time making this possible.

Learn More About the Guitar

To learn even more about guitar playing, you can request access to our free guitar course. In this course you’ll learn important topics such as:

  • How to find the notes in the guitar fretboard
  • How to lean guitar chords
  • How to take care of your guitar
  • Lots of exercises
  • Example guitar Songs
  • And much more.

Request now your free guitar course, and receive it by email in a few minutes.