How Long Does It Take To Learn The Guitar?

I’m often asked “how long does it take to learn the guitar?” Now there’s a loaded question.

Student progression depends on a whole range of factors such as:

• How much they practice
• What they practice
• The approach taken by the teacher
• The curriculum they follow (if any)
• Their “natural speed”
• How attentive the student is in lessons

Whilst no two students are identical, it’s quite common for students to spend two or three years “learning” and then try to figure things out for themselves afterwards. To me, this doesn’t actually make much sense because they ultimate flaw in being “self taught” is that “you don’t know what you don’t know”. So how on earth could you teach it to yourself?!

At UGA, we have our own course called Ultimate Guitar Method, which is a course that takes you from complete zero to guitar hero. Students who follow this course and diligently practice the recommended minimum can expect to:

• Pick with good technique within in their first two weeks
• Play many riffs along with the music or backing track after their first month
• Play many riffs, melodies and chord-based songs along with the music within 3 months
• Be competent with most open chords and common strumming patterns within their first year
• Know bar chords, all open major scales, have started sight reading and can play several guitar solos within two years
• Learn modes and be improvising within three years

From there, students often find a specific niche they’re interested in and then focus on that e.g fingerpicking, rock music, jazz etc.

Something else to consider is that you never really stop learning in music. There’s no end to the journey (and believe me, learning guitar is definitely a journey!).