I have probably never even picked up a guitar in my life much less any other instrument but am interested in taking guitar lessons. How long does it usually take to learn most of the basic skills required to play an acoustic guitar? What are the biggest challenges a guitar teacher faces when teaching someone like me, with absolutely no experience? Thanks!
All good answers.
I had more than one college professor tell me that to "master" a task takes about 10,000 hours.
Now, their definition of "master" is more along the lines of "I can now teach this and make a living at it".
Depending on your learning ability and finger dexterity, you should be playing something that resembles songs in about 100 hours or so.
The greatest challenge for a teacher? Getting a student to practice and stick with it. Most people give up long before they should. As long as you go into this with realistic expectations, you’ll do fine.
I crack up when I read questions here that are something like "how long will it take me to become awesome at guitar". I always want to answer with something like "Don’t worry about it. You’ll be bored with it and back to playing video games this time next week."
Good luck to you.
Greetings from Austin, TX
Ken
More Basic Guitar Blogs
- Acoustic Guitar Lessons – Barre Chords – Beginner Guitar Lesson – Learn Guitar | 3/4 ACOUSTIC GUITAR
- J. Reynolds 36-inch Student Acoustic Guitar – Steel-string | Onestop Musical Instruments
- Rockbag – Soft Case for Acoustic Guitar | Acoustic Guitar Case
- Learn Acoustic Guitar-Online Lessons To Improve Your Chances Of Success | Electric Guitar Lessons
- International Psychoanalysis » Blog Archive » Smith College Professor Justin Cammy remembers Abraham Sutzkever, the most important Yiddish poet of the Holocaust
- Does anyone have experience with a tax resolution service and a referral for a good one? Thanks. Dan W.?
- Do Heberden’s Nodes and Bouchard’s Nodes Affect Finger Dexterity? | Glucosamine Chondroitin
- 5 Reasons I Hate Crafts « Ironic Mom
- Beginner Guitar Lessons – Finger Dexterity Exercise | Guitar Instructions
- Beginner Guitar Lessons – Finger Dexterity Exercise |
- Mojofiti™ — Blog — Language Proficiency Is Foreign Service's Greatest Challenge
- Chef It Yourself Challenge Winner – The Kitchen Masochist « Chef It Yourself
- Healthy Eating » Blog Archive » What is the greatest challenge of the health care industry today and why?
- Online Lessons For Guitar Vs. Private Guitar Lessons | Learn how to play the guitar
- Music Blog » Bass Guitar Lessons – Through A Proven System Here Is How You Can Learn To Play This Instrument
- Paltrow taking guitar lessons from husband | Inditop
- Guitar Lessons – Do I Need Them or Am I Wasting My Money? | Electric Guitar Lessons
- Guitar Lesson Reviews – Free Beginner Guitar Lessons
- Computer Guitar Lessons – For Beginners | GuitarStart – Guitar Center
- BambinoLUK Brain Training Early Bloomer Collection Learning System, Intellectual Development Recreation / Model | Paige's Thoughts
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Everyone learns at a different pace,but with a good teacher and a lot of practice you should be able to play a few simple songs in a few weeks.
As for the teacher,most of their students start with no exerience so that won’t be a problem.
Remember the key is pracitce the more you play the better you get.
Good luck and enjoy the music
References :
You will find lots of useful guitar lessons and information here – it works on an "honour system". If you can afford to pay for the lessons then please donate for what you use – imagine it was a pay site. If you can’t afford to donate it is no problem at all – the site is free for you
. Updates and new material is pretty much donation dependant. Donations give me more time away from paid work to develop this site and make new lessons and features. BIG THANKS in advance 
References :
http://www.justinguitar.com/
Basic (fingering) skills take a while, although basic knowledge comes a little easier. Within a year or so, you should be doing well. Be careful asking musicians how long it takes to master something, since they’ll usually say that it takes a lifetime to master anything
The biggest challenges involve keeping a student convinced that they are learning, even though they may feel like they are not. For example, when I first started playing guitar, I was horrible. I played for a couple months and I decided I was not good at it so I stopped. After 3 or 4 months, I picked up my guitar randomly one day and found that I had the finger dexterity, speed, and precision that I felt I was missing, which caused me to lose interest in guitar in the first place!
Your brain needs time to absorb the movements and everything. You should play for a couple of days straight and then take a break for a day or two. This will keep you on track
References :
All good answers.
I had more than one college professor tell me that to "master" a task takes about 10,000 hours.
Now, their definition of "master" is more along the lines of "I can now teach this and make a living at it".
Depending on your learning ability and finger dexterity, you should be playing something that resembles songs in about 100 hours or so.
The greatest challenge for a teacher? Getting a student to practice and stick with it. Most people give up long before they should. As long as you go into this with realistic expectations, you’ll do fine.
I crack up when I read questions here that are something like "how long will it take me to become awesome at guitar". I always want to answer with something like "Don’t worry about it. You’ll be bored with it and back to playing video games this time next week."
Good luck to you.
Greetings from Austin, TX
Ken
References :
40 years of playing guitar and bass
35 years of live performance
Still learning!