How hard is it to learn guitar by yourself?

While learning how to play the guitar through an experienced guitar teacher may seem easier and the best option, it is not always the only option. You can always learn the guitar at home on your own using a few online tutorials and the right guitar accessories.

As you make the choice to teach yourself how to play the guitar, you may be wondering whether it is a difficult task. So, really, how hard is it to learn the guitar by yourself?

Well, learning the guitar by yourself is not hard at all as long as you are using simplified and the correct learning materials.

Correct learning materials, in this case, would be a combination of guitar-related articles, YouTube videos and step-by-step online tutorials designed to make the guitar learning process easier.

In this article, we will look at a few tips on how to learn the guitar by yourself, how long it takes to master basic guitar chords and techniques and solutions to a few challenges you may encounter when learning how to play the guitar by yourself.

Tips on how to learn guitar by yourself

With the right resources, learning the guitar by yourself would need you to have a learning plan on what topics and techniques you should be leaning, an intentional practice routine and high quality learning material whether videos, articles or audios.

A learning plan is very important as it gives you a detailed itinerary on what you need to do and when you should do it.

The reason why most beginner guitarists fail to entirely learn how to play the guitar is because they do not have a detailed guide on what topics and guitar techniques that they would need to learn within a certain period of time.

High quality learning materials give you just the right advice you need to easily and seamlessly learn how to play the guitar.

There is a wide range of online resources designed to accommodate self-taught guitar players but you should be able to distinguish between the good quality ones and the ones that may mislead your learning experience. Think of it as finding the best teacher for your musical journey.

Without the right one, you may never advance to the next level.

Generally, practice is the best way to master all guitar techniques and get better at playing.

The deal cutter in your practice routine are your intentionality levels. Even if you are able to practice once a day, you will progressively realize a few changes in your guitar playing experience.

You can start by sparing a bit of time in your day to learn a new technique or re-try the previous one that you were unable to learn entirely. You should always know that there are times when you would feel like giving up on the whole process because some techniques become a challenge to master, but you would always need to maintain your practice routine so that you can excel.

How long does it take to learn the guitar by yourself?

It would take you about one to two months to learn how to play the guitar on your own.

You will only be able to play the basic entry-level chords but it may be a challenge to instantaneously switch between these chords. In addition to that, you will know standard strumming patterns but would regular practice to entirely master them.

Within this period of time, you should at least be able to play some easy rock or pop songs at a slightly slow pace.

What are the challenges you can encounter when learning the guitar by yourself?

Among the few challenges that you may encounter when learning how to play the guitar by yourself are;

 

Changing between the chords-

As a beginner, the greatest problem you would experience is changing between the chords.

Learning how to hold down guitar chords the right way in itself is a daunting task, so you can imagine how much worse it gets when you have to transition through multiple chords across the fretboard.

To overcome this particular challenge, you would need to regularly practice the chords so that you can master the chords correctly and transition across your fretboard seamlessly.

 

String skipping issues-

Another problem that you may encounter when learning how to play the guitar is missing the right string when you have to pluck two non-adjacent guitar strings.

You can only avoid this by practicing string picking regularly.

Generally, the more picking your hand gets used to during regular practice, the lesser chances of missing/ skipping stings in the process.

 

Playing the Barre Chords-

The craziest nightmare that you would encounter as a beginner guitarist is playing the barre chords.

This is mostly because as a beginner you barely have enough stamina and finger strength needed to play barre chords correctly.

Once successfully learnt some of these barre chords, you would need to regularly practice them so that they can sound right at all times.

Quickly giving up on songs and Finding the right song to practice

When learning how to play the guitar on your own, you may find yourself skipping between songs. Sometimes this could happen because you are finding some of them too difficult to play.

The problem with doing this is that you eventually miss out on learning multiple songs and guitar techniques. In this case, you shouldn’t give up on a song because it seems so hard to earn or transition.

You would need to keep playing the same songs over and over until you are able to entirely get the hang of it.

Lacking enough time for practice

Sometimes, we exaggerate how much time we are supposed to spend practicing how to play the guitar that we tend to shun it off our schedule.

Regular practice does not mean that you should always take up three hours from your schedule to play the guitar.

It simply means that 10 minutes through your day should suffice.

To help you with this, you can look up short online lessons and watch a few of them so that you can try them out during your free time.

A Summary Table

Task	Challenges	Solutions
Learning how to play the guitar by yourself	Change between the chords	Regularly practice the chords so that you can master the chords correctly and transition across your fretboard seamlessly.
	String Skipping issues	Practicing string picking regularly.
	Playing the barre chords	Regularly practice them so that they can sound right at all times.
	Quickly giving up on songs and finding the right song to play	Keep playing the same songs over and over until you are able to entirely get the hang of it.
	Not having enough time to practice	Indulging in short online lessons and practicing during your free time. Freeing up 10-30 minutes a day to try out a new technique.

Conclusion

To successfully learn how to play the guitar on your own without having to use the help of a teacher, you would need to understand that it takes a lot of patience and discipline.

To overcome any challenges you would encounter when learning how to play the guitar on your own, you would need to regularly practice multiple strumming techniques and play different songs regularly.

FAQs

How many hours should I take to practice the guitar?

You should always aim to practice the guitar for about 15 minutes to an hour.

Is it possible to learn how to play the guitar on your own?

Yes, it is.