Before I get to the average time it takes a beginner to learn the various stages of playing guitar I have to mention that every player is different. Some have more dedication, more free time, more natural musical aptitude, etc., etc., than others, so they will progress at a quicker rate.
However, I have taught people who have a lot of natural talent but don’t practice much, while players with less natural ability who really work at it progress a lot faster, so don’t be put off if you think you were not born to be an amazing musician, through quality practice, you will become one.
The following timescales are an average based on teaching beginners over the last 40 years, they will vary slightly as mentioned, but if you formulate a good practice schedule they are all relatively easily achievable, especially with the aid of a good teacher.
Basic Chords, simple Rhythms, and your First Song
Believe it or not, this is covered within the first 1-hour lesson I give, therefore an average pupil should manage this is 1 hour. The lesson comprises learning the A, D, and E chords, a simple ¾ rhythm, and a complete song. However, even though the information is given, the pupil understandably can not play the song all the way through without stopping. It takes a few weeks and some tricks to change chords quicker that are taught in the next few lessons before they can play consistently through a song without needing to stop.
More Chords, more simple Rhythms, and more Songs
After practicing what was covered above for about a week, it’s time to introduce more chords - C, G, Am, Em, a 4/4 rhythm, and another song or two that includes a few of the new chords.
Continued Progress
A week later, it’s time for the final root chord, Dm, and then spend the next month learning and practicing songs that contain these chords. After this 6-week period, most players should be able to play 12-14 songs to a good standard.
Barre Chords
After the root chords have been mastered it’s time to move on to barre chords, starting with F and Bm. Find a song you like that contains only root chords (which you already know) and one barre chord, such as House of the Rising Sun to learn the F chord, and What’s Up by the Four Non Blondes to learn the Bm chord. Then practice until you can change the barre chords as quickly as the other chords.
This should take about 2 months.
Playing and Singing a Song
This can take anything from 2-3 weeks to 3-4 months depending on when a player starts doing it. The secret is to try and sing along to what you are playing as soon as possible. If you leave it for a few months, even though your guitar playing will obviously be much better, splitting the brain to allow you to sing along gets harder, so start as soon as you can.
Your First Scale
Pentatonic scales are not only the easiest to learn, but also one of the most useful scales, and are widely used by most of the guitar greats. Start with an Am pentatonic shape on the 5th fret. This should take less than 20 minutes to learn and can be learned at any time. So, your first scale could take anywhere from 1 day to 1 year depending on when you decide to learn it.
Improvising, Riffs, and Soloing
Once you know a scale well, you can start improvising by simply playing it over a song. For example, if you have learned the Am pentatonic mentions above, put on a backing track in the key of Am (search YouTube to find them), or any song in Am, and improvise. Start by just playing the scale over the song, then vary the order of the notes and add hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, etc. to create phrases.
This could be done in your first few weeks of playing if you really want to be a lead guitarist, or added anytime you need a bit of variety in your practice or a change from playing chords.
As well as learning the chords and rhythms of your favorite songs, you also need to learn the riffs and solos. You can start doing this after a few weeks of learning with simple single strings riffs, and a few weeks later with the very basic solos.
Music Theory, Reading, and Writing Music
In my opinion, music theory should be learned when you are ready to learn it. You don’t need it to play most songs, so wait until you feel you need it, then start slowly and master it. The same is true of reading and writing music, most of the guitar greats can’t read music, so don’t worry about it. If you do need it in the future, then is the time to learn it.
All the Frets on the Fretboard
Lots of people think this is vital and tell beginners to start working on it straight away. However, you won’t need this until you know your scales and some basic theory, so don’t waste time in the early stages trying to learn it.
In terms of time, as long as you start learning it at the right stage of your development, learning every note on the fretboard can take as little as an hour, with a few hours of practice over the next few days to cement the process. The trick is to already know every note on the low E and A strings, which you will know if you have learned all your barre chords, and to know the 6-octave shapes. Then just connect the dots and you will know every note on the fretboard in no time at all.
And now to the big question…
How long does it take to play the guitar naturally?
By that I mean, when does it all seem to make sense, and everything you play just sounds good? I call this clicking with the instrument, and on average it takes 2 years of relatively consistent practice. To be honest, I have rarely seen anyone master it much quicker than that, but on the plus side, even people who don’t practice as much as they should don’t take much longer. It’s as if having the guitar in your hands for a few years just makes you play more naturally.
Even though you can call yourself an accomplished guitarist at this stage, don’t think that you’ll be flying around every Steve Vai solo, or playing along to every song by Polyphia. You won’t, that will take a lot more practice, time, and dedication, but you’ll have the building blocks to achieve anything you want on the guitar and everyone who hears you play, will be subtly to majorly impressed.
Wrapping it Up
There you have it, on average how long a novice guitar player should take to reach the various stages of learning the best instrument in the world. These averages are based on the pupils I have taught, therefore, if you are going it alone and teaching yourself, it could well take longer.
So get yourself a good one-on-one teacher if possible, if not find a good online teacher, such as myself, or buy yourself a good course. Learning from YouTube is fine, but not the best way to get through the basics quickly and in the correct order, as well as stay accountable. It can also be very frustrating because people search for tutorials of their favorite songs and then think I’ll never play that. But if they are guided on a weekly basis by a teacher, they will reach that goal very easily.
For more information check out the very best ways of How to Learn to Play the Electric Guitar.
Have fun and enjoy the journey!
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