Guitar Lessons for Beginners: The Ultimate Guide in 2024!

Hello World! Welcome Friends! According to Fender, 50% of Americans love to play guitar! So, the craze to learn guitar is quite a hot cake in the United States. (Source: Breakthroughguitar)

So, how long does it take to learn guitar, you may wonder!

Well, it depends.

As a beginner, the initial process might seem challenging. However, as you practice your way through and keep a fixed schedule, the challenges can be tackled.

Here this blog can be your ultimate guide to taking your guitar knowledge one step further.

Highlights: Guitar Lessons for Beginners

Pick the right guitar
Set realistic goals and milestones
Understand the basic techniques
Set a proper schedule for your sessions and practice time

Choosing the Right Guitar

It’s fun to pick up and start learning guitar, but trust me you won’t go further this way! This is because choosing the perfect guitar is necessary when it comes to learning effective playing. Here’s what you need to know before you go on picking your guitar.

The Type of Guitar

There are three mainstream types of guitars: acoustic, electric, and classical. Under these lie different features suitable for use within various genres and playing styles.

Acoustic Guitars

Acoustic guitars are quite versatile and fit any new learner. These guitar types do not use amplifiers or any kind of equipment. So, you can easily carry your guitar anywhere. without much trouble.

However, for any new learner, the steel strings could be pretty hard on the fingers. Plus, the volume of sound is comparatively restricted to the natural resonance of the guitar itself.

Electric Guitars

Electric guitars are of a different level when it comes to sound due to the electric amplifiers and effect pedals. It allows for much more complex playing techniques and makes it much easier on the fingers, especially for styles like:

Rock
Metal
Jazz
Blues

The downside is that electric guitars do need an amplifier, which raises your upfront expense and they are less portable.

Classical Guitar

The classical guitars come with gentle, nylon strings that feel quite comfy to a beginner’s finger. They are perfect when you want to play classic music with complicated finger-style techniques.

Usually, the neck is a bit wider so you can position the fingers correctly, a technique crucial for playing the most out of classic music. However, these guitar types might not be a great pick especially if you want to play modern music.

Size and Fit of Guitars

Remember to choose those guitars that easily fit your playing style and size. If you make a misjudgment here, you will face discomfort, and it may slow down your learning pace.

For a younger player or one with small hands, the 3/4 size of a classical guitar works well as it doesn’t strain the hands much.

Budget Considerations

Budget is quite an important factor, especially when you are investing in your first guitar. Classical guitars usually come at a low cost and it’s not a bad start.

Then come acoustic guitars that are mid-priced and very flexible. However, an electric guitar can be on the expensive end as you need to equip it with an amplifier and other accessories.

Recommended Beginner Guitars:

Here are some good beginner models:

Check Out These Reddit Comments and See What New Guitar Players Have to Say

Zager Guitar my wife bought me

[NEWBIE] Hello! New guitarist here. Need help identifying what kind of guitar this is, the length, and what accessories I need to go with it.

Setting Realistic Goals

Here are some of the realistic and meaningful goals that most students set:

Personal Enjoyment: Playing for the sake of making music.
Social Connection: Social enhancement through playing with friends or performing.
Skill Development: The challenge of mastering a new instrument.

Short-Term Goals:

Learn basic chords—C, G, D, E minor—in a month.
Practice 15 minutes every day, five times a week.

Medium-Term Goals:

Play a simple song from start to finish within three months.
Be able to change chords easily and play in time.

Long-Term Goals:

Play an original song within one year.
Play in a band or at an open mic night.

Breaking down your motivation into small milestones allows you to stay focused and feel a sense of accomplishment.

Developing a Practice Schedule

A consistent practice schedule is necessary to make progress. This is how you can develop a practice schedule:

Practice 15–30 minutes a day. Remember that consistency is much more important than the actual length of your practice. It is better to have short, focused practice sessions than long, unfocused ones.

Choose times of the week when you can regularly practice.

Practice at the same time every day to develop habits.

Do different things during each practice session.

Stretches for fingers or scales.

Chord changes, strumming, or fingerpicking.

Improvise or compose music.

Keep a practice journal to log what you worked on, what went well, and things to work on next time.

Learning Basic Techniques

How to Hold the Guitar

Correct posture and positioning are critical for great playing. Take into consideration the following points:

Step 1: Sit with your back straight or stand balanced on your weight.

Step 2: Support the guitar on your left leg (for right-handed) with the neck pointing toward your left shoulder.

Step 3: Keep your fretting hand wrist straight, fingers curved, and thumb at the back of the neck.

Step 4: Tip your strumming hand wrist slightly downward, keeping your fingers relaxed near the strings.

Tuning Your Guitar

Tuning is important to give off a beautiful sound. You can tune either by listening or using a tuner:

Tuning by Hearing:

Draw an E note from a reference pitch onto the low E string.
Match the A string to the 5th fret of the low E string.
Then the D string played open is matched to the 5th fret of the A string.
Next, the G string played open is matched to the 5th fret of the D string.
Then the B string played open is matched to the 4th fret of the G string.
Finally, the high E string played open is matched to the 5th fret of the B string.

Using a Tuner:

Plug the guitar into the tuner or put it close enough to the microphone.
Pluck all the strings one by one and set their pitch according to what is showing on the tuner.

Basic Chords for Beginners

A chord is more than one note played together. Begin with these open chords :

C Major: Ring finger on the 3rd fret of the A string, middle on the 2nd fret of the D string, index on the 1st fret of the B string.
G Major: The low E, middle finger 3rd fret; the A string, ring finger 3rd fret, low E, index finger 2nd fret.
D Major: G string, index finger 2nd fret; high E with the middle finger 2nd fret, B string with the ring finger 3rd fret.

Patterns of Strumming

Strumming is the act of playing on multiple strings at once. Start with the following easier ones:

Down-Up: Down on the first beat, and up on the second
Down-Down-Up: Two downs and then one up
Down-Up-Down-Up: Down, up, down, up in that order.

Beginner Guitar Lessons

When it comes to guitar lessons, you can take either online or in-person lessons, depending on your preference. Here we’ll give you a side-by-side comparison of these two forms of lessons.

Online vs. In-Person Lessons

Good Sides of Online Lessons:

Generally, online sessions are less expensive, with different free resources available.
You can learn at your pace and schedule; fitting into busy lives is easy.
Availability of different instructors, styles, and resources, like video tutorials and apps.

Drawbacks of Online Lessons:

No real-time correction can result in developing bad habits.
Students miss out on real guidance and engagement that in-person lessons can provide.

Good Sides of In-Person Lessons:

Real-time corrections and customized advice build good habits.
More likely to follow a much more organized curriculum.
You can get social interaction with one-on-one sessions

Drawbacks of In-Person Lessons:

More expensive; ranges by instructor and location
Locked into a fixed schedule

Lesson Plans to Recommend

Zager Guitar Lessons: A vast library of over 150 hours of streaming lessons.
JustinGuitar: Free lessons from basic to advanced techniques.
Fender Play: Step-by-step lessons and song tutorials within this subscription-based platform.
YouTube Tutorials: Supplemental lessons and practice on channels like Marty Music and GuitarLessons.com.

Practice Songs for Beginners

Playing along with songs helps get a feel for the rhythm of playing and builds confidence. Begin with these beginner-friendly songs:

“Wonderwall” by Oasis uses simple chords and is quite popular among beginners.
“Horse with No Name” by America comes with a simple two-chord progression.
“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” by Bob Dylan is a classic with basic chords, and it can be a remarkable exercise to learn the transition of chords.

Overcoming Common Challenges

Dealing with Finger Pain

Finger pain is common as beginners adjust to pressing strings. Now, here’s how you can deal with your quite effectively.

Practice in short sessions of 10-15 minutes first and increase it over time.
Go for lighter gauge strings as they require less pressure hence putting less strain on your fingers.
Keeping the fingertips on the strings and closer to the fretboard reduces much strain.
Always stretch the fingers a bit before you start playing any instrument. This makes your fingers flexible and strong.
If your fingers ache, stop. Give some time to recover before resuming again.
Increase the practice time and intensity over time to build up finger strength.

Avoiding Common Mistakes

Beginners often make several mistakes which can slow or prevent progress. Here’s how to avoid them:

Bad Posture: Relax yourself and place the guitar comfortably at all times.
Careless Tuning: Take time to tune your guitar each time before playing so that the notes turn out perfect.
Skipping Basics: Learn the basics of chords, strumming, and finger working before you proceed to advanced material.
Irregular Practice: A little practice every day keeps you on the move.
No Rhythm: Use a metronome or play along with recordings to develop timing.

Check Out This Video for an In-Depth Understanding

Common Challenges To Overcome For Beginner Guitar Players

Advanced Tips for Continued Learning

Expanding Your Chord Knowledge

Power chords build on your chord knowledge and will do wonders for your playing flexibility.
By pressing down multiple strings with your first finger, you can easily play chord shapes up the neck. When you can do this, it opens up an entire world of chords and keys.
These are standard in rock and metal and are essentially two- or three-notes, giving a quite full sound. They contain the root note and the perfect fifth; sometimes an octave accompanies them.
Building these chords will allow you to be able to play more songs and more complex structures and genres.

Music Theory 101

Learning some music theory will be useful to playing and especially to songwriting.

Scales and Keys: The sequences of notes would form the backbone of most melodies and solos. Major and minor scales help make sense of the fretboard and to improvise. Keys organize scales and chords around tonal centers.

Interval Training: The distances between notes are called intervals. Being able to hear and distinguish the various intervals in music will better equip you to play by ear and to understand chord qualities.

Exploring Different Styles

Practicing various genres may help keep your playing varied and interesting.

Rock: Power chords, palm muting, and distortion are used for the solid sound. Here pentatonic scales are useful for solo.
Blues: Blues scales, string bending, and vibrato are what you’d need to get this expression; general characteristics are shuffle rhythms and call-and-response phrasing.
Folk: Focus on the finger-picking patterns and taking advantage of the alternate tunings. Keeping a light touch and a strumming sense of rhythm is going to help create a folk sound.
Jazz: Regularly do chord melodies and work on chord soloing. As you improvise across jazz chords and pick up the altered chords, it can open up your knowledge of jazz much further.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How long does it take to learn guitar as a beginner?

Usually, it takes somewhere around several months to even a year only to develop the basics. However, some beginners may require only a few weeks to play simple songs. So, it entirely depends on your learning and practicing skills.

2. What is the easiest song to play on guitar?

There are several simple songs you can learn to play on your guitar:

“Paranoid” by Black Sabbath
“Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd
“My Generation” by The Who
“American Idiot” by Green Day

3. How often should I practice the guitar?

Practice for at least 15 minutes every day. However, don’t practice for an hour straight; instead, take short breaks during each session.

4. Do I need to learn to read music to play guitar?

Not really! However, some students want to read music and know the theories before they can start playing.

5. Can I teach myself guitar?

Now, it takes strength and courage to learn yourself. However, just practice and be patient and go through the guitar basics before going through difficult tunes.

Which Beginner Guitar Lesson Will You Continue?

With sufficient practice and determination, you can easily have a good grip on the basics. However, make sure you have a good guitar to start with your guitar practice and ensure it’s comfortable to hold and the size does not create a hassle.

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