{"id":203875,"date":"2023-03-10T06:00:35","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T14:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/?p=203875"},"modified":"2023-05-17T06:11:50","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T13:11:50","slug":"how-long-learn-play-guitar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/how-long-learn-play-guitar\/","title":{"rendered":"How Long Does it Take to Learn Guitar? And How to Go Further Faster"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>How long does it take to learn guitar?<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a common and reasonable question. We\u2019re keen. We want results. And we want them now.<\/p>\n<p>And if not now, WHEN? What does the road ahead look like? How long will it take?<\/p>\n<p class=\"centerc\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VhfSzLD7cDQ?rel=0&amp;modestbranding=1\" width=\"700\" height=\"393\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Learning Time for Guitar &#8211; The Philosophical Approach<\/h2>\n<p>We could take a philosophical approach. We could say that learning guitar is a lifetime journey.<\/p>\n<p>Great musicians practice, study, and learn all their lives.<\/p>\n<p>As Louis Armstrong said, \u201c<em>Musicians don\u2019t retire. They stop when there\u2019s no more music in them.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">But How Long, Really? What Should I Expect?<\/h2>\n<p>Everybody is different. Everyone works at different speeds. Everyone has different aptitudes.<\/p>\n<p>But let\u2019s look at some phases we will pass through.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s see where we\u2019d be if we played for say, 20 hours. Or 1000.<\/p>\n<p>We could make these landmarks to aim for.<\/p>\n<h3>Common Landmarks: 20 Hours<\/h3>\n<p>If we\u2019re going to learn guitar, we need to commit to the first 20 hours.<\/p>\n<p>At 20 hours, we are getting to know the guitar. Our fingers will have started to do what we tell them.<\/p>\n<p>We may have <a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/chords\">learned some notes or chords<\/a>. We may have started to read music. We could be playing tunes already. We\u2019ll be seeing results.<\/p>\n<p>Pay attention to good technique right from the start. It will ensure those 20 hours are efficient. We\u2019ll advance further.<\/p>\n<p>If we practice for 15 mins a day, it will take 80 days to hit 20 hours of practice. At 30 minutes per day, we\u2019ll hit this mark after 40 days of practice.<\/p>\n<h3>Common Landmarks: 100 Hours<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s a different experience at 100 hours.<\/p>\n<p>By now, we\u2019re learning more about <a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/music-theory-guitar\">music theory<\/a>. We\u2019ll know more notes and more chords. We\u2019ll be able to read music and <a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/how-to-learn-classical-guitar-pieces\">learn pieces<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll have increased skills. We\u2019ll be using both hands with more confidence.<\/p>\n<p>We will have found problems and overcome them, so we\u2019ve more experience behind us.<\/p>\n<p>If we practice for 30 minutes a day, it\u2019ll take us 200 days to reach 100 hours.<\/p>\n<h3>Common Landmarks: 1000 Hours<\/h3>\n<p>1000 hours is quite a milestone. If we\u2019ve played for an hour every day of the year, it\u2019s taken us 2.7 years to get here.\u00a0 For most people, this will be 5 years or more.<\/p>\n<p>At this point, we\u2019re refining our technique and expanding our repertoire.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve reached the intermediate level.<\/p>\n<p>From here, we\u2019ll go on to learn bigger pieces. We\u2019ll <a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/fine-details-classical-guitar-polish-perfect\/\">play with more expression<\/a> and deeper awareness.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\">Has It Been Actual Progress?<\/h3>\n<p>We can be proud to hit one of these landmark goals.<\/p>\n<p>But have we been progressing?<\/p>\n<p>Have we been learning and moving forward, or have we been playing within our comfort zone all this time?<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Playing v. Practicing<\/h2>\n<p>Playing is not the same as practicing.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/learning-to-learn\/\">Whether we \u2018play\u2019 or \u2018practice\u2019 affects the speed of progress<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Some guitarists have been playing for years. But they may not have been practicing.<\/p>\n<p>So if we want to pin down how long it will take to learn guitar, we need to think about our process too.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3ygKfv0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Anders Ericcson<\/a> coined the term \u201cdeliberate practice,\u201d and it is the way to see more progress in less time.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s say we learned three chords in our first 20 hours. We then spent the next 100 hours playing songs that only contained those three chords.<\/p>\n<p>How much progress would we have made? Can we play those three chords any better than when we first mastered them? Can we play more <a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/make-bar-chords\/\">difficult chords<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p>Practice is an active process. It seeks to make improvements. It\u2019s intentional and it\u2019s focused.<\/p>\n<p>Deliberate practice is the way to make the most of those hours spent with the guitar. Whether it\u2019s 20 or 1000.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Quantum Leaps in Guitar Abilities<\/h2>\n<p>Even when we practice with intention and focus, sometimes we hit a plateau.<\/p>\n<p>No matter how much time we spend on an area of our playing, it can seem like we make little progress.<\/p>\n<p>It may be frustrating. But keep at it. Because suddenly, there will be a shift.<\/p>\n<p>We can call it the quantum leap. Something clicks and we have a breakthrough. The work we have done for the previous days, months, and years comes to fruition. Limitations evaporate. What was hard is now easy.<\/p>\n<p>It can happen in an instant. (It would be nice if we could plan it, but we can\u2019t!)<\/p>\n<h3>Change Can Happen in an Instant<\/h3>\n<p>Many guitarists have experienced the quantum leap. This is often the way progress happens at the intermediate to advanced levels and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>We can cultivate this. For example, we can <a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/reduce-tension-improve-touch-buzzed-notes\/\">be more aware of the tension<\/a>, and better able to judge what is appropriate. Or we can focus on our breathing, and see how it affects our body, face, and hands.<\/p>\n<p>We can work to become more aware of the basics and how they contribute to more advanced playing.<\/p>\n<p>So to spur a Quantum Leap, play with awareness. Use your attention and train better focus.<\/p>\n<p>And then play with faith, not fear.<\/p>\n<h3>Trust and Faith &#8211; Letting Go<\/h3>\n<p>Fear often blocks us from progress. Fear of missing a note causes us to tense up and lock down. How many of us dread the <a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/guitar-shifting-positions\/\">big fretboard shifts<\/a> as they come up in the music?<\/p>\n<p>Our brains and muscles know how to do it, but fear means we don\u2019t let them.<\/p>\n<p>But have faith, and we\u2019ll hit every note. We\u2019ll be able to fly through big shifts with confidence and accuracy.<\/p>\n<p>Books have been written about this. It\u2019s called \u201cflow\u201d and it is the way that we can play beyond our perceived abilities.<\/p>\n<p>As we train faith and courage, we\u2019ll improve much faster. Once we\u2019ve trained our fingers through good technique, we are free to release the need to control them. We are free to trust our neurophysiology to get to the next note on time.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">It Is Always Now &#8211; Today is the Only Day<\/h2>\n<p>If the thought of completing 1000 hours, 100 hours &#8211; or even 20 hours &#8211; seems a lifetime away, don\u2019t let it discourage you. Think about the journey. Think about what can you do today.<\/p>\n<p>So what can we do today?<\/p>\n<p>We can have valuable, <a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/practice-technique-clean-guitar-playing\/\">intentional practice<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We can find something specific to focus on. We can find a challenge and work on it. We can notice our muscles and mind and urge them into more useful states.<\/p>\n<p>Step by step, this is the journey of learning to play the guitar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How long does it take to learn guitar? It\u2019s a common and reasonable question. We\u2019re keen. We want results. And we want them now. And if not now, WHEN? What does the road ahead look like? How long will it take? Learning Time for Guitar &#8211; The Philosophical Approach We could take a philosophical approach. We could say that learning &#8230; <\/p>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/how-long-learn-play-guitar\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":203882,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,434],"tags":[364,363,372],"class_list":["post-203875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-main-content-parent","tag-beginners","tag-general-guitar","tag-practice-planning"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.8 (Yoast SEO v25.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Long Does it Take to Learn Guitar? 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