Many of us fancy ourselves as being rock stars. Of course, the first step to this is to actually learn how to play an instrument. The go-to instrument for most people is the guitar. Now, the guitar technically isn’t all that hard to learn.

With that being said, there is still of course a learning curve involved. Yes, for some people it is going to be more challenging than for others.

One thing you are obviously going to wonder is, how long does it take to learn guitar? this is exactly what we are going to talk about today.

Generally speaking, it’s going to take you around two months to achieve a beginner level. However, it can take six months to achieve an intermediate level. It can then take up to 36 months or longer to become a pro. This is something that we are going to breakdown in greater detail below.

We’re also going to talk about how much time you need to spend practicing every day or every week to achieve various proficiency levels.

The Average Timeline: How Long Does it Take to Learn Guitar?

We will break this down into greater detail further below, but for now, let’s look at the basics. Let’s provide you with a rough estimate of how long it’s going to take you to achieve various proficiency levels with your guitar playing.

Beginner Level Player

First things first, you are going to need to learn the basics. This includes how to hold a guitar, how to strum it, how to tune it, and more. If you don’t already know, you are also going to need to learn how to read music.

At this point, you’re also going to learn all of the basic notes, frets, and chords. You’re also going to learn how to strum the guitar and to hit those different chords. At this stage, you might be relegated to playing scales and some extremely simple children’s songs.

Generally speaking, it’s going to take you anywhere from one to two months to achieve this beginner level. By the end of two months, with regular practice, you should have all of the basics down.

Intermediate Level Player

To become an intermediate-level player, you’re going to learn a lot more about music theory. You’re also going to start learning various guitar playing techniques.

Here you’re also going to start learning some different strumming patterns, hammer-ons, and more difficult styles of string plucking as well. As a beginner-intermediate guitar player, it’s also a good time to start learning guitar tabs.

As an intermediate-level player, you should now have a strong grasp on all of the basics and a bit more. You should now be able to play some pretty simple songs. To reach this level of proficiency, you can expect it to take anywhere from three to six months, or longer depending on how fast you learn.

Intermediate Level Two Player

The next stage here is the intermediate level 2 guitar player, which some people would call intermediate-advanced. Generally speaking, it’s going to take you anywhere from 12 to 18 months, or longer, to get to this level. At this point, you should have all guitar playing basics down.

You should know all of your notes, frets, and guitar chords off by heart. Now is the time where you are going to start learning some more advanced guitar chords, some very advanced fingerpicking techniques, and more.

You’re also going to start to learn how to move back and forth between various notes and chords very quickly. At this point, you should be able to play most basic songs out there, as well as some more difficult songs too.

Advanced Level Player

The final stage here is what most people would call an advanced level or professional guitar player. Depending on how fast you pick things up, it can take anywhere from 18 to 36 months, or longer, to get to this level.

At this point, you’re going to know everything there is to know about music theory. You’re going to know all of the frets, notes, chords, and tabs off by heart. You’re also going to be intimately familiar with a variety of advanced planning and plotting techniques.

Generally speaking, at this point, you should know pretty much everything there is to know about playing the guitar. This also means that at this point, you should be able to play virtually any song that you like.

Stages of Learning the Guitar – A Slightly More In-Depth Breakdown

What we want to do now is take a closer look at about how many hours it will take to be various levels of guitar playing. Keep in mind that this all depends on exactly how much time you spend practicing per day. This can generally be divided into 8 separate categories, so let’s take a quick look at each.

1. To learn introductory level guitar skills, it will take somewhere around 156 hours. If you practice for 30 minutes per day, it could take as long as ten months. However, if you practice as long as four hours per day, you can achieve this level in just over a month.
2. To learn guitar basics, it’s going to take somewhere around 312 hours. If you practice for 30 minutes per day, this can take up to 1.8 years. However, if you practice for four hours per day, this could take just under three months.
3. To become a decent beginner guitar player, it’s going to take somewhere around 625 hours. With 30 minutes of practice per day, this could take around 3.5 years. However, if you practice for four hours per day, it will take well under half a year.
4. To become an intermediate level guitar player, it’s going to take somewhere around 1250 hours. If you practice for just 30 minutes per day, this could take almost seven years. However, if you practice for four hours per day, this can take just ten months.
5. To become an advanced guitar player, it’s going to take around 2500 hours. If you practice for just 30 minutes per day, it will take around 13.9 years. If you practice 4-4 hours per day, it will take under two years.
6. To become an expert guitar player, expect to take around 5000 hours. If you practice for just 30 minutes per day, this is going to be nearly 28 years. If you practice for four hours per day, it’s going to take around 3.5 years.
7. To become a so-called professional, it can take around 10,000 hours. If you were to practice for only 30 minutes per day, this would equal about 56 years. If you practice for four hours per day, this would equal around 6.9 years.
8. To become a true guitar master or legend, expect to take around 20,000 hours. If you practice for four hours per day, this would take you somewhere under 14 years.

Learning to Play the Guitar – Final Thoughts

As you can see, the bottom line here is that it really all depends on how long you spend practicing each day. Generally speaking, to become an advanced guitar player, it can take anywhere from two to five years.