With so many guitar resources available online, many people are wondering whether they can teach themselves to play the guitar. So: Can You Teach Yourself Guitar?
Yes, it is possible to teach yourself how to play the guitar without going to time-consuming and expensive in-person lessons. In fact, you can do it at your house.
But that doesn’t mean teaching yourself is any easier than getting lessons. There’s a lot more to the question of teaching yourself guitar than just if you can do it. Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of teaching yourself guitar below.
Why Teach Yourself Guitar?
While nothing can beat a real instructor when it comes to learning how to do something new, many people who want to learn a new skill like playing the guitar simply don’t have the time in their day to squeeze in a lesson with an instructor.
Or, if they do, they may not have the funds to afford these lessons. After all, in-person guitar lessons typically start out costing at leasting $30/hr or more a pop.
Teaching Yourself Guitar: Pros and Cons
The Pros of Teaching Yourself
There are some obvious pros to learning on your own. You can do it at your own pace, you don’t have to accommodate the schedule of a guitar teacher on when to study, and using online lessons or YouTube videos to learn is going to be a lot less expensive than weekly meetings with an instructor.
Even buying books on how to teach yourself guitar, while not free as other methods may be, will probably be a lot cheaper in the long run than a teacher would be.
If you’re a very busy person with a jam-packed schedule who wants to try to learn guitar, you might only be able to squeeze in practice time in the very early morning or very late at night, times when a traditional guitar teacher definitely won’t be available.
With the magic of online lessons and video tutorials, though, you can learn anytime you want. Plus, because they’re immortalized in video format, you can rewatch the same ones over and over as many times as you want if you’re having trouble with a particular skill.
Another pro of being self-taught is that you don’t have to rely on the wisdom of just one person. There are thousands of tutorials and guitar lesson sites on the Internet, so if you’re having trouble with something and one person’s video isn’t helping, you can look around and see if someone else’s advice helps you more.
The Cons of Teaching Yourself
As great as being self-taught can be, though, there are still some drawbacks. One of the biggest cons of teaching yourself guitar, or any new skill, is that it is entirely your responsibility to stay motivated and dedicated to learning. You have to carve out time to practice, and you have to keep up the habit.
With traditional guitar lessons, you have a built-in motivator in your teacher. If you have appointments to meet with a teacher each week, you’ll feel obligated to practice, which can help you learn faster. When you’re teaching yourself, you need to be able to motivate yourself, which is hard to do, especially if you’re very busy.
Another con is that if you get stuck or make a mistake, no one can help you troubleshoot. You have to go out and find the answers yourself, either by rewatching the same lesson over and over or searching out advice from others.
It can be very frustrating if something you’re doing isn’t working and you can’t figure out why. This is actually a large part of the reason why so many people who try to teach themselves guitar give up.
In a similar vein, trying to teach yourself guitar can make you learn the wrong things. Because you have no one to correct you when you make a mistake, and because the Internet can often be full of misinformation, you need to be careful about what you’re learning and who you’re learning it from.
If you can, try to look into an online instructor or author’s credentials so you can be sure they know what they’re talking about. Once you’ve made a habit of doing something the wrong way, it can be really hard to relearn it the right way, so be careful to really ingrain good technique when starting out.
Is Teaching Yourself to Play the Guitar Hard?
The short answer is yes. I’m not going to sugarcoat it and say that learning how to do any new skill on your own isn’t difficult. You have to really want it because you’ll be doing it all by yourself.
But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do it. Learning how to play an instrument is a lot of hard work, and it can be frustrating at times, but it can also bring you a lot of joy.
The key is just to stay dedicated and keep up with your practice. Eventually, no matter how much of a beginner you were when you started, you’ll find that playing becomes a whole lot easier and more fun.
To discover if learning the guitar is worth it for you, check out my blog on the topic.
How to Start Teaching Yourself to Play Guitar
Once guitarists have the very basics down (strumming, tuning, technique, basic chord changes, etc) I actually like to recommend that they start learning their favorite songs as soon as possible.
Learning songs you love will keep you motivated and having fun, encouraging you to continue to make progress on the instrument.
Many of your favorite songs are likely easier than you think. In fact, you’ll probably find some of them on my list of 50 Best Acoustic Songs for Beginners to Learn. This list includes 50 songs with chord charts, tabs and video lessons, to make teaching yourself as easy as possible.
If you want to make the fastest progress possible though, check out my recommended courses, lessons & teachers.
The First Thing to Teach Yourself On Guitar
I recommend the first thing that all guitarists learn is how to choose, maintain, and care for their instrument.
Because surprisingly few players know how to do exactly those things.
And if you don’t even have a handle on those fundamentals…
Then it doesn’t matter how good you are, or what song you’re playing…
You simply aren’t going to sound good on a poorly maintained instrument.
That’s why in this book, I decided to reveal all the secret tips I know when it comes to buying, owning, and maintaining an acoustic guitar…
…Stuff that took me a decade to learn on my own, since it is scattered randomly around the internet (or rarely discussed at all)
In this book you’ll discover…
- how to choose a guitar
- what to look for in tonewoods
- guitar body styles
- how to get a good price
- whether to buy used or new
- a curated guide to the 10 best acoustic guitars for beginners
- how to choose guitar strings, and make them last 10x longer
- how to maintain your instrument for a lifetime
- caring for the fretboard
- should you use fretboard oil? how often?
- adjusting the truss rod
- flying and traveling with your instrument safely
- how to store and display your guitar safely
- caring for the fretboard
- what to learn first on guitar (fingerpicking? flatpicking? etc)
- where to learn it
- the best ways and resources to teach yourself guitar for FREE
- 30 secret hacks to unleash unstoppable guitar motivation
- how to stay in love with the instrument for the rest of your life
- much more
So if you’re ready to rocket past your competition…
And learn how to choose, maintain, care for, and fall in love with your instrument for a lifetime to come…
Then you can pick up my Ultimate Buyer’s and Maintenance Guide.