If you’re a beginner, you probably wonder what the general rule of thumb is on how often or how long to practice guitar. The answer to this depends on your goals and experience level, but in general it’s a good guideline to try and practice guitar every day.
Why Should You Practice Guitar Every Day?
If you want to be a great guitarist, playing every day will lead to faster progress. You’ll build calluses quickly and progressively build your skill on the instrument over time.
Even if it hurts a little at first, there’s nothing as sweet as making music. The songs may be simple at first, but they get better. After a while, the question of how long to practice guitar a day will be determined by the time you have available, not what you have to spend.
But it may be difficult for some new players to get used to practicing every day. Let’s take a closer look at why I feel this is still a good recommendation.
Benefits of Practicing Guitar Every Day
It’s good to make a habit of playing every day. You’ll make steady progress if you work on it each day, and you won’t have to worry about skipping a few days and having to start over from where you were before that.
Playing and thinking about music is like building a muscle. You are building the muscles in your fingers, so it’s easier for them to finger the chords. You want it to be second nature.
The more you exercise your fingers, the better they work for you.
Practicing Daily Leads to Faster Results
Anything you set out to learn- from a class on electronics to a new skill like woodworking, is going to take months, maybe even a year, for you to become good at it. There’s no substitute for practice.
With the guitar, what are your goals? Do you want to play? Do you want to be good? How about amazing? Depending on what your goals are, it will take time and effort for you to get there.
You’ll notice your progress. Not all at once. But suddenly, you’ll be able to do something you couldn’t last week, or you’ll know a new song. Celebrate your achievements. But keep practicing. Your goals will tell you how long to practice a guitar a day.
Practicing Guitar Every Day Builds Calluses
That pain in your fingers from fretting chords? It’ll be gone when your calluses form. It takes two to four weeks for them to totally develop, but don’t worry. They start to form quickly if you practice regularly, and you’ll have some relief.
What Happens If You Practice Guitar Every Day? (A Timeline)
Here’s a possible timeline of what your results might look like if you practice guitar every single day. Note – This is very rough and just meant to give a general idea. Some people may achieve these results much slower or faster than others:
- 1-2 months Play basic guitar tunes, strumming, and changing chords.
- 3-6 months Play songs with a higher difficulty level with some technical challenges like pull-offs and hammer-ons.
- 1 year Play songs of an intermediate level, popular tunes, blues, riffs, etc.
- 2 years Play most songs with some practice.
- 2-3 years Able to improvise after learning some theory.
- 5-6 years You’re game for anything.
Why Does It Take So Much Practice to Learn the Guitar?
Because people don’t stick with it every day. Often, beginners pick up their guitar and stick to it for a few days. They get discouraged and put it down for a week or two. Then they decide to pick it up again and put it back down.
If you keep at it steadily, it moves a little faster. This is why daily practice is so important. It takes a few weeks even to learn to change chords. It doesn’t happen overnight. Time is needed to build muscle memory and train your hands to play, so it’s second nature to pull off those technical tricks.
What Should I Practice on Guitar Each Day?
This depends on the guitarist, but we each have a system we follow. I wrote a big guide to 50 acoustic songs that nearly everyone should be able to learn.
Scales are suitable for warming up-you don’t want to start playing when your fingers aren’t ready, chords are essential to practice, music theory is crucial if you’re going to improvise, and of course, you want to work on whatever song you’re learning.
What’s most important is that you do practice, and it’s up to you how long to practice, or what to practice on your guitar every day.
Can You Practice Guitar Too Much?
Repetitive joint injuries are a real thing, especially in stringed instruments such as guitars. It’s always a good idea to use moderation, as you don’t want to damage your hands, to the point where you can’t play anymore. You can practice guitar too much.
More importantly, mindless repetition during endless practice can cause other problems, too.
- Boredom from constant mindless playing
- Repeating bad habits
- No regular progress
One website says you shouldn’t practice more than three hours a day, but it’s up to you how long to practice a guitar a day.
Ready to Get Better at Guitar, Faster?
Whenever you’re ready to take your guitar playing to the next level, check out a few of my favorite resources below:
The Best Acoustic Guitar Strings – A unique polymer coating makes these guitar strings last for months or even years at a time, making for an exceptional value. They provide the perfect mix of boom, range, twang, and brightness that acoustic music is known for. — CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE
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Chords, Tabs & Video Lessons for 100 Epic Songs – This free guide that I created for fellow guitarists gives you chords, tabs, and video lessons for the 100 best songs to learn on guitar… I spent many hours putting this guide together to help you get better at guitar, faster. — CLICK HERE TO GET IT FREE
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