Is guitar hard to learn? Many people on the fence about learning guitar ask this question. Personally, I think it’s a tough one to answer. You’ll find a lot of people who say guitar is hard to learn, but you’ll also find those who consider guitar a relatively easy instrument.

But the short answer is yes, guitar is hard to learn. This isn’t because guitar is inherently hard, but because learning anything worthwhile is kind of hard. That is, it takes time and effort.

This post will go through how hard it is to learn guitar, and even provide some ideas on how to make it easier.

I don’t mean to get overly philosophical, but “learning guitar” isn’t as straightforward as you might think. For one thing, we use the term “learn guitar” to relate to a process and a destination depending on the context.

For example, if you were to say, “Jeff learned guitar in six months,” you’d be implying that Jeff successfully “learned guitar.” This refers to a skill-level achievement that Jeff reached.

However, we also think of “learning guitar” as a process. You start learning at a certain point in time, then continue learning indefinitely. Most people would agree that no matter how good you are as a guitarist, you can always learn more. In this sense, no one finishes “learning guitar.”

So when we wonder how hard it is to learn guitar, you can see how the answer largely depends on how we frame the question. If we’re thinking of learning guitar as a process, you can “learn guitar” just by picking one up today!

However, if we think of learning guitar as trying to reach a final destination, the answer totally depends on the nature of that destination.

Do you want to strum or shape chords, learn a fingerstyle pattern, or play a certain song? Each skill comes with its own set of challenges and has its own timeline as a result. 
 

Let’s get into what’s so hard about guitar. For one thing, playing almost any guitar song requires separate but coordinated movements of both hands. If you’re not a trained guitarist, these movements will feel foreign and awkward.

Barre chords are another common issue for new players. They can only be done properly if you learn good technique and develop some left-hand strength. Many beginning guitarists fall to barre chords, giving up the struggle once they encounter them.

But in my view, the biggest challenge of learning guitar is that it takes a lot of time and dedication. Many of us expect instant results these days, but you rarely get that with the guitar. You also won’t find a zero-effort shortcut to mastery.

In this sense, learning guitar is hard in the same way that getting fit is hard. It takes a lot of time and effort, and you’ll also need to fight through periods of self-doubt. With that in mind, I’d argue that the hardest thing about learning guitar is the mental strength needed to so.
 

Learning guitar can be made easier depending on how you go about it. As you’ll learn from this post, I put a huge emphasis on one’s guitar learning method—much more than something like natural talent.

Here’s a guitar hack: everything on guitar is easier to learn if you practice slowly. Slow practice works because playing guitar well amounts to a complex finger-dance, each movement of which needs to be choreographed and rehearsed.

Slow practice allows you to rehearse the right motions each time. Once you have these motions in your muscle memory, you’ll be able to speed them up to meet your target tempo.

However if you neglect slow playing, you’re more likely to repeat mistakes in your practicing. You then learn the mistakes instead of the right motions, stalling out your progress.
 

Just for the fun of it, let’s discuss what makes learning guitar harder than it should be. Given what we said above, one obvious answer is practicing too fast.

Practicing fast and carelessly is a huge impediment to progress. If you consistently practice that way, you’ll have trouble building the accuracy, speed, and technique needed to play well.

Other obstacles there are too, however. And the biggest one of all is you. I know the idea that you’re the only person standing in your way is a cliché, but I’m convinced that it’s true here. Countless guitarists basically give up on their playing dreams because of some sort of mental block.

My Story

Let’s take the position I was in as an example. I started playing guitar right out of college, around the age of 22 or 23. I practiced on a daily basis for two years. At first I saw improvement, but then I was basically treading water, playing without really getting better for at least a year.

During that stagnation, I became increasingly worried that I lacked talent. I felt that no matter how much I practiced, I’d stay at about the same level. Fortunately, I discovered a new method of practicing that actually yielded results and broke me out of my rut.

The point is that no matter how things are going, you need to keep believing in yourself as a player. If you’re not really improving, it’s because you need to practice differently. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with you! You just need to rethink your strategy.

Here are some secrets to optimizing your practice routine today.
 

In a real way, we can't objectively decide whether any given instrument is harder than another. Every instrument is hard in certain ways.

That said, we can still learn something from comparing guitar playing to piano playing. From my experience with both, I can definitively say that producing single notes and chords is generally easier on piano than on guitar.

In a sense, that’s exactly why the piano repertoire tends to be more musically dense than the guitar repertoire. Pianists can play notes and chords with much less physical effort than guitarists, allowing them to play separate parts with each hand.

But you can already see why the comparison is complicated: almost exactly because the piano is more playable in certain ways, the musical expectation is comparatively higher. Thus, pianists tend to play much harder music than guitarists and learn more theory.

There’s also a very different cultural background around piano and guitar. People often associate piano with the classical piano repertoire (which is extremely difficult) and guitar with strumming three-chord songs. That’s partly why most normal folks consider piano more difficult than guitar.
 

I don’t like to be the bearer of bad news, but if you’re looking for something easy, learning guitar might not be for you. Now, I’m not saying it’s overly hard to learn the basics. On the contrary, every other person you meet seems to play the guitar to some extent.

But the truth is, playing guitar well is a hard thing to do. Even very good guitarists often feel inadequate in the face of musical challenges. So if you’re struggling to learn guitar, you’re definitely not alone—not by a long shot.

The good news is that learning guitar is a rewarding experience. If you face its technical and musical trials with a healthy frame of mind, you’ll enjoy it and grow as a person in the process.

If you’re looking for even more discussion on this topic, you can read about How Hard is it to Learn Guitar? from Guitar Advise.

Feel free to let me know what you find hard about guitar in the comments!

Are you looking to upgrade your gear or browse some awesome guitar learning materials? Check out my recommendations page to see all my favorite stuff. 

Want to streamline your fingerstyle guitar progress? I just released my new ebook, Fingerstyle Fitness, which presents 10 easy exercises to quickly develop your fingerstyle chops. Grab it today!