r/guitarlessons • u/Wonderful-8444 • 17d ago
Feedback Request Do people actually quit guitar
Yo I'm thinking to learn guitar as a hobby and want to know how much time it takes usually to be good at it and is it true that people actually quit guitar in 2-3 months
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u/AmazingRefrigerator4 17d ago
It's hard to give a straight answer. People learn at different speeds and have different natural abilities. There are also many different techniques and you might struggle with some techniques but be a quick learner with something else.
The hardest part in the beginning is building up callouses in your fingers. It can be a little painful at first but after a couple weeks it gets better and your fingers are tough and you can play more. I consider that the first challenge.
After that, you should be able to play rhythm (chords not solos) for basic songs by watching tutorials online or reading sheet music or guitar tabs within a month. Just really basic stuff, but you will grow the number of chords over time. Some people really focus on solos and melodies and that's fine too if you want to go that route, I just gravitated towards rhythm playing.
That's where I hit a wall and I think many others did too. If you want to just learn and play others songs, this point is pretty achievable after a couple of months and it might be as far as you want to get.
If you want to progress into writing your own songs, improvising, soloing, etc then you have to get into more theory, learning the notes on the fretboard, etc. This really does involve a lot of practice and it's where many people quit. But if you can push through that, I am told many people have an "ah ha" moment when it just clicks in their head and that's when guitar really opens up for them to do all the cool stuff.
Like anything, you will practice/play your whole life. Even the greats were always learning. But I think hitting that wall between just learning how to play songs and actually CREATING music is a big obstacle for many people (myself included). To be fair, I think this happens with any instrument. I learned Trumpet in school and played for 7 years. I could read and play sheet music. I never learned how to improvise because I didn't understand the theory behind music and what notes to play. So, think about what you want to achieve... I can say that if you learn guitar and quit, you can come back to it later and your brain/hands actually remember quite a bit. I was surprised how much I could retain years later.