How to Teach Yourself Guitar: A Beginner's Guide

Pictured: Elmore founder James Levin with Rafael Atijas, founder and CEO of Loog Guitars, maker of small three-string guitars designed to make it fun and easy to start playing, at The NAMM Show in Anaheim.

Teaching yourself guitar has never been more realistic than it is right now. Between free video lessons, structured online courses, and a few inexpensive tools, a motivated beginner can go from zero to playing real songs without ever booking a private lesson. What separates the people who stick with it from the people whose guitar ends up in a closet is not talent. It is having a simple plan and a practice setup that does not fight you.

This guide walks through that plan, step by step, the way we would explain it to a friend who just bought their first guitar.

Step 1: Get a guitar that is easy to play

You do not need an expensive instrument, but you do need one that is set up properly. If the strings sit too high above the fretboard, every chord will hurt and sound buzzy, and most beginners blame themselves instead of the guitar. Ask the shop that sold it to you (or any local guitar tech) to check the action and intonation. A basic setup costs far less than a new guitar and makes a dramatic difference in how quickly your fingers adapt.

Acoustic or electric? Pick the one that matches the music you want to play. Motivation matters more than anything else in the first few months, and you will practice more on the guitar that makes the sounds you love.

Step 2: Gather a few simple tools

You only need a handful of things to start:

• A tuner. An out-of-tune guitar makes correct fingering sound wrong, which is discouraging. A clip-on tuner takes seconds to use.
• A metronome. It keeps your timing honest. Many clip-on tuners include one.
• A few picks in medium thickness, which work well for both strumming and single notes.
• A way to control your lessons hands-free. More on this below, because it is the piece most beginners do not realize they need.

Step 3: Learn the fundamentals in the right order

Self-taught players often jump straight to a favorite song and get stuck. A better order looks like this:

1. How to hold the guitar and the pick. Relaxed shoulders, relaxed wrist, thumb behind the neck.
2. The open chords. Start with E minor, A minor, C, G, D and E. These six chords unlock thousands of songs.
3. Chord changes. Practice switching between two chords slowly, then add a third. Clean changes matter more than knowing lots of chords.
4. Basic strumming patterns. Begin with steady down strums on every beat, then add up strums.
5. Simple songs. Pick songs that use the chords you know. Playing real music early keeps you motivated.
6. Single-note playing. Simple riffs, the minor pentatonic scale, and eventually your first solo.

Step 4: Choose where your lessons come from

Most self-taught guitarists learn from video. Free lessons on YouTube are a great place to start, and structured platforms such as TrueFire and ArtistWorks give you a guided path once you know what you enjoy. We cover the trade-offs in The Best Way to Learn Guitar Online and give a full walkthrough in How to Learn Guitar Using YouTube.

Whatever you choose, stick with one teacher or course for a few weeks before switching. Bouncing between lessons feels productive but usually means you never finish anything.

Step 5: Practice a little, every day

Fifteen to twenty minutes a day beats a two-hour session once a week. Your hands learn through repetition and rest, and short daily sessions give your fingertips time to toughen up without getting sore. A simple session might look like this:

• 3 minutes of warm-up (see our guide to guitar warm-ups)
• 7 minutes on chord changes or a technique you are working on
• 10 minutes on a song or lesson

For more on structuring that time, read Building a Guitar Practice Routine That Actually Works.

The hidden problem with teaching yourself from videos

Here is something nobody warns you about. When you learn from a video, you constantly need to pause, rewind, and slow down the lesson to catch what the teacher is doing. Each time, you let go of the guitar, reach for the mouse or the screen, find the right spot, and get back into position. Do that fifty times in a session and you have spent a surprising amount of practice time not practicing.

It also breaks the repetition loop that builds muscle memory. Your hands are learning a shape or a movement, and every interruption resets them.

This is exactly the problem the Elmore Pedal was designed to solve. It is a wireless Bluetooth foot pedal that lets you play, pause, rewind, fast forward, slow down and speed up your lesson videos with your foot, so both hands stay on the guitar. It pairs with an iPad, iPhone, Mac or PC and works through a free browser extension with YouTube and popular learning platforms. It is not an effects pedal and does not touch your tone. Think of it as a hands-free remote for your lessons.

Step 6: Track your progress

Progress on guitar is slow enough that it is easy to feel like you are not improving. Keep a simple log of what you practiced and record a short clip of yourself every couple of weeks. Listening back to a recording from a month ago is one of the best motivation boosters there is.

Step 7: Know when to get outside help

Teaching yourself does not mean never talking to a teacher. A single lesson every month or two can catch bad habits early, especially with hand position and tension. Many players combine self-guided video learning with occasional check-ins, which gives you the best of both worlds.

Frequently asked questions

Can you really teach yourself guitar?

Yes. Many great players were largely self-taught, and today's video lessons and online courses make it easier than ever. The keys are consistent daily practice, learning fundamentals in a sensible order, and a setup that lets you follow lessons without constant interruptions.

How long does it take to learn guitar on your own?

With 15 to 30 minutes of daily practice, most beginners can play basic open chords and simple songs within a few months. Playing comfortably and confidently usually takes a year or more of steady practice.

What do I need to teach myself guitar?

A guitar with a good setup, a tuner, a metronome, picks, a source of lessons, and ideally a way to control those lessons hands-free, such as a foot pedal like the Elmore Pedal.

Is it better to learn guitar from YouTube or a teacher?

Both work. YouTube and online courses are flexible and affordable, while a teacher gives personal feedback. Many learners use video lessons day to day and see a teacher occasionally for feedback.