It’s 2021 and you’re finally ready to learn guitar!

Maybe it was your New Year’s Resolution to pull that old acoustic out of your closet or you just got your first guitar during the holidays. Either way, there’s no time like right now to pick up and start learning to play the guitar.

However, for many, it can be confusing to know where to start and discouraging when things don’t click right away.

To help, here are a few pieces of wisdom to help you get started!

One of the most common questions I get asked by those interested in learning guitar is "what guitar should I buy?" or "how do I know if I'm buying the right guitar?". It's a good question to be sure- after all, if you're going to be investing your time and your money into something you want it to be worth the cost. At the same time there are a number of factors that go into making the decision which make it not an easy question to answer.

The best thing you can do if you're interested in buying your first guitar is to take along a friend who is already an adept musician and will be able to help you check for things with the guitar you might not think to look for. Additionally, you and your friend should plan out several different shops to visit on a weekend, they'll have different options and may even have a better price on a guitar you really like than a competitor does.

Okay- so the big day is here, you have your musician buddy ready to help and you know where you want to look. But what are you actually looking for?

There’s a common saying today that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master something. If we do the math on this and assume you practice a skill for 2 hours a day every day of the year it will take you 13 years to master that skill.

And that’s if you can practice 2 hours a day every single day.

But what if there was a way to practice that could cut the time needed to achieve mastery down significantly? By implementing good habits into your practice time you can actually see and feel yourself getting better at guitar at faster rate compared to those who don’t.

Now I know what you’re thinking- how do I know if the way I’m practicing utilizes good habits? While this is by no means an exhaustive list, here are some key principles that you can incorporate into your practice time immediately in order to see rapid improvement.