Best Way To Learn Guitar For Adults – A Simple Step-by-step Guide

You are never too old to start something new. 

There is a misconception that learning a new instrument becomes increasingly challenging as one enters adulthood. The common myth is that music lessons are best explored during childhood.

However, age is not a barrier to learning a new skill. The same goes for the guitar.

Indeed, the guitar is an excellent instrument for beginners of all ages. The piano is the only instrument that may rival it as a first choice. 

Anyway, when getting into guitar lessons, whether online or in person, it is crucial to remember a few key points. Here we bring on the best way to learn guitar for adults to help you feel ready for your new journey as a guitarist.

What is the Best Way To Learn Guitar as an Adult?

• Get your guitar ready to play first
• Get Your Practice Time Organized and Scheduled in Advance
• Make The Best Setting For Learning
• Start With The Basics Of Playing Guitar:
• Set up your guitar
• Reading guitar tablature
• Learn the fundamental chords properly
• Learn Songs From Day 1
• Learn To Play By Ear
• Playing With Other people

Are You Ready To Start Your Lesson In Your Senior Age?

You might think that you don’t have much time. That’s just OK. 

When you’re just starting with the guitar lesson, even fifteen minutes of calm, focused practice per day will help a lot. Spending more time practicing will provide better results.  

Please remember that as you progress, your music and practice materials will get more complex. However, even a little time each day is crucial in the beginning.

Consider creating flashcards with chords written down if you’re short on time. While you wait for your train, travel in an Uber, or have lunch, you may continue remembering guitar chords. The same holds for notes, scales, and techniques.

Pro Tips: The value of playing guitar for fifteen to thirty minutes daily is significantly greater than that of “cramming” for three hours the night before a session.

Best Way To Learn Guitar For Adults – A Complete 7-step Guide 

Being patient with oneself is one of the most vital pieces of advice for new senior guitar players. Only some gifted guitarists can achieve immediate mastery. Set aside time each week to practice guitar and focus on building positive habits. Building positive habits is more challenging than breaking negative ones.

1. Get Your Own Guitar Ready To Play First

Get a guitar that stimulates your interest in learning it. Guitar recommendation – the best beginner guitar guide.

You may learn acoustic guitar chords if that’s more your style or electric guitar riffs if that’s more your speed.

Discovering a guitar that is both user-friendly and conducive to maintaining your tuning is crucial. You should consider investing in one, even if it may be costly. Having your instrument to study can help you grow more comfortable with it.

By the way, tuning your guitar with a guitar tuner is a must before you start practicing. Learn how to use a guitar tuner to ensure your guitar strings are in tune.

2. Get Your Practice Time Organized and Scheduled in Advance

Hey, beginners, it’s really necessary for you! Progressing from fundamental to barre chords requires consistent practice over a long period. So having a quiet place and plenty of free time is important.

The more you play, the better you’ll become at things like strumming, open chords, rhythms, and building muscle memory. If you want your guitar-learning efforts to bear fruit, be sincere about your schedule and the time you spend practicing.

3. Make The Best Setting For Learning

Creating a conducive atmosphere for practicing is an important first step in becoming a proficient guitarist. The secret to getting yourself to sit down and play more often while studying guitar at home is to create a cozy practice area.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when setting up your practice space:

• Make sure your instrument is always on show. Once something is out of sight, it is also out of memory. Having your instrument within easy reach will remind you to pick it up more often.
• Keep the temperature where it should be. To make practicing guitar more bearable, it helps to be in a room with good ventilation and a reasonable temperature. You may not be as motivated if you’re too hot or cold to sit down and practice. Because temperature changes affect how well a guitar performs, keeping your practice environment at a pleasant, constant temperature is a good idea.
• Perfect lighting is essential. Ensure your room is well-lit, or choose a spot with a lot of natural light. A good view of the fretboard is crucial for novices learning note location.
•  A supportive seat or a stool for use during practice. Also, ensure you’re sitting in the correct position as you practice! Make sure you’re sitting in a way that promotes healthy posture. To avoid obstructing your arms when strumming or traversing the fretboard, it is best to use a chair without arms.

4. Start With The Basics Of Playing Guitar

Here are just a few guitar basics and why you should learn them:

Set Up Your Guitar 

To improve your playing, you must keep your guitar in excellent functioning order. If a string breaks while you’re practicing, you should know how to change it. Familiarize yourself with the many components of your guitar and how they affect its tone.

Reading Guitar Tablature

If you want to be a better guitarist, learning to read tabs quickly is a must. Tabs, what exactly are they? Compared to other forms of guitar notation, they are simpler. Tabs are much more common and widely used than conventional guitar notation forms. Google makes it easy to discover every song’s tabs. So it’s a breeze to learn the music you love.

Be an expert reading this guide on “How to read tabs bass?”

Learn The Fundamental Chords Properly

It may be surprising that a few simple chords are all it takes to perform millions of songs on guitar. Learn those chords yourself and then practice them until you’re a pro.

Improve Your Strumming Approaches

There may be a finite number of chords and notes, but the infinite diversity of musical genres stems from the individual interpretations of each. Get a good grasp on a wide variety of musical styles rather than focusing on mastering a few strumming patterns. This will give you the ability to play guitar in several genres.

Swiftly Transitioning Between Chords

Although it may seem challenging initially, learning to switch chords is just a question of practice. Start with the most fundamental chord forms and work to more complex ones.

5. Learn Songs From Day 1

You will undoubtedly begin your musical training with the basics, which include learning to play the notes, scales, and chords. To master guitar, however, you must practice those skills as you learn a new song. Playing along with a song you love may make practicing a hammer-on pull-off or strumming a chord sequence seem more natural. 

Compared to repetitive, context-free practice, the whole affair is much more enjoyable.

6. Learn To Play By Ear

Repeatedly practicing various chords and tones can train your ear to recognize patterns and notes in music. Identifying individual notes, keys, and chords in a song greatly facilitates guitar learning.

You may learn to identify a song’s key by learning which notes make up a particular scale, which includes sharps, flats, and root notes. Then, you can use that information to zero in on specific chords and notes in your favorite songs and the artist’s choice of scales to build riffs and solos.

Learning to play by ear may take some time and effort, but practicing and listening to music may improve your ability.

7. Jam!

Jamming with others is a terrific approach to increasing your musical knowledge and experience if you’ve been playing for a long time but need help going from being an amateur to a more accomplished musician. 

Since playing with others requires a different set of skills and experiences than playing alone at home, it might be the deciding factor for many intermediate players who have been practicing alone for too long. 

To find out whether any organized jam sessions are happening near you, try doing a short Google search for “guitar jams in my area”. Why not ask some friends who play instruments and may be up for jamming if you want to bring a six-pack and perform some of your favorite tunes?

What Is The Average Time Required To Learn Guitar For Adults?

Level	Required Hours	Quantity Of Daily Practice				Summary
		30m	1h	2h	4h
Introductory	156.25	10 months	165 days	78 days	39 days	Simple music and songs, although there could be flaws in technique and irregular rhythm.
Basic	312.5	1.8 years	10 months	156 days	78 days	Though imperfectly, you can play several pieces and grasp fundamentals.
Beginning	625	3.5 years	1.8 years	10 months	156 days	A basic level of rhythm achieved
Intermediate	1250	6.9 years	3.5 years	1.8 years	10 months	Advanced skills suitable for home recording, music writing
Advanced	2500	13.9 years	6.9 years	3.5 years	1.8 years	At the starting point of musical performance

5 Tips To Learn Guitar For Adults 

• Get an acoustic or electric guitar that is well set up, not too heavy, and comfortable to hold.
• For starters, learn the names of the strings and the notes on the fretboard up to the 7th or 9th fret. 
• It may take a little practice—maybe 20 or 30 minutes per day at first—but eventually, you’ll get comfortable using both your fingers and hands simultaneously.
• It is natural to first feel some pain in your fingers. You may harden the skin on your fingers with sufficient repetition. A term for them is calluses. If you’re new to playing guitar, you may find that you can only play for ten or fifteen minutes before your fingers start hurting. Your calluses will thicken as your skill level rises, and your playing abilities will expand.
• Finding a good teacher is the best option. If that’s not possible, YouTube is your friend. Zager Guitars Sample Online Lessons can be a great learning source for beginners.

Frequently Asked Questions

Don’t Let Your Age Stop You From Learning Guitar

Learning to play the guitar as an adult is possible and can be a rewarding experience. While children and teenagers may have certain advantages when it comes to learning new skills, adults also have their strengths that can aid in learning the guitar effectively. The best way to learn guitar is through motivation, time management, focus and discipline, and patience. 

Learning the guitar is a journey, and progress may not always be linear. Consistent practice, patience, and a positive attitude are key to improving your skills. With dedication and perseverance, you can learn to play the guitar well, even as an adult.