---
title: 'How to Teach Yourself Guitar in 2026 (Save YEARS of WASTED TIME)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=WN4IoK7ecAU'
video_id: 'WN4IoK7ecAU'
date: 2026-06-28
duration_sec: 0
---

# How to Teach Yourself Guitar in 2026 (Save YEARS of WASTED TIME)

> Source: [How to Teach Yourself Guitar in 2026 (Save YEARS of WASTED TIME)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=WN4IoK7ecAU)

## Summary

The video addresses the high dropout rate among self-taught guitarists and offers five key tips to help beginners succeed. The creator shares their personal journey of learning guitar over seven years using free online resources, emphasizing that with the right approach, anyone can become a proficient self-taught guitarist.

### Key Points

- **High Dropout Rate** [0:00] — 90% of people trying to learn guitar quit in the first year, and self-taught learners face even worse odds.
- **Tip 1: Use YouTube and Songster** [1:00] — These free resources are sufficient. Process: listen to a song on YouTube to internalize melody, then watch a tutorial or use tabs from Songster, always cross-referencing with actual performances.
- **Tip 2: No Gear Needed** [3:17] — Avoid buying expensive gear as a beginner. Use free tuning apps, play acoustic instead of electric, start fingerstyle, and make a DIY capo with rubber bands and a pencil.
- **Tip 3: Just Play Something** [4:35] — Focus on good technique by observing advanced players, but don't let perfectionism stop you from logging hours. The most important thing is to have the guitar in your hands.
- **Tip 4: Schedule and SMART Goals** [6:12] — Overcome the 'hump' by setting a consistent practice schedule and specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound goals. Adjust intensity based on motivation levels.
- **Tip 5: Make It Fun** [8:09] — Prioritize learning songs you love, keep your guitar visible, and don't be too hard on yourself. A looper pedal can later enhance enjoyment and creativity.

### Conclusion

By applying these five tips—using free resources, avoiding unnecessary gear, focusing on consistent practice, setting smart goals, and prioritizing fun—beginners can significantly increase their chances of becoming successful self-taught guitarists and avoid the common pitfalls that lead to quitting.

## Transcript

90% of people trying to learn guitar
quit in the first
year and if you're trying to teach
yourself your chances of coming out of
the winning side of that statistic after
a whole year are even worse but don't
give up hope because I've spent the last
seven years going from
[Music]
this to this
[Music]
using nothing but completely free online
resources as a selft talk guitarist and
in this video I've put together the top
five tips I wish I knew as a beginner
guitarist to help you go from knowing
nothing to becoming a successful
self-talk guitarist winning the 90%
statistic and learning in half the time
it took me if you apply these tips and
make sure you stick around to the end
because tip number five is probably the
most important advice you will ever get
as a selft talk guitarist let's get into
it
tip number one YouTube and songster is
all you need musician simply guitar
unnecessary now I'm not saying that you
shouldn't use them and if they work for
you then that's fantastic but I find
YouTube and sster which are both
completely free by the way I explain
what songster is in just one second uh
to be a very comprehensive and
synergetic teaching Duo that taught me
everything I know now pay close
attention because I'm about to break
down my exact process for learning new
things on the guitar with these two
applications I just mentioned first I
searched up a YouTube YouTu video of the
song I want to learn note that this can
also be a riff scale uh chord shape
whatever it may be I'm just using song
for Simplicity just to get a feel for
the Rhythm and Melody this is a crucial
First Step that will accelerate your
learning drastically because by
listening to the song first and
internalizing the melody and the notes
now your brain can associate certain
notes with fingerings and Frets on the
guitar something that takes most
guitarists decades to Master Okay step
two search up a YouTube tutorial video
of the song once again it can mean scale
riff chord whatever you want to learn
and for most popular songs there should
be some of my favorite people to learn
from include Gareth Evans Paul Davids
and Marty music there are linked Down
Below in the description if there isn't
a tutorial video on YouTube you're going
to have to look up tabs now if you don't
know what tabs are it's essentially like
sheet music for guitar and they're super
super valuable to selft talk guitar so
put that on your things to learn do take
note that this is a more advanced way to
learn than tutorial videos so it's
generally a good idea to start out with
tutorials and preferably tutorials with
tabs on the screen like this one before
moving on to just tabs alone
I prefer to use a website called
songster for using tabs just because
they're pretty accurate they have pretty
much any song out there and they also
have this very useful playback feature
where you can listen to what this song
should sound like and then try to
emulate that this takes us to a very
important point on tabs though that you
should always always always cross
reference what you're learning on the
tabs to what the actual performance
video of someone playing it even when
using a playback feature like songsters
because not only does it help your note
recognition like we were talking about
before but also Tabs are often wrong and
even if they are correct correct they
don't give you any information about the
Rhythm so it's a crucial step that you
cross reference what you're learning on
the tabs with the actual video
personally I'll often use a combination
of tutorials tabs and just learning by
ear uh especially as you develop that
note recognition so just use anything
you can get your hands on tip number two
no gear no problem as a beginner
guitarist it's always tempting to just
go buy a bunch of cool gear right I mean
you're going to need an acoustic an
electric then that means that you also
need a guitar cable guitar amp pcks
you're going to need capos tuners right
this is literally all you need no tuners
you can just use one of the hundreds of
free guitar tuning apps out there
personally I use Guitar Tuna no electric
guitar you can play pretty much all the
same stuff on acoustic at least until
you've assured yourself that you're not
going to quit and then you can go out
and buy an electric guitar because the
last thing in the world that you want to
do is go buy an expensive guitar and
then two weeks later decide that you
don't want to play guitar anymore and no
picks I personally believe that every
guitar should start off finger style
where you pluck the strings with your
fingers instead of with a pick just
because it develops your dexterity and
strength in your right hand your picking
hand so much faster than using a pick
does even a capo is UN necessary not
only because you can play the same
[Music]
songs just down you know on the
[Music]
neck but also because you can actually
make one using nothing but a couple
rubber bands and a pencil I will say
that there is a case where as as you
advance some guitar gear can actually
help you progress but we'll get into
that in tip number five tip number three
just play something I want to start this
off by saying that a lot of self-taught
guitarists make the mistake of teaching
themselves bad habits so whenever you're
watching an advanced guitarist perform
or do a tutorial video I want you to pay
special attention to how they're holding
their guitar the shape their wrist is in
how they're holding the pick if they're
using one and it may seem kind of silly
right now but trust me doing this simple
step right now and getting good habits
nailed down rather than bad ones is
going to save you years of frustration
and waste of time down the road all that
being said though you just have to play
something like when I'm a beginner I
find myself trying to make sure that I
follow all the right steps and do
everything in the right order so that
everything's going to fall into place
later down the road and I'm not doing
anything the wrong way but I'm going to
tell you right now there's no right
thing to learn first a right way to
start learning the guitar the most
valuable thing that you can be doing
with your time right now is just have
having a guitar in your hands for
instance this was the first RI that I
learned but I could have just as easily
learned something like
this or maybe like
this it's not really as important what
you learn it's just that you're learning
something and then you have the guitar
in your hands so remember to pay
attention to good technique but don't
let that stop you from logging as many
hours as possible with the strings
underneath your fingers hey guys future
me here um if you're enjoying the video
so far and you think might be beneficial
for others to see these tips then it
really helps the video and the channel
is whole get out to more people if you
just hit liked subscribed I really
appreciate it now let's get back to the
video tip number four schedule and goals
over the hump if your guitar journey is
anything like mine it'll probably end up
looking a little like this you start
here at skill level zero and zero years
spent
practicing then as you start investing
the first hours into practicing you'll
see visible progress you'll start
learning chords and new songs even if
they're very basic and it's fun to
practice and create sound But Here Comes
The Beginner's worst nightmare the hump
this is where practicing is going to
feel like a chore you'll struggle to up
your caliber of songs your fingers will
Blister in pain and it'll feel like
guitar just isn't meant for you this is
probably where most of that 90% quit but
that's because they're not sticking to a
schedule and setting smart goals now
when I say schedule this can mean
anything from 3 hours a day to a half
hour a week it's all up to you and what
your goals are as a guitar player but
the important thing is that you set a
date and you don't miss it if you slip
then it becomes easier and easier to do
that again so if you're going to set a
schedule for one week make sure it's
something that you can stick to now on
top of creating a schedule you'll need
smart goals this means goals that are
specific for instance learning a certain
song or scale measurable don't set a
goal like I want to play better they're
attainable be realistic in what you can
accomplish and don't push yourself too
hard I mean Excellence does take time
they're relevant set goals that are in
line with the specific style you want to
master are you a hybrid picker or a
finger style guitarist a rock star or a
jazz guy and they're time bound set a
deadline for yourself to learn a
specific song or scale or whatever it
may be once again don't go too intense
because that'll lead to burnout
especially during the hump phase and
stick with it that's it with scheduling
and goal setting you'll be able to get
past any hump and once you're back into
that upward sloping portion of the graph
which you'll know because practicing
will start to feel fun again then now
you can kind of adjust how you set goals
and schedules there on based on you know
becoming more laxed when it feels
burdensome and adding it back on when
you have the drive to do so because of
tip number five which is make it
fun this is by far the most important
tip of the video so if you only remember
one thing from the five tips that I gave
you this is the thing to remember
because if you make guitar playing fun
then you're going to want to play and if
you want to play You're going to play
more and you're going to get better
faster and most importantly you're not
going to quit now I know this sounds
kind of obvious but I think this is the
biggest reason why that 90% of people
quit well how do you keep guitar playing
fun you ask well first off prioritize
learning songs and riffs that you like
to learn rather than just grinding
scales all day or you know learning
music theory unless of course that's fun
for you secondly and I know this one
sounds simple but keep your guitar
visible around the house this might mean
that you have to go buy a stand for it
but trust me it is the best adjustment
you'll ever make because just having it
visible where you can easily go grab it
when you have the temptation to do so is
going to lead to so many more hours
practicing on the guitar and so many
hours getting better and having fun and
lastly don't be too hard on yourself
when it comes to meeting schedules and
goals because you want to think about
the long-term rather than the shortterm
avoid burnout and become one of that 10%
that moves on past the first year kind
of going back to what I was saying at
the end of tip number four you want to
kind of play to your the curve of your
guitar Journey so in those times where
it's a hump and you need that extra
structure to keep you playing and keep
you motivated that's when you should be
hard on your goal setting your
scheduling but then when it starts to
become more fun again and you kind of
that upper sloping portion of the graph
that you kind of you know lean back and
pull off a little where you're still
maximizing your productivity as a
learner but you're not limiting the
amount of fun that you're having on the
instrument one last thought on making
guitar playing more fun this goes back
to gear um you know how I said how there
is a case where as you advance some
guitar deer can actually help you
progress well this bad boy is probably
one of the best investments I've ever
made um it's just a Looper pedal which
kind of allows you to jam with yourself
[Music]
but it opens up so many possibilities on
the instrument and just makes it so much
fun to play again so when the time comes
as you advance I definitely recommend
investing in one of those anyways That's
all folks so thank you so much for
watching all the way till the end and I
wish you the best of luck in your selft
talk guitar Journey as you continue on
[Music]
the