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

[00:00] 90% of people trying to learn guitar

[00:02] quit in the first

[00:04] year and if you're trying to teach

[00:06] yourself your chances of coming out of

[00:08] the winning side of that statistic after

[00:10] a whole year are even worse but don't

[00:13] give up hope because I've spent the last

[00:14] seven years going from

[00:20] [Music]

[00:22] this to this

[00:26] [Music]

[00:31] using nothing but completely free online

[00:33] resources as a selft talk guitarist and

[00:35] in this video I've put together the top

[00:37] five tips I wish I knew as a beginner

[00:40] guitarist to help you go from knowing

[00:42] nothing to becoming a successful

[00:44] self-talk guitarist winning the 90%

[00:45] statistic and learning in half the time

[00:48] it took me if you apply these tips and

[00:50] make sure you stick around to the end

[00:52] because tip number five is probably the

[00:54] most important advice you will ever get

[00:56] as a selft talk guitarist let's get into

[00:59] it

[01:00] tip number one YouTube and songster is

[01:03] all you need musician simply guitar

[01:06] unnecessary now I'm not saying that you

[01:09] shouldn't use them and if they work for

[01:10] you then that's fantastic but I find

[01:12] YouTube and sster which are both

[01:14] completely free by the way I explain

[01:15] what songster is in just one second uh

[01:17] to be a very comprehensive and

[01:19] synergetic teaching Duo that taught me

[01:20] everything I know now pay close

[01:22] attention because I'm about to break

[01:23] down my exact process for learning new

[01:25] things on the guitar with these two

[01:27] applications I just mentioned first I

[01:29] searched up a YouTube YouTu video of the

[01:30] song I want to learn note that this can

[01:32] also be a riff scale uh chord shape

[01:34] whatever it may be I'm just using song

[01:36] for Simplicity just to get a feel for

[01:38] the Rhythm and Melody this is a crucial

[01:40] First Step that will accelerate your

[01:41] learning drastically because by

[01:43] listening to the song first and

[01:44] internalizing the melody and the notes

[01:46] now your brain can associate certain

[01:48] notes with fingerings and Frets on the

[01:49] guitar something that takes most

[01:51] guitarists decades to Master Okay step

[01:53] two search up a YouTube tutorial video

[01:56] of the song once again it can mean scale

[01:58] riff chord whatever you want to learn

[02:00] and for most popular songs there should

[02:02] be some of my favorite people to learn

[02:04] from include Gareth Evans Paul Davids

[02:06] and Marty music there are linked Down

[02:08] Below in the description if there isn't

[02:09] a tutorial video on YouTube you're going

[02:11] to have to look up tabs now if you don't

[02:12] know what tabs are it's essentially like

[02:14] sheet music for guitar and they're super

[02:16] super valuable to selft talk guitar so

[02:18] put that on your things to learn do take

[02:19] note that this is a more advanced way to

[02:21] learn than tutorial videos so it's

[02:22] generally a good idea to start out with

[02:24] tutorials and preferably tutorials with

[02:26] tabs on the screen like this one before

[02:28] moving on to just tabs alone

[02:30] I prefer to use a website called

[02:31] songster for using tabs just because

[02:33] they're pretty accurate they have pretty

[02:34] much any song out there and they also

[02:37] have this very useful playback feature

[02:38] where you can listen to what this song

[02:39] should sound like and then try to

[02:41] emulate that this takes us to a very

[02:43] important point on tabs though that you

[02:44] should always always always cross

[02:46] reference what you're learning on the

[02:47] tabs to what the actual performance

[02:49] video of someone playing it even when

[02:51] using a playback feature like songsters

[02:53] because not only does it help your note

[02:55] recognition like we were talking about

[02:56] before but also Tabs are often wrong and

[02:59] even if they are correct correct they

[03:00] don't give you any information about the

[03:01] Rhythm so it's a crucial step that you

[03:03] cross reference what you're learning on

[03:05] the tabs with the actual video

[03:06] personally I'll often use a combination

[03:08] of tutorials tabs and just learning by

[03:11] ear uh especially as you develop that

[03:13] note recognition so just use anything

[03:15] you can get your hands on tip number two

[03:17] no gear no problem as a beginner

[03:19] guitarist it's always tempting to just

[03:21] go buy a bunch of cool gear right I mean

[03:23] you're going to need an acoustic an

[03:24] electric then that means that you also

[03:26] need a guitar cable guitar amp pcks

[03:29] you're going to need capos tuners right

[03:31] this is literally all you need no tuners

[03:34] you can just use one of the hundreds of

[03:35] free guitar tuning apps out there

[03:37] personally I use Guitar Tuna no electric

[03:39] guitar you can play pretty much all the

[03:41] same stuff on acoustic at least until

[03:43] you've assured yourself that you're not

[03:44] going to quit and then you can go out

[03:46] and buy an electric guitar because the

[03:47] last thing in the world that you want to

[03:48] do is go buy an expensive guitar and

[03:50] then two weeks later decide that you

[03:51] don't want to play guitar anymore and no

[03:54] picks I personally believe that every

[03:56] guitar should start off finger style

[03:57] where you pluck the strings with your

[03:58] fingers instead of with a pick just

[04:00] because it develops your dexterity and

[04:02] strength in your right hand your picking

[04:04] hand so much faster than using a pick

[04:06] does even a capo is UN necessary not

[04:08] only because you can play the same

[04:11] [Music]

[04:14] songs just down you know on the

[04:18] [Music]

[04:22] neck but also because you can actually

[04:24] make one using nothing but a couple

[04:25] rubber bands and a pencil I will say

[04:28] that there is a case where as as you

[04:30] advance some guitar gear can actually

[04:31] help you progress but we'll get into

[04:33] that in tip number five tip number three

[04:35] just play something I want to start this

[04:38] off by saying that a lot of self-taught

[04:40] guitarists make the mistake of teaching

[04:42] themselves bad habits so whenever you're

[04:44] watching an advanced guitarist perform

[04:46] or do a tutorial video I want you to pay

[04:48] special attention to how they're holding

[04:50] their guitar the shape their wrist is in

[04:52] how they're holding the pick if they're

[04:53] using one and it may seem kind of silly

[04:56] right now but trust me doing this simple

[04:58] step right now and getting good habits

[05:01] nailed down rather than bad ones is

[05:02] going to save you years of frustration

[05:04] and waste of time down the road all that

[05:06] being said though you just have to play

[05:08] something like when I'm a beginner I

[05:11] find myself trying to make sure that I

[05:13] follow all the right steps and do

[05:14] everything in the right order so that

[05:16] everything's going to fall into place

[05:17] later down the road and I'm not doing

[05:19] anything the wrong way but I'm going to

[05:21] tell you right now there's no right

[05:23] thing to learn first a right way to

[05:24] start learning the guitar the most

[05:26] valuable thing that you can be doing

[05:28] with your time right now is just have

[05:29] having a guitar in your hands for

[05:31] instance this was the first RI that I

[05:35] learned but I could have just as easily

[05:37] learned something like

[05:40] this or maybe like

[05:45] this it's not really as important what

[05:48] you learn it's just that you're learning

[05:49] something and then you have the guitar

[05:50] in your hands so remember to pay

[05:52] attention to good technique but don't

[05:54] let that stop you from logging as many

[05:55] hours as possible with the strings

[05:57] underneath your fingers hey guys future

[05:59] me here um if you're enjoying the video

[06:01] so far and you think might be beneficial

[06:02] for others to see these tips then it

[06:03] really helps the video and the channel

[06:05] is whole get out to more people if you

[06:06] just hit liked subscribed I really

[06:07] appreciate it now let's get back to the

[06:09] video tip number four schedule and goals

[06:12] over the hump if your guitar journey is

[06:14] anything like mine it'll probably end up

[06:16] looking a little like this you start

[06:17] here at skill level zero and zero years

[06:19] spent

[06:20] practicing then as you start investing

[06:22] the first hours into practicing you'll

[06:23] see visible progress you'll start

[06:25] learning chords and new songs even if

[06:26] they're very basic and it's fun to

[06:28] practice and create sound But Here Comes

[06:31] The Beginner's worst nightmare the hump

[06:34] this is where practicing is going to

[06:35] feel like a chore you'll struggle to up

[06:37] your caliber of songs your fingers will

[06:39] Blister in pain and it'll feel like

[06:41] guitar just isn't meant for you this is

[06:43] probably where most of that 90% quit but

[06:46] that's because they're not sticking to a

[06:47] schedule and setting smart goals now

[06:48] when I say schedule this can mean

[06:50] anything from 3 hours a day to a half

[06:52] hour a week it's all up to you and what

[06:54] your goals are as a guitar player but

[06:56] the important thing is that you set a

[06:59] date and you don't miss it if you slip

[07:01] then it becomes easier and easier to do

[07:03] that again so if you're going to set a

[07:04] schedule for one week make sure it's

[07:06] something that you can stick to now on

[07:08] top of creating a schedule you'll need

[07:10] smart goals this means goals that are

[07:11] specific for instance learning a certain

[07:13] song or scale measurable don't set a

[07:16] goal like I want to play better they're

[07:19] attainable be realistic in what you can

[07:20] accomplish and don't push yourself too

[07:22] hard I mean Excellence does take time

[07:24] they're relevant set goals that are in

[07:27] line with the specific style you want to

[07:28] master are you a hybrid picker or a

[07:30] finger style guitarist a rock star or a

[07:33] jazz guy and they're time bound set a

[07:36] deadline for yourself to learn a

[07:37] specific song or scale or whatever it

[07:39] may be once again don't go too intense

[07:42] because that'll lead to burnout

[07:43] especially during the hump phase and

[07:44] stick with it that's it with scheduling

[07:46] and goal setting you'll be able to get

[07:48] past any hump and once you're back into

[07:50] that upward sloping portion of the graph

[07:52] which you'll know because practicing

[07:53] will start to feel fun again then now

[07:55] you can kind of adjust how you set goals

[07:57] and schedules there on based on you know

[08:01] becoming more laxed when it feels

[08:02] burdensome and adding it back on when

[08:03] you have the drive to do so because of

[08:05] tip number five which is make it

[08:09] fun this is by far the most important

[08:11] tip of the video so if you only remember

[08:13] one thing from the five tips that I gave

[08:14] you this is the thing to remember

[08:17] because if you make guitar playing fun

[08:19] then you're going to want to play and if

[08:20] you want to play You're going to play

[08:21] more and you're going to get better

[08:23] faster and most importantly you're not

[08:25] going to quit now I know this sounds

[08:27] kind of obvious but I think this is the

[08:28] biggest reason why that 90% of people

[08:30] quit well how do you keep guitar playing

[08:32] fun you ask well first off prioritize

[08:35] learning songs and riffs that you like

[08:36] to learn rather than just grinding

[08:38] scales all day or you know learning

[08:40] music theory unless of course that's fun

[08:42] for you secondly and I know this one

[08:43] sounds simple but keep your guitar

[08:46] visible around the house this might mean

[08:48] that you have to go buy a stand for it

[08:49] but trust me it is the best adjustment

[08:51] you'll ever make because just having it

[08:52] visible where you can easily go grab it

[08:54] when you have the temptation to do so is

[08:56] going to lead to so many more hours

[08:57] practicing on the guitar and so many

[08:58] hours getting better and having fun and

[09:01] lastly don't be too hard on yourself

[09:02] when it comes to meeting schedules and

[09:04] goals because you want to think about

[09:06] the long-term rather than the shortterm

[09:08] avoid burnout and become one of that 10%

[09:10] that moves on past the first year kind

[09:12] of going back to what I was saying at

[09:14] the end of tip number four you want to

[09:15] kind of play to your the curve of your

[09:17] guitar Journey so in those times where

[09:19] it's a hump and you need that extra

[09:20] structure to keep you playing and keep

[09:22] you motivated that's when you should be

[09:24] hard on your goal setting your

[09:25] scheduling but then when it starts to

[09:27] become more fun again and you kind of

[09:28] that upper sloping portion of the graph

[09:31] that you kind of you know lean back and

[09:33] pull off a little where you're still

[09:34] maximizing your productivity as a

[09:36] learner but you're not limiting the

[09:38] amount of fun that you're having on the

[09:39] instrument one last thought on making

[09:40] guitar playing more fun this goes back

[09:42] to gear um you know how I said how there

[09:45] is a case where as you advance some

[09:47] guitar deer can actually help you

[09:48] progress well this bad boy is probably

[09:51] one of the best investments I've ever

[09:52] made um it's just a Looper pedal which

[09:54] kind of allows you to jam with yourself

[09:57] [Music]

[10:05] but it opens up so many possibilities on

[10:07] the instrument and just makes it so much

[10:09] fun to play again so when the time comes

[10:12] as you advance I definitely recommend

[10:13] investing in one of those anyways That's

[10:15] all folks so thank you so much for

[10:17] watching all the way till the end and I

[10:19] wish you the best of luck in your selft

[10:20] talk guitar Journey as you continue on

[10:23] [Music]

[10:29] the