Spoiler alert: The best way to learn guitar is the one that gets you picking up your instrument every day! I share the tips I’ve learned after having failed to learn guitar once in my teen years and then picking it up again 20 years later.
I was 13 years old the first time I attempted to learn guitar. And after playing for 2 years, the only song I knew how to play was The House of the Rising Sun.
When I picked up my guitar for the last time nearly 20 years ago, I thought that was it – that was until my husband decided he wanted to learn how to play guitar.
With the incredible resources that are now available for learning how to play guitar online, I can tell you exactly what made the difference this time around.
From cowboy chords to barre chords, camp fires to playing worship guitar, everything is possible with the right foundation.
I can’t wait to share the tools I’ve used for learning and teaching guitar with you here!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and I could earn a commission if you make a purchase using them. This comes at no additional cost to you and all opinions expressed are my own.
1. Choose the Best Guitar within Your Budget
I think one of the most solid pieces of advice in life applies to learning to play guitar too – you get what you pay for!
Choose a good instrument from a reputable brand.
While Amazon might have some cheap options available (I was tempted by the cute colors too, honestly), I can’t recommend choosing a tried and true brand name enough (also available on Amazon, haha).
When you’re new to guitar, nothing will make you give up more quickly than a terrible sounding instrument that’s constantly out of tune!
You want learning to be enjoyable and not make you feel defeated every time you go to play.
Tuners matter. The sound you get matters.
Playability is another deal breaker – you don’t want to be fretting high strings that hurt to play because the pain in your fingertips will make you dread pressing down those same strings tomorrow.
We originally bought the Washburn Acoustic guitar Costco always gets in around Christmas time but returned it shortly after to invest in a better quality instrument.
Choosing an Acoustic vs Electric Guitar
This all comes down to the style of music you’ll be playing.
Since I mostly play folk and worship music, an acoustic guitar made the most sense for me.
My husband is into 80’s music and rock, so he’s an electric guitar guy!
The first guitar I ever tried to learn on was an electric guitar – a Squire Stratocaster exactly like this one, I think that this is even the same package my parents got me for my birthday in 2002, haha.
I actually learned how to play guitar in my 30’s on a Martin D-X1E though.
If you have the budget for it, I can’t recommend this guitar enough. It sounds amazing, is so easy to play (really important when you’re starting out as you’ll need to start building calluses under your fingertips to play without pain), and holds its value!
I sold it on marketplace not too long ago to put towards a Taylor cutaway and got more than half of what I paid back for it.
After buying and flipping over two dozen guitars, we personally found that Martins are among the best acoustic guitars to hold their value on the secondary market.
Best Beginner Acoustic Guitars
Martin D-X1E – Best Premium Beginner Guitar ($$$)
This is a beautiful, entry level Martin guitar with rich tone and incredible resonance. You can hear the iconic Martin tone with every note. The High Pressure Laminant (HPL) construction makes this a super resilient and low-maintenance guitar so you won’t have to worry about things like humidity changes, scratching it (check out the lack of a pick guard!), temperature changes, or dings and dents (important if you’ll be playing around kids and pets!)
This guitar is best for:
- adults and teens who are serious about learning guitar
- players who want a quality instrument that will last
- new guitar players that want a professional instrument at a reasonable price for this brand
Taylor GS Mini Sapele – Best Compact Guitar for Kids, Teens & Travel ($$)
The GS Mini features Taylor’s signature clarity in a slightly smaller, lightweight body that’s easy for adults and even kids to play. We ended up finding my daughter a second hand one of these and we all love playing it. The ton is surprisingly full, warm, and balanced for a guitar this small.
This guitar is best for:
- kids, teens, and even smaller-framed adults
- families who want a guitar that feels good to hold and plays easily
- travellers and homeschoolers learning on the go
Fender Newporter – Best Stylish Budget-Friendly Guitar ($$)
This reasonably priced guitar is easy to play and perfect for beginners who want something lightweight with a bright and vibrant tone. It features Fender’s iconic slim neck which is great for new guitarists!
This guitar is best for:
- budget conscious families
- people with small hands
- casual learners who want comfort and good tone
Shop the Fender Newporter ($$)
Budget Friendly Alternative: Fender also offers the similarly shaped Fender California Debut Redondo for an incredibly low price! It’s very similar to the Newporter but costs a fraction of the price and even has a built-in tuner.
Shop the Fender California Debut Redondo ($)
Epiphone Songmaker DR-100 – Best Value Starter Guitar ($)
This super affordable guitar is popular with beginners for good reason. It offers a warm, full sound at a very beginner friendly price. The neck is also super comfortable and ideal for new players who are learning chord shapes for the first time.
This guitar is best for:
- beginners on a tight budget
- parents looking for a first guitar for kids aged 10 and up
- anyone looking for a solid, low-cost starter guitar
Shop the Epiphone Songmaker DR-100
Best Beginner Electric Guitars
Fender Stratocaster – Best Premium Electric Guitar for Serious Beginners ($$$)
This was my dream guitar as a teen and I still can’t believe that we’re blessed enough to have one today! The Fender Stratocaster is such an iconic guitar that the guitar emoji itself is shaped after it! The Strat delivers a legendary tone, smooth playability, and is incredibly versatile. The comfortbale contoured body and slim neck are a dream to learn on – this is a guitar you can grow with for years.
This guitar is best for:
- adults, teens, and advancing beginners
- students who want to make a long-term investment in a high-quality instrument
- players who want to learn worship, blues, country, rock, and pop music
Budget Friendly Alternative: Fender’s Squier Debut collection is actually a wonderful product for the price point! If you want to experience a Strat but don’t have the funds right now, these are absolutely worth checking out.
Don’t forget to get an amp and cord for your electric guitar! We recommend the powerful but affordable Boss Katana Mini and an guitar cable like this.
Epiphone Les Paul – Best Mid-Range Electric Guitar for a Warm, Powerful Tone ($$)
This guitar offers a rich, full sound with amazing sustain thanks to its humbucker pickups and solid build (which does make it on the heavier side). It’s a fantastic mid-range guitar for beginners who want a powerful guitar for a classic rock tone.
This guitar is best or:
- adults and teens who love rock music
- beginners who prefer a warm, full tone
- players who want an upgraded feel without an upgraded price tag
Budget Friendly Alternative: This version of the Epiphone Les Paul is a less expensive version of the same guitar. Instead of Mahogany, it uses Poplar wood and has single Master Volume and Master Tone knobs instead of two like the higher end model.
Squier Sonic Strat – Best Budget Electric Guitar for New Players ($)
This lightweight, affordable guitar, is incredibly beginner-friendly and affordable since the package comes with everything you need to get started. You get the look and feel of Fender’s classic Strat without the expensive price tag. It’s easy to play, reliable, and perfect for teens and adults just starting out.
For younger children ages 7 to 10, we recommend starting with a Squier Mini Strat to accommodate for smaller hands and frame sizes. We bought this for our daughter’s 7th birthday in shell pink after she was ready to upgrade from her 3-string Loog guitar.
This guitar is best for:
- Teens and adults on a tight budget
- First-time players who wants a comfortable and affordable electric guitar
- Someone who wants a package that’s ready to go out of the box
Shop the Squier Sonic Stratocaster Bundle
2. Get a Few Basic Accessories
There are a couple of things that will open up the doors of your guitar journey much faster and make it that much more enjoyable.
- Good Light Picks: These small tools are used to strike strings for a clearer, louder, and more consistent tone. Stick to a thickness of .48mm or lighter. It’ll be much easy to strum strings with a light pick as you’re starting to play so you can focus on rhythm instead of getting snagged on strings. I love these.
- Tuner: A must-have for making sure your instrument sounds like it should every time you play. It measures how sharp or flat a note is so you can adjust it to what it should be. I like this one.
- Capo: When you’re brand new to guitar, chances are you’ll learn to play easy chords like E, A, G, C, and D. This is enough for a quite a few songs but a capo will allow you to play almost any song you can think of by changing they key you’re in (It clamps across the guitar’s fretboard like this to raise the pitch of all strings by shortening the playable length of the neck). This capo is a great choice for beginners.
Bonus: Extra strings and a string winder. Restringing a guitar isn’t as hard as it seems. Having a set of spare strings for yours will prevent practice from being interrupted in the odd chance you break one. I recommend these for acoustic guitars and these for electrics. A string winder and cutting tool like this is also a game changer (trust me, kitchen scissors don’t work here).
Must-Have Beginner Essentials for Guitar:
3. Display Your Instrument in a Prominent Location
You’re more likely to pick up and play you’re guitar if you see it every day.
So get a stand for the floor or wall hook like this one – I prefer the locking wall hooks so there’s no chance your guitar will get knocked over. I can’t recommend them enough for families with small children and/or pets for this reason.
We have 13 of these around the house to accommodate all of our family’s guitars and where we play them, haha.
When you walk by your guitar, you’ll be reminded of its beauty as well as the sound its capable of producing. One of the biggest mistakes I made when I first started playing guitar was keeping it in a case. That large black fabric bag leaning against my bedroom wall was certainly less inspiring than the beautiful Lake Placid Blue Strat inside of it.
The only thing worse than this would have been keeping it in a hard case under my bed!
Treat your guitar like a piece of art and have it available in a stand or wall hook for admiration and as a reminder to practice daily.
More tips for playing music at home:
- Best Guitar for Kids Aged 4 to 6: Meet the Loog Guitar!
- Top 10 Music Room Ideas for Your Home (Big or Small)
4. Learn Chords First
You’ll find yourself more motivated to play when the sounds you make actually resemble music.
Whether you want to learn country music or iconic rock riffs, mastering chord shapes first gives new guitar students a solid foundation that allows you to play songs right away.
Developing hand strength, flexibility, rhythm, and timing are a challenge but these things actually come naturally with practice and are easier to master later on.
When you understand basic chord shapes, progressions, and a bit of music theory, everything else makes so much more sense!
I always recommend that students learn these chords in this order first: E, A, G, C, and D.
You can play a lot of different songs with just those 5 chords.
Once you know the chord shapes, practice clean transitions between your chords before moving onto different strumming techniques.
And when you’re ready to work on timing, you can pick up a metronome to help develop your natural sense of rhythm and make things more steady. I have this one and love the tuner on it as well.
A couple of great resources for learning chords:
- Guitar Chord Wheel: A Fast Track Guide to Mastering Chords – I just got this book and love it!
- Guitar Chords: Easy to Use, Easy to Carry, One Chord for Every Page – my mom has been using this for years
5. Be Consistent
The best way to learn guitar isn’t two or three hour sessions.
It’s consistent and intentional practice!
I’ll admit, when I first picked up guitar again, there were a couple of days that I played for about two hours and had sore fingertips to show for it the next day – it didn’t help that I was playing a 12 string daily at that time too, haha.
These days, I try and play for about 30 minutes during the kids’ lunch break or after we’ve completed everything on our homeschool schedule for the day.
On the weekends, we have family jam sessions in my husband’s office/recording studio.
To get the most from your practice sessions, I recommend doing the following in this order:
- Play something familiar – practice transitioning from one chord to the next (E to A, G to C, etc.)
- Get better at something you’ve been working on – it might be fingering a chord shape that doesn’t feel natural, learning to play a scale faster, or even singing while you strum!
- Learning something new – this might be a new chord, a scale, or even a style of playing guitar
6. Learn Your Favorite Songs
If you love popular mainstream music, there are a ton of videos on YouTube to teach you how to play hit songs.
But when you’re like me and don’t care for what’s popular or on the radio today, it can be a bit more challenging.
Learning to play the songs that you actually enjoy is a huge motivational factor and is so much easier with the internet and technology we have today.
Growing up in a Croatian household with a large extended family meant we attended a ton of community and family events and music was often at the centre of them.
I always wanted to learn how to play those beautiful Croatian songs I grew up listening to but it was difficult to find tabs and tekst (the equivalent for “lyrics” in Croatian, haha).
That was until I discovered Chordify!
I love this app so much because there are a ton of songs on here that aren’t available as YouTube tutorials or even on apps like TrueFire and PickupMusic (as much as I enjoy these platforms, they have unshockingly not expanded into Croatian music yet, lol).
You can find almost any song in any language, whether its your own or your kids’ favorite obscure Disney song from 1988 (looking at you, Oliver & Company, haha), click on it and change the capo position to play it using just the chords you know how to fret!
Whether you’re just starting out or an intermediate player, it gamifies your learning experience almost as if you’re playing Guitar Hero with a real guitar.
Its also really helpful for writing down chords and capo positions on your printed sheet music so you can eventually build songbooks for yourself and family.
So, be sure to make a list of songs you actually want to learn and start finding them on this app!
7. Memorize Songs
Now, onto the negative aspect of Chordify.
When things are this easy, you may want to just use this app as a sort of backing track all the time and unfortunately, this can lead to bad habits like never memorizing the songs you play!
I know because I’m guilty of this too.
Instead, learn the song as you play it – sing along, play the chords, and even learn some new chord shapes along the way.
But after you can keep up, make a conscious effort to print the lyrics and write the chords down for yourself on top of the words where you make the switch.
I have two binders like this with all of my standard tuning songs in them – one is A to L and the other is M to Z.
Then, choose a quiet spot at home to play through it at few times before you attempt to sing back the lyrics and/or play the progressions.
It might take a few days – I hardly ever work things out in one sitting!
Memorizing songs and hearing the way you play and sing them are a beautiful and vulnerable experience. This important skill will also help you develop the confidence to play in public later on.
Music Ideas for Social Media and Blogging:
- Christmas Instagram Song Challenge Template (Free Printable + Social Media Templates)
- 30 Day Instagram Song Challenge Template: Share Your Favorite Song for Each Category Daily
- How to Share a Spotify Playlist on Your Blog
8. Play with Others
It took me 34 years to sing in public so believe me when I say that I know how hard stage fright can be to overcome!
For whatever reason, a lot of us are really self-conscious about our singing voices – and playing guitar in front of an audience can be just as nerve wracking.
Whether it’s your parents, spouse, siblings, friends, or even the sales guy at the music store, play your guitar in front of others can feel really hard when you’re self-conscious about your skill level.
But I promise you, learning to overcome this will be a huge milestone in your guitar learning journey!
Seek more experienced players and watch and listen to what they do as they play.
Final Thoughts: Best Way to Learn Guitar as an Adult or Kid
Learning guitar should be a fun experience!
Your practice sessions should feel good and when you put your instrument down for the day, you want to be excited to come back again tomorrow.
My best advice for successfully learning how to play guitar the first time around is as follows.
(1) Choose an instrument you love rather than settling on something you don’t – you want the best quality within your budget because trust me, it makes a difference. The quality of your tuners, strings, and soundboard makes all the difference when you’re starting out. And if it sounds awful, you won’t be trying to learn for very long before you give up.
(2) Pick up basic accessories like light picks, a capo, and a tuner – most beginners don’t stand when they’re learning to play guitar so you don’t need to spend money on a strap right now.
And unless you’ll be travelling to guitar lessons, you really don’t need to invest in a gig bag or guitar case either.
(3) Instead, spend the money on a guitar stand or locking wall hook, both of which are way more inviting for daily play (and are actually cheaper than most guitar cases), and put your instrument somewhere you spend a lot of time in.
This could be your living room, your bedroom, or even a flex space.
(4) Learn chords! Successfully learning to play guitar starts with a good foundation so master your E, A, G, C, and D chords before moving on.
(5) Play consistently. Just 15 to 30 minutes five times a week is enough to start progressing. If that’s all you can put in right now, try and structure your practice as follows:
- 10 minutes for something familiar
- 10 minutes for something you’ve been working on
- 10 minutes for something new
(6) Focus on learning the songs you love. With apps like Chordify, it’s easy to play the songs you want to play with the chords you already know how to fret too!
And after you’ve played them a few times, start (7) memorizing your songs and creating a songbook before (8) seeking out musicians you can play with and learn even more from.
So choose a guitar (you can check out my Amazon storefront for quality beginner guitars I’ve actually tried and recommend) and start by learning just one chord at first!
With daily practice and inspiration, you’ll be playing your favorite songs in no time.
I can’t wait to show you just how easy it is in my next post.
Happy guitar playing, friend!
– Nikki
