How to Start Playing Guitar (Beginner Guide)
If you want to learn guitar but have absolutely no idea where to start, you’re not alone.
Most beginners think they need:
a perfect practice routine
expensive gear
or a deep understanding of music theory before they even begin
You don’t.
Starting guitar is actually much simpler than people make it seem.
Step 1: Get a guitar you actually want to pick up
The first step is simple: Get a guitar.
But here’s the important part - get one you think is cool.
Seriously.
When your guitar is sitting in the corner of the room, you should look at it and want to pick it up.
That matters more than people realize.
Don’t buy the absolute cheapest thing possible
Especially for beginners, a bad instrument can work against your progress.
It doesn’t need to be expensive, but it should:
stay in tune reasonably well
feel comfortable enough to play
and respond properly when you do things correctly
The good news is that beginner guitars are better and more affordable than they’ve ever been.
The balance between price, quality and playability is honestly the best it’s ever been.
Start with songs, not exercises
A lot of beginners think they need to spend months doing drills before they can play actual music.
That’s backwards.
The fastest way to stay motivated is to start learning songs you genuinely care about.
One of the best things you can do early on is make a playlist of songs you’d love to learn someday.
Not because every song will be beginner-friendly right away, but because it helps shape your direction and keeps you emotionally connected to the process.
Most beginner guitar starts with chords
For most people, guitar really starts with open chords.
That’s because guitar can accompany itself. With just a few chords, you can already start sounding musical surprisingly quickly.
A realistic beginner path looks something like this:
Learn a few basic chord shapes.
Memorize them so you’re not staring at a chart constantly.
Practice switching between them slowly.
Learn to switch in time with a beat.
Add simple strumming patterns later.
That alone can be someone’s first month of guitar.
And that’s completely normal.
Don’t obsess over “doing it correctly”
This is one of the biggest beginner traps.
People spend way too much time worrying:
whether their hands look right
whether they’re holding the pick correctly
or whether they’re playing exactly like someone on YouTube
But music is full of players who succeeded because they approached things differently.
Jimi Hendrix famously used his thumb in ways many guitar books would tell you not to.
Django Reinhardt developed an entire style of playing after a fire left two of his fingers severely limited.
Tony Iommi lost fingertips and still became one of the most influential guitar players ever.
Even Cory Wong has talked about being told he held his pick “wrong,” despite the fact that his technique became a huge part of his sound.
At the end of the day, if it sounds good, most people do not care what your hands looked like while doing it.
Technique matters, but it should support the music, not kill your excitement.
Why most beginners quit
Honestly?
Most people quit because they stop having fun.
Not because guitar is impossible.
Not because they’re “not talented.”
They quit because:
they get overwhelmed
they feel stuck
or the process stops feeling rewarding
Learning guitar is difficult.
Anyone telling you otherwise is probably oversimplifying it.
But difficult and miserable are not the same thing.
A good learning process should still feel exciting and rewarding, even while you’re struggling through new concepts.
One of the best ways to stay motivated
Track your progress.
Seriously.
This is huge.
When you practice guitar, you are literally spending time working on things you cannot do yet.
That can mess with your motivation if you’re not careful.
So find ways to document improvement:
short video clips
voice memos
practice logs
timing yourself switching chords
For example:
maybe this week you can switch between G and C 10 times in 60 seconds
next week you can do it 20 times
That matters.
Even when it feels like you’re stuck, progress is still happening.
Also… stop practicing sometimes
Not joking.
Sometimes the best thing you can do is:
stop drilling
stop analyzing
and just play music for a little while
Go back to something you already know.
Remind yourself:
“Oh yeah… I actually am getting better.”
That’s important.
So where should a beginner start?
Honestly:
get a guitar you love looking at
pick songs you genuinely care about
focus on simple chords first
and keep the process fun enough that you actually want to continue
That’s a much better foundation than obsessing over perfection.
A simple next step
If you want some guidance getting started, we offer free trial lessons at Sound Space here in Atlanta.
Whether you’re:
a total beginner
returning after years away from guitar
or just feeling stuck trying to learn online
A good instructor can help simplify the process and keep you moving forward without getting overwhelmed.