How hard is it to learn how to play guitar? mandolin?

It took me about a month to be able to play the guitar. I’m not sure on the mandolin though. People learn at different paces, so don’t go by my testimony. Just practice as much as possible and you should be fine. I’m not the best by all means, but I can play and I’ve never had a lesson in my life. Good luck.

One of the hardest issues is to build callouses on the finger pads of left hand…Then just slow and steady. Learning how to read music will come in handy for other things as well.

building ur callouses is the hardest. The rest is just getting your fingers to conform to playing the cord. Paitence is the key. For example I almost quit trying to play a F cord. Now hell its no bid deal. One of the easiest cord to play. So again just be patient. There are tons of books widgets and webs for guitar cords

Chords! not cords.

my bad. I’m working and typing. But thanks for pointing that out

It depends entirely on your aptitude for it, but it will probably take at least three to six months before you become minimally competent.

It’s not HARD. It is TIME.

You must practice a lot, and everyday to become good. If you only want to play some chords then it’s not a pain, just learn the base chords.

Look up my vids http://youtube.com/tompouceuh

! good luck !

Set aside at least 20 minutes per day to practice. Stick to that schedule religiously. If you decide you want to practice longer some days, go right ahead. But do at least the 20.

the Internet has been my key to learning. I taught myself how to play the guitar fairly well in maybe about 5 month. Just to get some basic chords down isnt that hard, and you can play a lot of songs with just a couple main chords.

I took a couple root chords per day and only worked on those. In a few months I could play a bunch of popular songs.

it depends what your looking to play and to what level.

All you need is time. Anyone can learn guitar if you are tenacious enough.. my mum uused to make me practice 2 hours every night for about 7 years (classical) and I became grade 8.. since then I just pick up chords and singalong with stuff I hear.. to be honest if you learn classical guitar and can read the music, all the pop stuff you hear now is much easier to play because you have learned why..

I agree with @Poser. The constant practice will reinforce patterns, and help to build up those all-important callouses. Also, try to find someone to jam with. It will provide you with even more incentive to learn more and exchange ideal.