I've been playing for around 6 months. I haven't put in the most dedication but over the summer I'm planning to start taking it more seriously. I've only been playing snippets of most songs( Crazy Train,Cat Scratch Fever,Holiday in Cambodia) and I can do most of the simple chord progression stuff. How long do you think it would take an average person to get good. And by good I mean playing Pantera and Metallica solos and be able to cover a whole entire Jimmy Hendrix song for example(because I want to be that good). Any suggestions would help, thanx.

Years of hard practice.

You could also get a teacher.

Even with a teacher it may cost you a lot of time.
I've been playing for around 3 years and my skills are gettin better, bu you have to practice. I used to go to guitar lessons and it was totally worth it.
Now I have tons of things to do and barely have time to play.

I guess it depends how dedicated you are to the instrument, like all things...

constant practice is the key and what are you practicing is also important.
I also have been playing for about 6 months and I wasn't satisfied with my progress, I started to practice more.
I recommend you with these songs to play:
-Dark tranquility-punish my heaven(intro of the song)
this is the most important one fast but easy to memorize,it's even better than other exercises ,and this the one that helped me a lot in improving my playing.(but remember to begin slow the gradually increase your speed,and use all of your fingers not only 1st and 2nd)
-nirvana-smells like teenage spirit(just the solo) -this is the easiest solo to play,good to start with.
-black sabbath-paranoid(whole song)-good to learn power chords transition and the solo isn't too hard to play but it takes some time)
-metallica-unforgiven I(solo)-hard at first,but after learning the previous solos it won't be impassible.
-dimmu borgir-entrance(whole song)-nice and easy song good for learning power chords transition.
and there is no need to teacher ,a better idea is to find a friend and practice with him .
(I talk alot ,I know), I hope that would help you.

It really depends on what you want to play. I've been playing the guitar for 18 years myself and I'm still not quite at the level I want to be. Mind you, I personally believe that you're never 'good enough', which is why I spend 8 hours a day practising; at least 2-3 hours of that is spent playing picking exercises and legato exercises to a metronome.

Is it mind numbingly boring? Yes, it can be, but it also 'drives' me in that the better I get, the better I want to get. To be an excellent guitarist (not just a "guitar player", there is a different) I believe that you have to be obsessed with your instrument.

maybe a little off topic, but i recommend practicing with your amp and any effects you use quite often, even if it's just with headphones. For about a year I wasnt in a band or anything, so rarely bothered plugging in when I practiced, but when I started playing through my amp again, I had rubbish control of feedback etc.

^^^^ That's an excellent point, and I agree fully.

youre a pro or what? i wouldnt have 8 hours for guitar even if i didnt do anything else in my free time...

its true, that its better to have guitar pluged in while playing... it sounds better, and youll learn how to play clean

and its true youll never be good enough (unless everyone else know youre the best.. ) it depends what youll set as your target..


//and.. if youll play hendrix's songs everyday, youll be able to play them whole in some time

I've been playing for about 5 years now. i never had a teacher, and i think that payed off, cos you learn not only what you want to, but how you want to. Everyone has a different set level of guitar ability, but with enough dedication i'm sure you can pump out some metallica solos within a year or two.

Just don't give up and keep playing as much as you can i'm sure if you don't give up in a year or two you will be busting out Metallica solos and some Pantera.
Its all about dedication!

thanx for the comments.they were all helpful.

Dedication is the most important for any instrument.

There's a guitarist at my school that's played for 5 years and could probably outplay my guitarist who's played for 7 because he spends hours practicing daily and dedicates time to specific techniques.

Influences really go lengths in developing your style as well, remember to be open to Jazz, Blues, etc. because they go great lengths in developing your abilities.

guitar is the easiest instrument to play badly, yet the hardest to play good.

I really don't think that is true. Ever try to play a cello?

you will never be as good as you want to be.

In the words of Devin Townsend, you should be as proficient on your instrument to facilitate any ideas that come into your mind.

That is a famous quote actually... I forgot who said it, though.

Sooooo many people play the guitar, you know, *a little* (basically every single modern country artist), but very few people can play with as much heart and beauty as, say, the guy from Pagan Altar (forgot his name).

Just stay dedicated to it. Don't set it down and pick it back up a few months later. That does more harm than good. I've owned guitars since I was about 14-15. I'm 21 now, and I've FINALLY began to take it seriously over the past several months, and I'm finally beginning to see some improvements Practice often.

Work your way up to practicing alot. At fist you won't know much so you won't have that much to practice. As you progress you will find you need more time to practice various techniques, tapping, sweep picking, alternate picking all take alot of time to master. You will find you need these hours to practice instead of just one or two. Build yourself up. Learn your favorite scales. I drew them in a note book so I could highlight different patterns. If you don't know this already, slide from the 7 to the 1 when playing scales if you don't know what it means find out. I wish someone would of told me sooner. Practice your three string arpeggios before trying four and five, it may seem easy to jump ahead but really your just jumping backwards. Keep it up. It takes years for your fingers to build up the dexterity to shred correctly. Get guitar pro and slow down your favorite solos!

I have been playing for over 20 years. The key is lots of practice. Getting a teacher to at least send you down the right road, might help you. I'm not saying keep taking lessons forever, just get some lessons to point your playing in the right direction. If you aren't doing the right things, you might never advance in your playing.

When you start going for solos, don't just blast away and fail miserably. Look at the solo and figure out what scale it's in, or what the notes are. I couldn't figure out Necrophagist's Only Ash Remains' intro solo until I looked at the solo and played it's scale up and down, then it turned out to be fairly simple.

It takes decades of ungodly dedication, don't bother trying if you aren't already good. Kthx.

fifty twelve years exactly.

This is very true, there is a guitarist on my course at college who has been playing 7 years, and he's easily the worst guitarist on the course, all he can do is play powerchords and octaves, on the other end of the spectrum there is a guitarist who's been playing 2 years who can play Dream Theater fluently and writes some pretty damn technical riffs.


It all depends on how dedicated you are to your instrument.

There's also the issue of practicing the right things. You could shred in a year or two, or never get beyond basic ability in decades depending on what you choose to practice. That's why you need a good teacher (and unfortunately most are not).

all that i can say is what most have said so far...make sure you are dedicated to your instrument. put your soul into it. also a good teacher might help but i am self taught so im not really sure how quick you can learn. just find a good friend to teach you how to tune a guitar and the rest you can learn on your own pace.

=truth