This is one of the most frequent questions we receive: Should I learn acoustic guitar first and only then switch to electric guitar? Our opinion is: The choice of guitar depends solely on your taste. Choose the instrument that suits your favorite sound.

Many music schools recommend that their students start on the acoustic guitar. However, your motivation is crucial for rapid learning progress. And motivation is known to be higher when you play your favorite instrument. If that's the electric guitar, then start with it. It's easy to start learning on both types of guitar. It's also relatively easy to switch back and forth between the two guitars.

• Do you like the acoustic sound or do you want to play around the campfire? Then learn to play the acoustic guitar!
• Do you like electric or even distorted sounds from rock, metal, jazz or soul? Then start with the electric guitar!

This article refers to tips for learning guitar on all types of guitars (acoustic, classical, electric, etc.). If you want to learn electric guitar, you will find specific information in the following article: Learning electric guitar for beginners.

If you don't own a guitar yet, we recommend that you don't buy one straight away, but borrow or rent one first. If you're not sure, be sure to play the different types first: Acoustic, electric or acoustic guitars, different models. That way you can find out which one you like, which guitar feels "right" for you.

This is the best way to go about buying a guitar:

1. Ask friends: maybe you know people who own a guitar. Borrow it.
2. Try it out with your guitar teacher. Your guitar teacher may have several different instruments. Ask them to show you the different instruments and get their tips (->How to find a suitable guitar teacher)
3. Expert advice. We have asked all our teachers and made a list of great guitar stores in different cities. Go to a music store and get advice, also consult our guide: Buying a guitar for beginners
4. Rent & borrow. Many music stores also allow you to rent a guitar first. We have asked all of our teachers and put together a list of great guitar stores in various cities that will rent you a guitar at a reasonable price. You can find it here: Rent a guitar in my city.
5. Buy when you're sure. Don't buy a guitar until you're sure you like playing it. Once you've found the model you feel most comfortable with, buy it! You keep your first guitar for the rest of your life as a guitarist!

As a music teacher, I recommend that you start with a guitar teacher from the very beginning. Guitar teachers make it easier for you to get started.

However, if you are very disciplined and motivated over a longer period of time, you can also teach yourself the guitar up to a certain level. There are numerous courses, tutorials and other resources on the internet and in other media. In future, you will find a list of online guitar tutorials that we recommend under the following link.

You can also learn your first skills from guitarist friends. Let them show you a few chords and tricks.

When you teach yourself, there is a risk of mistakes creeping in. If you practise movements incorrectly, you won't be able to correct them as quickly.

If you want to make sure that you don't make any mistakes, you should definitely take a guitar teacher. They can make sure that you don't develop in the wrong direction. They can also motivate you if you don't always have the discipline to keep going. Guitar lessons can also take place at irregular intervals if you can push yourself enough to progress.

Siro Müller is co-founder and director of the Instrumentor platform and has already found the right teacher for over 10,000 music students. Siro recommends the following steps to find a guitar teacher in your city who is just right for you:

1. Which style of music or song do you like? Be clear about what style of music you like. Maybe you like rock, jazz, blues, metal or pop (for electric guitar) or campfire music, flamenco or classical music (acoustic guitar). As an alternative to the style of music, a good starting point is always a song that you like and want to learn. Choose one. It is helpful to choose a teacher with whom you share musical tastes.
2. Visit the guitar teacher list. In Instrumentor's list you will only find selected and specialized guitar teachers that we can wholeheartedly recommend (Currently over 122 guitar teachers for beginners.
3. Use the filters. You can filter by musical style (rock, pop, jazz, classical guitar, metal, funk, Latin, etc.) and by level (beginner, advanced), by language, etc.
4. Read the personal profiles of the guitar teachers carefully. We recommend that you choose a teacher that you like straight away. If the general conditions (music style, location, etc.) are right, you can devote yourself to the interviews. There, guitar teachers tell you what is important to them when teaching, what they attach particular importance to or how they actually structure a lesson. Even if two teachers have the same training, teach the same genres and play the same instrument, they differ in how well they suit you. Guitar lessons are personal. It is important that these or these very characteristics match your expectations.
5. If you are still not sure which guitar teacher would suit you, please contact us. We know all the profiles very well and can certainly recommend a suitable guitar teacher for you.
6. Sign up for a trial lesson.

In many Swiss cities we provide you with numerous selected guitar teachers for beginners. We know all the teachers personally and recommend them for their outstanding ability to teach beginners:

40 guitar teachers for beginners in Zurich

16 guitar teachers for beginners in Bern

12 guitar teachers for beginners in Zug

11 guitar teachers for beginners in Winterthur

9 guitar teachers for beginners in Basel

9 Guitar teachers for beginners

beginners in Lucerne

7 Guitar teachers for beginners in Olten/Zofingen

6 Guitar teachers for beginners in Baden

6 guitar teachers for beginners in St. Gallen

3 guitar teachers for beginners in Aarau/Lenzburg

In guitar lessons, it helps a lot if the student and teacher are in the same room. This makes it easier to correct mistakes on the fretboard and exercises can be better demonstrated and checked immediately with feedback.

Nevertheless, many selected teachers also offer their lessons remotely via video conference. If this is of interest to you, you can find the guitar teachers who offer distance learning here.

• [[listing:gitarrenunterricht/schweiz/anfaenger/online:{count} Guitar teachers for beginners with online lessons

It doesn't matter how old you are: it's never too late to learn an instrument. This also applies to the guitar. Dominic Fähnrich, classical guitar teacher, says: "My oldest student is over 80 years old". If there are age-related challenges, these are often compensated for by motivation and enjoyment of making music.

See also the article: Learning guitar for adults

Learning to play the guitar is no problem for children either. However, we have described exactly what you should look out for in a separate article: /en/gitarrenunterricht-fuer-kinder

No, not necessarily! There are many genres that you can learn without sheet music. Even with just a few chords, you can get a long way on the guitar and accompany songs. If you want to play more complex things, there are various other systems besides the staff, for example the tab system.

Learning to read music is particularly important if you want to learn classical guitar. However, more and more tablatures are also available for classical pieces.

Your first successes will come quickly. You will certainly be able to play a chord after the first lesson.

Being able to play a simple song with two or three chords will come shortly afterwards.

After a year or around 40 guitar lessons, you will be able to tackle most chords. More complex songs and your first solos will also be achievable.

How long does it take until playing the guitar no longer hurts my fingers?

Guitar strings are quite hard. To change the pitch of the string, you have to press the strings onto the fingerboard with your fingertips. At the beginning, your fingers quickly start to hurt. The good news, however. It doesn't take long for the pain to stop. To be more precise: it takes this long for calluses to develop on the fingertips. Depending on how hard you practise, this can take a few days, weeks or even months.

Guitar strings are quite hard. To change the pitch of the string, you have to press the strings onto the fingerboard with your fingertips. At the beginning, your fingers quickly start to hurt. The good news, however. It doesn't take long for the pain to stop. To be more precise: it takes this long for calluses to develop on the fingertips. Depending on how hard you practise, this can take a few days, weeks or even months.

Dominik Rüegg who teaches guitar often encounters the following challenges with his students :

Postural problems often lead to other problems: e.g. too much pressure and force when fingering chords.

Children have an advantage here. They usually achieve an optimal playing position and posture much more quickly than adults.

• Find the right teacher. More important than taking as many guitar lessons as possible is to find a teacher who is a good fit for you. The teacher is not just there to teach you the right technique or to monitor your progress. The right teacher is a mentor. They are someone who picks you up at the right moment, motivates you and can point out mistakes early enough to prevent them from getting worse. A suitable teacher also motivates you through their passion for music and the guitar. And they ensure commitment, so that you can also get behind the fretboard when you have other things to do.
• Practice. Yes, the more the better. This is a boring and logical tip. But regular practice accelerates learning progress. If you practise, you make faster progress. The trick here, of course, is to make practicing something you look forward to. To the learning progress. To the new skills. But also to the positive feeling when you can play something you've learned again
• Be patient: it takes time to learn the guitar. You won't come home from the store with a guitar and immediately sound like Santana, Satriani or Jeff Beck. Be patient and stick with it.
• Curiosity. If you can maintain your curiosity about the guitar, you'll find it easier to progress. Gather your resources. Talk to other guitarists, go to concerts, listen to music. Look at online tutorials and discuss it with your teacher. If you approach the guitar with enthusiasm, you will make progress quickly.

• Simple guitar chords first. Learn one, then two, then three simple guitar chords. E major, A major, G major and D are good choices. You can string these together and it will sound good.
• Small steps. Don't aim too high, but start in small steps.
• Play regularly. It's better to practise short pieces regularly than irregularly.
• One technique at a time. Work on one technique at a time, not all at once. Do not overtax yourself.
• Time. Take your time, don't rush unnecessarily. Precision is important.
• Resources. You can find tabs, sheet music and tutorials for all songs on the internet. If you get stuck, find a guitar teacher who regularly shows you things.
• Strumming patterns. When you can finger your first chords, get to grips with strumming patterns.
• The most important thing: have fun and be patient.

Ideally, songs for beginners only have a few chords. This makes them easier and quicker to learn.

Classics with 3 or fewer chords:

• Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama: D C G
• Tom Petty - Free Fallin: D - G - A
• Johnny Cash - Ring Of Fire: G - C - D
• Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are D - B minor - G
• Chris Isaak - Wicked Game: A - Bm - E
• Elvis Presley - Hound Dog: C - F - G
• Lady Gaga - Born This Way A - D - E
• Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love: A - D - E
• The Black Keys - Lonely Boy: A - E - G
• The Chainsmokers - Closer: C - D - Em
• The Rolling Stones - Dead Flowers: A - D - G
• U2 - I still haven't found what i'm looking for: A - D - E
• The Beatles - Paperback Writer: C - G
• Alanis Morrissette - Thank you: C - F - G
• Bob Marley - Three litte birds: A - D - E
• Greenday - Working class hero: A - Bm - E
• Led Zeppelin - Whole lotta love: A - D - E
• Mark Ronson - Uptown funk: Dm - F - G
• Michael Jackson - Beat it: A# - C - Dm
• Rihanna - Diamonds: A - Bm - G
• U2 - I still haven't found what I'm looking for: A - D - E
• UB 40 - Red, red wine: A - D - E
• Alicia Keys - Fallin: Em - Bm7
• Black Sabbath - Solitude: F - Gm
• Bruce Springsteen - Born in The USA: G - C
• John Lennon - Give peace a chance: C - G
• Uriah Heep - Lady In Black: Am - G

Easy to play classics with more than 3 chords

• Bob Dylan - Knocking on heavens door. G - D - C - Am
• Oasis - Wonderwall. Am - C - D - Em - G - A
• AC/DC - Highway to hell. E - A - D - G - B - E
• Deep Purple - Smoke on the water. E - G - A - B
• Nirvana - Smells like Teen Spirit. E - A - G - C
• Beatles - Let it be. F - Em - Dm7 - C - Bb - Am - G

As a beginner, you want to progress quickly and efficiently. Here are a few tips for practicing:

1. Realistic goals. It's not realistic to expect to become a virtuoso in a short space of time. Set yourself goals that you can achieve
2. Regularity. Practicing regularly is the easiest way to improve your playing quickly. It's not about the length. Spend 15-30 minutes a day practicing the guitar. You'll be surprised how much you improve every week.
3. Seek advice from your teacher. A good teacher can show you the right exercises so that you can achieve your goals in much less time.
4. Have fun. Look for music that you might enjoy playing.
5. Patience. Be patient with yourself. Don't get discouraged if you don't make immediate progress. Just sit down again tomorrow.
6. Take breaks. Don't practise for too long at a time.
7. Partner/friends. Practicing with a friend or family member motivates you and helps each other to improve.

Ernesto Cortazar Larawho teaches acoustic guitar and electric guitar, likes to practise the following four things with his students from the very first lesson:

1. The right hand should strum in "automatic mode".
2. The left hand should strum a chord independently of the right hand using simple finger combinations.
3. The pupil must then maintain the pulse.
4. If they then manage to strum precisely on the right strings, they will have already played beautiful music in the first lesson.

In addition to the fun and joy of music, learning the guitar also has numerous other positive effects:

• Unleash creativity. Being able to play the guitar boosts your creativity and gives you expression: learning the guitar is a way of developing your creative potential and expressing yourself in a new, unfamiliar way.
• Reduce stress. Just like listening to music, playing the guitar also relieves stress. Picking up the guitar in the evening provides relaxation and a sense of well-being
• Social interaction: Playing music with friends is a great new way to connect with other people. Jamming and connecting with band members is a fantastic way to make friends or connect with existing friends.
• Self-confidence. Learning a skill often leads to self-esteem and self-confidence. And best of all, with the guitar, progress can be made steadily and quickly. I can often look forward to a newly acquired skill every day.
• Health. Scientists also attest to the health benefits of playing the guitar: These range from improved cognitive function, to stronger coordination and to all the positive effects of reduced stress levels. Significantly less unpleasant than the doctor
• Learn your favorite song. The guitar in particular allows you to quickly learn a song that is particularly meaningful to you: many adults have favorite songs that they would like to play. Learning a guitar can help them realize these dreams.

• /en/gitarre-lernen-fuer-erwachsene
• /en/e-gitarre-lernen-fuer-anfaenger
• /en/gitarrenunterricht-fuer-kinder
• /en/jazz-gitarre-lernen
• /en/blues-gitarre-lernen

We know the following teachers personally and recommend them for their outstanding ability to teach beginners:

• 47 guitar teachers for beginners in Zurich
• 15 Guitar teachers for beginners in Bern
• 14 Guitar teachers for beginners in Zug
• 12 Guitar teachers for beginners in Winterthur
• 10 Guitar teachers for beginners in Basel
• 8 Guitar teachers for beginners in Lucerne
• 12 Guitar teachers for beginners in Winterthur
• 5 Guitar teachers for beginners in Olten/Zofingen
• 4 Guitar teachers for beginners in Baden
• 4 Guitar teachers for beginners in St. Gallen
• 2 Guitar teachers for beginners in Aarau/Lenzburg