Should You Buy a Guitar Before Taking Lessons or After?

If you are thinking of learning to play the guitar, you are probably wondering if you should buy a guitar straight away or just wait to get a few guitar lessons. While there isn’t a simple and straightforward answer to this question, we need to consider the pros and cons of each decision and whether it is right for you.

Are you committed to learning how to play guitar?

Perhaps the most important question when it comes to deciding whether or not to buy a guitar before or after starting your lessons is if you are really committed to learning guitar. Some people start a new hobby or interest, and they give up just a few weeks after trying. Learning to play the guitar is no different, and in fact, several studies have pointed out that 90% of people who start learning how to play the guitar end up giving up.

Why is that? Well, learning anything is difficult, but learning how to play guitar is particularly hard and painful. Yes! It is especially painful on your fingers, and it takes a long time and effort to really become good and better at it.

This is why it is so important to understand how committed you are to learning guitar before you buy a guitar for your first lesson.

Advantages of buying a  guitar before starting lessons

You can start practicing right away

One of the greatest advantages of buying a guitar even before your first guitar lesson is to start practicing right away. You can instantly get a feel for the guitar and even start practicing a few chords and even some very simple melodies. This will help you to be more prepared for your first few lessons.

You can practice after your first lessons

Obviously, if you buy a guitar before your first lessons after having your initial lessons, you can start practicing right away. Instead of waiting to see if you like the first guitar lessons, having a guitar will allow you to start practicing. This will help to speed up your learning process, and it will allow you to become better at the first chords and songs faster.

It gives you a better understanding of the guitar

Having a guitar, holding it, strumming it, and even inspecting it beforehand will allow you to have a much better understanding of the instrument, even before you start having lessons.

Disadvantages of buying a guitar before starting lessons

You don’t know what guitar to get

One of the most common mistakes beginner guitar players make is buying a guitar without knowing anything about guitars. There are hundreds of different guitar models and brands, and without knowing exactly what you are doing, it can be difficult to choose the right guitar.

Your guitar teacher can help guide you on your first guitar purchase

If you do not know anything about guitars and you still want to learn how to play, it is often a better option to wait for your first lessons because your guitar teacher can help you choose your first guitar. 

Any guitar teacher can guide and advise a beginner player on buying his or her first guitar without making any buying mistakes. This can prevent buyer’s remorse in case you buy the wrong guitar.

If you decide to quit, you bought a guitar for nothing

Perhaps the biggest risk of buying a guitar before having your first lesson is that you don’t know if you will like it, and therefore if you give up later on, you will be stuck with a guitar you bought that nobody will be using. 

Advantages of buying a guitar after starting lessons

You will know whether you want to continue the lessons or not

If you wait for your first guitar lesson to decide whether or not you like it, you have more time to think about buying the guitar and deciding if you want to continue with this new hobby. This is one of the main reasons why you might want to wait until your first guitar lessons to decide whether or not to buy a guitar.

Your guitar teacher can help you choose the guitar

Another common reason why many beginner guitar players wait until after the first few lessons to buy their guitar is that they don’t know how to shop for a guitar. Your guitar teacher will be extremely important in guiding and advising you on the type of guitar, model, and brand that you should choose to initiate.

Disadvantages of buying a guitar after starting lessons

You will have guitar lessons, and you won’t have a guitar to practice

The reason why you should get a guitar even before your first lessons is that after the first few lessons, you will not have a guitar to practice on. Learning how to play the guitar requires a lot of repetition, and having a guitar with you to practice is absolutely crucial to speed up your learning process.

It will slow down your progress

The first few weeks of learning guitar are extremely important, especially the amount of time you dedicate to practice. Some students can start playing the first chords and songs just after a week, while others take an entire month to develop the same skills. One of the differentiating factors is having a guitar right away to start practicing after the first and second lessons.

Conclusion

When it comes to deciding whether or not to buy a guitar before your first guitar lessons, there is no clear answer, and our advice is for you to ask yourself really how committed you are to learning and mastering the guitar. If you are really interested in learning and developing as a guitar player, then go ahead and buy a guitar before your first lesson.

If you are unsure whether or not you want to pursue guitar as a hobby, just wait for the first few lessons and then decide whether or not you want to commit fully and buy a guitar.