The Smart Beginner's Guide to Learning Guitar Without Bad Habits

Develop good learning guitar habits with Vin Leone

So, you want to learn the guitar. That’s a wonderful decision—playing music can bring joy for a lifetime. But before you dive headlong into YouTube tutorials, let me share something I’ve seen many times.

When you learn guitar from videos alone, you might feel like you’re making progress at first. But without someone checking how you’re playing, it’s very easy to pick up bad habits—poor hand position, awkward posture, inefficient movement—that limit your progress later. Eventually, most people hit a frustrating wall. They can’t quite get past a certain level, and often they come to me saying:

“I’ve been trying to teach myself, but I just don’t seem to be improving.”

The problem is, once those habits are locked in, we have to spend time unlearning them before moving forward. It’s much harder to undo mistakes than to learn the right way from the start.

But there’s another piece of the puzzle that often gets overlooked:

Even with good technique, many students don’t know how to practice effectively. They spend hours repeating things the wrong way, or in the wrong order, and end up wasting valuable time.

My Teaching Approach

My teaching isn’t just about technical skills and musicality —it’s about showing you how to practice smarter, based on proven principles of learning science. You’ll learn how to break skills into manageable steps, how to structure your practice for maximum progress, and how to make sure what you learn today actually sticks tomorrow.

Here’s what that means for you as a beginner:

1. You’ll avoid bad habits right from the start.

2. You’ll save yourself months (or years) of frustration.

3. You’ll know exactly what and how to practice to move forward consistently.

   
   

And later, when you do go to YouTube or use other online learning resources, you’ll actually be able to use them effectively—because you’ll have the foundation and the tools to learn on your own.

Think of it like this: a teacher gives you the map and the compass. Learning science makes sure you know the fastest route to your destination.

If you’re serious about learning guitar, don’t just settle for stumbling around in the dark. Start your journey with the right techniques, the right habits, and the right approach to learning.

Get in touch today and let’s make sure your practice time really pays off.

Book your Free 15 Minute chat with Vin.