Now days if you wish to learn acoustic guitar you'll find many sites on the web offering instruction and guidance.
Above all else, the question most asked is how long will it take me to learn acoustic guitar? Actually, there are three very important aspects which will decide the answer...
What is your natural aptitude to learn acoustic guitar? Is the instructional method youre using of high quality? How often do you practice?
Lets take the first question. Every person, no matter how good their instructor, has a natural aptitude for learning guitar. For example you may possess a fast ability for learning to surf but not for learning to drive. To learn acoustic guitar you wont know youre aptitude for the instrument until you begin.
The instructional method you use to learn acoustic guitar is extremely important as not all methods are equal. If you choose, for example, an out of date and old fashioned method it could slow your progress considerably, even to the point where you will want to give up.
Now days there are modern and new ways available to accelerate the time it takes to learn acoustic guitar. Make sure you are using one of those newer and more modern methods.
And so now we come to the topic of practice. It actually means one thing - consistency. This means that it's much better to practice 15 min daily than to do 90min on Saturday and nothing more. Each day it's important to touch base with the instrument for a short time as that's how you learn acoustic guitar effectively.
When you learn acoustic guitar you dont need to know hundreds of chords and strums to be able to play lots of songs. In fact, a simple set of just 10 chords and 3 strums will get you playing literally 100s of popular songs.
With the basics covered you can normally learn acoustic guitar in about 4 weeks to a standard good enough to strum along to songs. For some that will satisfy their ambitions while others will want to learn acoustic guitar to a more advanced level.
In the beginning stages you will find certain aspects of playing quite difficult, even impossible! But even the most accomplished players once started as complete beginners and with time, as you learn acoustic guitar, every obstacle now will eventually become effortless.
The old adage of practice makes perfect was probably thought of with musical instruments in mind. You can learn acoustic guitar just the same as anyone else with regular practice. The key is keeping your motivation over the long term to continue doing it. Good luck.