Practice!

If you are learning an instrument, you need to practice. I hope that is obvious, but if it isn't, now you know. Learning a musical instrument requires practice in the same way that learning to play a sport, to speak a new language, or to juggle requires time and effort to improve.

How much should I practice?

I often tell parents of my students that you can't get too much practice, which is mostly true. Obviously you don't want to play until your fingers bleed! And you want to avoid doing anything really destructive while practicing (anything that causes injury to the hands, arms, shoulders, etc.), which is why we need to learn proper form and technique for playing our instrument.

The point of practice is to learn how to do whatever it is you want to do with your instrument.

So with that in mind, the amount of time you will need can vary. A guitarist that wants to strum simple folk songs and learn a few chords won't need more than six months to a year of practicing maybe an hour or two a week. But a bass player that wants to be the best in the world? He or she would probably need eight hours of practice everyday for at least ten or fifteen years to even have a chance at claiming that title.

Your goals as a musician will determine the amount of time and practice you need to accomplish those goals.

Let me give some guidelines for an appropriate amount of practice:

New guitarists: 1 hour a week (10 minutes a day 6 times a week, 15 minutes 4 times a week)
Serious guitar students: 30 minutes to an hour or more a day
Aspiring professional musicians: 3 hours a day minimum.

These guidelines are vague, but they give a good starting point. There are always exceptions. Famous pianist Glenn Gould allegedly only practiced an hour a day. As you practice, you will start to get a better idea as to whether or not your practice schedule is moving you towards your goals. Just make sure that you do find time to practice (there really is no excuse for not practicing, which I've written about more here).

I play piano, ukelele, bass, guitar, and sing, and try to practice all of these instruments everyday. Due to my teaching schedule, and responsibilities as a husband and father of three, I don't always get to practice as much as I'd like, but my goal is to practice about two hours a day (I often play more than that everyday, but a lot of that is with students, and is not "focused" practice).

The amount of practice I get is enough to make progress on all of my instruments, and I'm happy with my progress as a musician. The amount you practice should do the same for you.

Practice!