The first step is to learn each part of the guitar, what its function is, and how exactly sound is produced.  You need to know the ins and outs of the instrument itself in order to understand it fully and get the most out of your technique.  Having a thorough understanding of the instrument is vital to your progress, and shouldn’t be overlooked even if you’re teaching yourself.

Secondly, you need good instructional materials.  There are ebooks, ecourses, private online tutors, videos, and tons of other sources online for teaching yourself guitar.  Finding the right teaching resource is very important, since you want to learn proper form and technique – not to mention how to play your favorite songs.  Also, consider what kind of guitar you want to learn specifically; are you a classical music fan?  If so, you may want to focus on classical guitar techniques.

Practice is also very important.  To learn how to play songs on the guitar, you need to spend at least 30 minutes to an hour – ideally every day – practicing basic scales and technical exercises.  Once you have the hard part over, you can focus just on playing the songs themselves.  You can even start writing your own songs.

Remember, just as with any instrument, learning guitar takes time, patience, and commitment.  If you have these things, you will succeed and be able to play your favorite songs on the guitar – probably even sooner than you think.