Probably about 6 months worth at least. It also depends how fast of a learner you are.

Even pros take lessons sometimes, the important thing is to get a good teacher. One who will be willing to teach you what you want to play. Row, row, row, your boat, gets old. But is good for fundamentals and rhythm. Find a teacher that will teach you music theory, why chords, and notes go together, and what makes the sound a particular style. Rock, Blues, Classical,

As the first guy said, it depends on you too. Some people, have no ear, coordination or timing. And no amount of practice will make up for innate ability.

Hi Caroline

To give a specific length of time you should take lessons for is hard to judge. Some people keep taking lessons for years just to improve on certain things.

To be honest, if you’re just learning, it might take a while, but then again you do play violin so your fingers will already have good dexterity. So it’s hard to tell.

My suggestion would be to take an online guitar course. Most online guitar courses are very well and include videos as well as notation showing you how to play chords and many other things. These online courses are also a lot cheaper than paying $25 – $30 dollars for only a half hour lesson. With online courses, usually it’s only a small one time payment and they have enough information for you to learn from for a year.

Good luck with whatever path you decide to go down.