The main idea is to put the theory into practice. You have to physically change your brain... make new connections in it and solidify them before you'll be proficient at whatever it is you take up. This is done by practice and repetition.
Obviously, if you're practicing shit, you'll get pretty good at shit. What I mean by that is it's a good idea to learn the theory behind the fundamentals of playing a particular instrument and putting that theory to work for as long as it takes for you to become proficient at it. That needs to happen whether you personally have to do it with the help of another person or not. After that point, you can use that fundamental proficiency to build on.
If you break things up into stages and tackle it in that way, you'll find that you'll be more successful. How long it all takes depends on how much work you put into it, but I can tell you as a musician... you never really get to the point where you're completely satisfied with your abilities, so you should really look at this whole thing as a life-long goal punctuated by smaller goals, and just enjoy the journey.
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