guitar for beginnners and advice on playin

i been thinkin of picking up a hobby-playin the guitar-be it electric or accoustic not sure which. does anyone here play, is it hard to learn and do u really need to go for lessons or is one able to start just by learning on his/her own -via books, dvd, .......
lessons can be pricey seen some like 25-40/hr. compared to other instruments -how hard is it to learn to play.
what guitar do u have and which one would u sugggest for a beginner adult? model and make.
i have played piano before when i was very young , but that was it.
what do u guys suggest and say is better -go for electric or accoustsic? i'm looking for a cheap one too -just in case i don;t like it i can -say hey i didn't invest in a lot -so what.
i want to play a song like "no doubt" its my life i think its called.

does anyone here play? yeaaahhh most of us hahha. and to answer your question, it can be both easy and hard to learn. you just have to be very dedicated. you cant just do it in your spare time or you wont get anywhere.
you dont HAVE to go get lessons but they are the best way to get good fast. i taught myself and it took me 2 years before coming across a cool website like this where i got all of my scales, tricks, and other stuff down.
so if you dont want to spend 2+ years trying to teach yourself, more power to you. if you want to learn fast and well, get yoursel' a teacher.

i mean, if you have dedication and you keep working at it no matter how hard it hurts, you can pick it up real easy.

as for acoustic vs. electric, its my firm belief you should learn acoustic, then go electric. now electric is muchhh easyer to play and alot less painfull, but acoustic is a very good way to start.

hope this helps at all. good luck bud.

personally i would start off with acoustic, mostly because it is a good starting point it helps build up the callouse in your fingers to start, and becuase the strings are harder to push down, it helps build up the muscle in your fingers.

Agreed...acoustic 1st. However, I disagree with the need for a teacher. While I've had 3 different teachers in my 13 years or so, they didn't teach me anything that wouldn't come naturally (skillwise) or isn't available online (theory-wise). I found merely playing with others (jamming, trading licks, songwriting, etc.) and learning songs from cd's are the quickest and best ways to develop. I'm not saying lessons are bad, or you shouldn't take them, just that you can do just fine without them. Especially with a site like this to resource from if you get stuck on something.

When i first started playing guitar i wanted a acoustic and wanted to learn strictly rhythm, but quite the opposite happend i bought a Yamaha specifica nice starting guitar to have, and lernt the blues scale or minor sclae what ever its called. since then i can do nothing but whale along to songs in the solo, and i find my slef now just learning chords and strving to become a better rhythm player. Ideas become clearer when you know about chords and how scales are made up form chords bla bla bla there for if you did get a gutitar teacher woudl make life soo much easier to understand the conepts behinde scales and modes so i would have to say Get a teacher, will make ur life alot easier ;)

totally, go for acoustic first, umm for acoustic guitar I'd reccomend and Alvarez, or a Yamaha, maybe on of those Fender Ensenada sieres. For electric, i mean it depends whats your price range. Like 100-200, I'd say a squier Strat, but that up, you've got a million possibilities. Fender, Gibson, Grestch, Epiphone, Ibanez, Cort i mean, I'd recomend for like 200-400, a Fender Mexican Strat, or Epiphones arnt so bad........but if you look at my name you'll see what guitars i like lol, so thats my advice for you.
Oh, and as for learning, this might sound a little wierd, but get a teacher, and take clasical guitar for a year or two,it really helps with your beat and when you finger-pick , then find yourself a teacher for rock, or watever you want to play.

Don't skimp too much on the price of an acoustic, I know its a go between until you get better but I really regret buying a dirt cheap one two weeks ago (they were sold out of fender, nggggh!!). Before going to a teacher you may as well go through the basics as well, it'll save you some time, it's what I'm doing, there seems to be a stage when you have to keep bashing until your fingers harder up (my index and middle are rock hard, my pinkie is made of jelly), which you may as well get through yourself before seeking tutition. Steel stringed acoustics seem to be the most brutal which is what mine is, although I'm giving in already and buying an electric when I get paid in 2 weeks :)

i would start out with an estabians acustic then move to an eletric

look...me too, i think an accoustic guitar would be better. i guess that is the way most of us started and it really helps you develop a good habit in finger position and strengthens your finger muscles. however, you don't necessarily have to get a teacher... I and a lot others have learned on our own and we didn't have any problem. It's only a matter of exercise and of dedication. It's also very important that you practice every day, even better than practicing two hours once a week. For example I have made myself a habit of practicing ten minutes before I go to sleep. I have downloaded exercises from the internet, printed them, and every day, as a "ritual" of finishing my day I do them. It's a really good exercise and at the end of each week I practise very much, about 5 hours a day both days of the weekend. From weekend to weekend I can notice the improvement. I only play songs on weekends or when I have more free time, as a reward for my achievements... I think it's a really good technique and a lot others have confirmed. so either you get a teacher or not, practicing even 5-10 minutes a day is a must and is a major boost.
good luck!