Hey and welcome.

Originally Posted by: iamgeeliNormally on a piano you can see a middle C and know exactly which key to press but on a guitar, that key could be a number of places! which is the best approach to reading music and playing and where can I go to further hone my skills?
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Good observation. :)

Because the guitar has this odd issue extra time must be spent on fretboard mapping. For now just learn the notes in the "open position"; the open strings and the first four frets. Have you been through the Learning To Read Music tutorial in GF2 Chapter 4?

http://www.guitartricks.com/course.php?input=2

That is the best place on this site to learn this skill.

After you do that then you might be interested in these tutorials that help map the fretboard in order to understand all the possible permutations.

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=453
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=887

Also, breaking it down on two strings at a time can be beneficial.

Visualizing Fretboard Scale Patterns Series 1
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=419

Visualizing Major Scale Patterns Series 2
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=898

Visualizing Minor Scale Patterns Series 3
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=899

Visualizing Chromatic Scale Patterns Series 4
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=462
[QUOTE=iamgeeli]
Secondly, I'm really struggling to understand chord position. I know the basic major and minor finger positions that are normally played on the first 5 intervals of the guitar neck, but fail to understand chord placement beyond the basics.

Application of chord theory is much more difficult on the guitar than piano. These tutorials will help you understand the how's and why's of the shapes and positions of chords on the guitar.

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=824
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=148
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=730
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=731
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=733
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=734

Hope this helps. Ask more if necessary. Have fun!