I have wanted to learn guitar and been promising myself I would for the past 15 years. Now is the time. I got an inexpensive acoustic guitar for Christmas and have been practicing C,D,F,E,A chords (finger placement and strum/picking skills for three days). I knew nothing about guitar to the point that the identification of the NUT was new information to me.
I am 38, married with two children. During the day I earn bread crumbs as a Fleet and Commercial sales manager at a Buick-GMC dealership in Calera, Alabama (roughly 30 miles South of Birmingham) which happens to be about 8 miles from our home. I am spending about 2 hours a day researching guitar lessons for beginners and practicing chords and some picking. I told my wife my first goal was to be able to find and play the five chords above in variation with correct finger placement=sound. I now know that will take awhile. My other goal, which I have discovered to be a very lofty stretch goal was to learn the acoustic intro to "Love Song" by Tesla...I'm laughing with you. Like I said, I was cluless. The problem is, when I state a goal I am resolved to see it through so I have also been crudely "picking" notes learned from YouTube "how to play Love Song by Tesla videos" but I quickly recognized that there are plenty of various ways that people attempt to "teach" the song and when I compare them to the guitarist from Tesla playing the intro (also a YouTube vid) I'm no longer sure how to approach learning the song.
I am dedicated to learning guitar. I finished my undergraduate degree with a brief sabbatical in the USMC in ten years. I continued my education with a graduate degree - MBA - completing it in two years. I mention this because I am encouraged that it has not been too long since I studied, learned and practiced. I also mention it because I want my guitar skills to improve on pace with my graduate learning versus my undergrad experience.
With that said, I need any guidance that anyone is willing to provide. My fear is that I develop bad habits and dedicate my energies learning how to "zig" when I should have been focused on "zag". If it helps, I can tell you that my ultimate goal is to learn how to play/pick blues guitar (lead?) first and then follow with a southern rock/country style (black crows, tesla, marshall tucker, jackyll, lynard skynard).
Thanks to stubling upon GuitarTricks, I realize that the strating point is the same and once I complete the free lessons, I plan to become a full subscriber and follow the blues path first. But along the way, if anyone has any "notes in the margin" they don't mind sharing with a very green but passionate guitarist I am MORE than willing to receive them and utilize them to shorten my learning curve as much as possible. If it is possible/allowed I will share my email address with anyone who might be able to help me. I can access it easier and more frequently than I can access this forum but I will check in here as often as I possibly can.
Thanks to all...I am truly extided to join this community!
Scott, (GreenStart)