I just joined guitartricks recently. Before guitartricks, I watched a few YouTube videos and learned very few basics. I know only a couple of chords and am still working on transitioning between chords seemlessly.

I've been borrowing my son's Epiphone Les Paul Special II so far and I know I'm hooked enough to buy my own. I can afford to spend a bit more on myself, but rather than ask here what to buy (because there are a trillion such questions on Reddit), I'm here to ask what to play in the shop to compare guitars given my very limited skill and experience.

What are some basic things I should try to learn over the next few days to get the most out of my shopping experience? What is relatively easy to learn that will help me compare guitars? I popped into a local shop for a few the other day, but was super overwhelmed because I didn't know what to do when I pulled one down off of the wall. If I'm going to spend $5-700 on a guitar, I would really like to consider more than just how pretty it is. What can I play that my untrained ear can use to compare?

Thanks!