perhaps the most lucid thought you have shared here to date and easily the most amusing.

When I first started, and I mean during the time when it was terribly difficult to string three notes together.....I played Black Sabbath.

LOL, not to say I'm not a fan of AC/DC or black sabbath, I am. It's just that most of their guitar licks are not exactly what I would call complicated.

Sometimes simple is better anyway.

“If you play more than two chords, you're showing off.” - Woody Guthrie

If you like AC/DC, by all means, learn their stuff. It's not hard, but it will keep you interested. Angus has always been great for power chords and a killer raw sound. I know what I'm gonna get when I put on any AC/DC album. Nothing wrong with that.

The first song I learned how to play was Stairway to Heaven. Sounds totally cliche, but if you really learn it all the way through, including the solo note for note, it's a very good lesson. Has a bit of everthing in it.

I agree with the practice, play along with songs, etc, but here's another suggestion: Find some other musicians to play with, preferably those with a similar skillset as yours. It'd be ideal if there was another guitar player, one who knew a bit more and was willing to show you the ropes a little. You could start out playing rhythm, and learn as you go.

I dabble in guitar, but have played bass for 20 years in many different types of bands. It's amazing what playing with others will do for your playing ability, timing, appreciation for other styles of music, etc.

Plus, it's fun, and a good excuse to have a beer with friends. SmileWavy

Jim

Another thing to consider is do you feel comfortable with the guitar you bought years ago. If the action is too high or the strings too large of a gauge, did that cause any discouragement?

Maybe a nice setup would be in order before you jump into it again. Just a suggestion.

And one more thing to add, posture. Make sure you sit up straight and hold the guitar like you were Andre Segovia at a concert. You'll fret better and the chords will ring. I catch myself at times hunching over and it makes a big effect on your playing. Good luck.

Lee, if you think your guitar is not set up right, I can definitely fix that. That's one of the few things I do well. I just slapped an old Strat together a few weeks ago I had laying around in parts for the last 10 yrs. and shipped it off to a friend. Plays like a dream. High action, bad intonation, a bowed neck and dirty strings are a huge buzzkill. If it doesn't feel right, you won't want to practice and it won't sound good even if you think you have it tuned right.

I learned a lot of guitar playing along with early AC/DC songs. I used to call it "play along with Malcolm" as many of the songs are really easy. The funny thing is that when you dig slightly below the surface, AC/DC is more complex than it seems. A lot of the rythym parts in the early songs are open chords (vs mindless bar chords) and some of the songs are actually challenging to play well (for me anyway). "Gone Shootin' " and "Riff Raff" come to mind. The actual chords to "Highway to Hell" are tricky. I still can't play "Beatin' Around the Bush".

Go ahead and say, "yeah, but you must suck"... :) That's probably an accurate reflection of my guitar-playing prowess, but I have been playing for about 28 years and I guarantee I have as much fun playing guitar as anybody and I think that's what it's all about.

Oh, and one more thing. In my 28 years of playing, I've taken approximately two months worth of lessons. The very best thing the guy taught me (the only thing, actually) was to sit down and transcribe stuff on your own. Figuring out how to play something requires a hidden talent - being able to listen. I was trying to play songs that I had listened to for years, but found I had never really listened to them. I spent about a week learning some of the solos to the Thin Lizzy version of "Whiskey in the Jar" and found that I had to put headphones on and really concentrate on exactly what was going on.

Once you adopt this method of learning songs (vs using tab) it makes it alot easier to pick up new songs as your ear becomes trained to figure out what the guy is doing and your hands just start playing along.

Thanks for all the great advice. I'm much more likely to sit down at the computer and go through a course than I am to schedule a lesson. The trick is finding something that's actually worth the time. I'm going to check out some DVDs from the library. I've got a friend who probably has about the same (lack of) skill level as me. I'm going to try and get him to commit to getting together on a regular basis to play.

Rick - I'd like to get your opinion on my guitar's set up. I definitely have a case of, "I don't know what I don't know."

Hey, doesn't Jeff play guitar too? He's a lot closer to your house than I am. I'm probably headed to San Diego for the weekend and I don't know when I can get down to your area. But if you're up this way, let me know.

while i would recommend you do get together with your friend to have some fun, dont expect much progress if he is at the same "lack of" skill level as you.

in order to progress by playing with people, you both need to have enough skill to at least play, for example, a 12 bar blues progression so that you can back one another up.

This is how you explore the fret board. Eventually you will see and hear how the notes all fit.

However, if you both stink (no offense) then you may both be running in circles together -- which of course can still be fun but not all that productive. It is much more helpful if you have a good player to mess around with. You will be much more inspired and certain tihngs will rub off on you quickly

Ive been playing for 24 years now. I learned how to play simply by playing over and over, by ear, along with LPs, tapes, CD's, 4-track recordings, watching players, occasionally looking at books to see the scales and chords.

Ultimately, it was the absolute burning desire to want to be a good player that made me a good player. It was and to an extent remains, a total obsession like no other obsession ive ever had.

If you are a bit obsessed with the desire to play well, you will get off your butt, get some reference materials and begin playing often and soon you will see some improvement that will only make your motivation stronger

One technique that I have used to stay interested is to attempt to learn different techniques that I like to listen to. Sometimes I will go into a random alternative tuning period for a year, or I might spend 6 months studying the flatpicking technique of Doc Watson, I may spend 5 weeks playing just open slide tuning ala Muddy Waters.... for the past 2 or 3 years, ive played almost nothing but reggae

explore on the guitar, the types of music you love to listen to and you will find plenty of inspiration to keep you interested for a lifetime

the "Estaban" way ...........from HSN it even includes the guitar and amp for $199

Get a copy of Guitar Hero III for your xBox and be done with it! ;)