[IROC]

The funny thing about learning to play guitar is that things like scales and chord charts are very necessary, but they're no fun at all. If you can't morph these things into a song, then it doesn't drive home the need for them all that well and many people lose interest real quick.

My father-in-law is learning to play right now (or so he says) and I gave him a 30 minute primer on some basics. Now, I've been playing for a long time, but I essentially suck. I love to play, but I suck. Having said that, I think one of the most important things to concentrate on in the beginning is learning bar chords. For classic rock and pop, being able to make a couple of bar chord forms opens up a whole world of possibilities. Even songs that are played with open chords can be approximated with bar chords. Lift a finger here and you've got a minor, lift a finger there and you've got a 7th, etc.

I also think if there's one scale to learn, it's the minor pentatonic. Very useful. Throw in a couple of more notes and you've got the blues scale (another keeper).

There's always tab, too. Some people curse it or call it cheating, but I think it's useful if it means figuring out that last part of a song that you just can't get...

Come on over to the house sometime, Rob, and I'll show you everything I know in ...oh...5 minutes or so. :>)

Mike