I have not but my good friend did by taking lessons and self-teaching himself from the basics that he was taught. He is still taking lessons now, years later to continue to improve.

I just had a friend show me a few chords and I started practicing them. I then looked online and watched videos and practiced. Everyone learns differently. my ex just picked up a guitar one day and started playing it. There is no single one way that I can say is best for you. I suppose just taking lessons wouldn't hurt.

I started by memorizing some chords, then repeating a few favorite songs til the fingers adjusted. From there you just add new chords and songs once in a while and keep expanding. But if you want to learn progressions and theory you should take lessons. Once you know you're serious buy the best quality guitar you can afford--you'll outgrow the cheap ones. Go for it, give the world some new music!

Mel Bay books and by learning Tabs on the side so as not to get too bored with theory and scales.

You learn by taking lessons. The best way to start is to sign up for a guitar class if one is available in your area. I teach several guitar classes for the local community colleges, and in the class you get to see that everyone else is having the same problems getting started that you are, so you don't feel like such a dummie. Also, when you play with others in a class, you develop a better sense of timing that you usually don't get playing on your own. Also, other students ask questions that you can benefit from, but wouldn't think to ask on your own. Also, classes are usually a better financial deal. My 2 hour classes classes are $154 for 18 weeks. Usually lessons are $20 for a half-hour, so that would mean that after the first two classes (4 hours) you would have spent $160 for the same amount of private lesson time, so the remain 16 classes are essentially free! My classes continue on to an intermediate level class, so the students end up getting pretty good and may not even have to sign up for private lessons. But if there are no classes available in your area, sign up for private lessons. Try to get a good teacher - the bad teachers are not worth your money. Don't try to learn on your own - this usually leads to bad habits that are impossible to break.

Get a book that shows how to make the cords with your fingers and have someone that can play tune the guitar for you. When I was learning I had a guitar that was not tuned correctly, and I did not enjoy it. It took me time to find out that it was not tuned correctly.

I started by buying a Nick Manaloff guitar book and going through the lessons page by page (That is a very old guitar method - today, I would recommend Hal Leonard Complete Edition instead). When my dad saw I was starting to sound good, he helped me to take some guitar lessons. We drove 20 miles to make sure I had a good teacher. Bad teachers are worthless. I learned so much more from the teacher that I never could have learned on my own. I would recommend that you get lessons as soon as possible. A good teacher can save you a lot of time and mistakes, and can prevent you from developing bad habits. After lessons, I got good enough to get accepted into college as a guitar major.

I don't have the patient to learn the guitar. But my ex-bf can play real good. I used to love to hear him play.

I started with a book that taught me the basics. Then I went online, got some easy tabs for some of my favorite songs, and practiced them until I could play them flawlessly. But while doing so, I constantly went over my scales. Then I found some more complex books that taught me alot more. So I recommend you start out slow until you have the basics down, and then continue to excel from there. Its also pretty important to learn how to read standard notation and not just the tabs. If you do that, it'll be alot easier for you.

Buy a guitar, & then get a teacher.

My dad plays guitar, so he showed me a few chords and taught me how to tune the guitar. After that, I just picked stuff up from the internet, and random guitar books lying around the house.

My grandfather taught me to play classical guitar and read music (not tablature). I later gravitated towards the 11 course lute as I became interested in Renaissance music. I had a professional teacher for the lute.

buy a cheap guitar, unless you give up on wanting to play it....learn how to tune it......practice 15 minutes every day........before you go to sleep......that is better than practicing for an hour and a half twice a week....i am a professional guitarist.........that is what you should do......good luck and take care......Brian.....

I was 12 and brough a guitar from one of my work colleagues (mum does admin for a music place) and learnt for a year at my mum's workplace.. sadly I havn't played my guitar since I was about 14 when I started high school and hoped I could learn at school. Unfortunatly the teachers at my high school only wanted students who were intermediate or advanced at guitar and I was only a beginner.. I now only remember how to play one song (the titanic one).