No tutor

I think you should first either decide that you will or you wont learn to play the guitar.

Also, yes, you can learn from lessons on the internet and Guitarnoise is a terrific place to start. I dont remember a time in the year and a half that I have been here, where a question was considered stupid.

Great folks here to get help from if you decide to stick with it.

Jim

I totally DO wanna learn how to play the guitar

Hi Prateek - welcome aboard!

THink the answer to your question depends on how dedicated you are. Off course it is possible to learn guitar without a teacher, but you may need some instructional material. Myself I started when I was 12 out with a simple book - learned the basic chords, started to learn songs, played and played and played, learning songs from records (pre-internet era...), played some more, tried to do finger picking, tried to master flat picking, played even more, learned more songs etc.
I mastered accoustic guitar OK eventually. Nothing fancy but good enough to perform some dozens of songs in public - parties, camp fires etc.
More recently I've picked up electrical guitar and tried to get a band togehter - about time after some 15-20 years of playing :-)

I'm sure I could have been much more skilled if I had caught lessons early and practiced structured. But then again, I don't feel like I *have* to be better, I just enjoy playing, and I pick up new things every now and then. I'm not in a hurry either - hopefully I will play guitar for 50 years still :-)

one recommendation finally: find someone to play together with - that's the fun part!

good luck - and come back with your questions - lots of helpful people aroud here!
LaRS

I totally DO wanna learn how to play the guitar

Excellent choice :D It really is alot of fun but there will probably be times when you get discouraged. Just relax and put it down for a couple days, come to the forum and get some support, and get back at it.

If I were you I would go to the beginner lessons here and pick one. I think David wrote one that was for complete beginners. I think it teaches common chords and such. I would probably start there.

Good luck and remember to HAVE FUN. :D

Jim

Great Advice from Lars

Of course you can learn without a teacher... Many people on this forum have done so, Myself included (although a good teacher will help you learn faster)

start here https://www.guitarnoise.com/article.php?id=78 to get the absolute essentials and then move on to other beginner lessons

It helps to be self motivated... this is where search engines become your friend... Don't just limit yourself to this website/forum either (although this is one of the better guitar forums online)
Read as much as you can from as many different sources as you can and practice regularly (daily if possible) and of course start playing with others as soon as you know how to strum a chord.

There are plenty of us here willing to help out beginners (we all remember what it was like to start playing)
Remember, there is no such thing as a stupid question... only stupid people :wink:
or should I give up before starting?
If you are serious about learning to play you should NEVER, NEVER give up... there will be many hurdles along the way but the only way to learn is to NOT GIVE UP....ever !!!! (i can't stress this enough)

Good Luck
J

Read as much as you can from as many different sources

Weeeeeell - have to say that I'm not so sure about that one. To learn the basics, different approaches, techniques, and interpretations are not really helpful. You'll quickly end up reading about playing guitar instead of *playing* guitar. Print out some basic chord charts and some simple songs, stack your PC away and start playing - a lot.
- to judge from Prateeks blog that is not gonna happen, but you get my point huh? Thank God that internet wasn't invented when I started playing - I would have been reading about the usefulness of modal thinking in contemporary polish free-jazz instead of playing *sigh*
:-)

LaRS

My point was to get different perspectives... there are many different teaching methods out there and none of them should be taken as gospel.
Don't take one teacher's lesson as the absolute truth... Of course learn what you can from it, but learn from others aswell..

A lot of beginners will have questions like ... why can't I finger a C Major chord cleanly (very common beginner question) If their PC is stacked away... their chord sheets won't be able to help them... but a beginners guitar forum probably will... and they usually get several responses with several different methods... My point is, try them ALL.....Learn to TEACH yourself by absorbing everything you can and processing what works for you.

But Lars is right... Don't spend all your time READING and none of your time actually PLAYING

A balance must be found between theory and practice... Although this balance is different for every individual and will also change back and forth as you grow as a guitarist.

The huge amount of information on the internet can be very overwhelming... I'm glad I'm not into Polish Free Jazz................. yet :wink: