Guitar Players?

I know we have some musical cleaners out there, any play the guitar?

A friend of mine has formed a small band and is the lead singer and I just watched her first performance last night.  I have to say, it looked like a lot of fun and makes me want to try and learn to play.

My only experience with music was studying to play the piano for a year back when I was 7 years old.  My Mother required every child to at least give it a try.  In my case, it taught me to become a good boxer and I traded the keyboard for gloves.  I didn't have the patience for it back then and I struggled to coordinate my left hand actions.

My friend found me a deal on a good guitar (Seagull S6) and is willing to help teach me, but I am afraid that I might still be more of a clubber and end up getting frustrated.  So, for those that can play, I pose the following questions:

1.  Is it as hard as it looks?
2.  I can dedicate the time for it, but do you think it is reasonable to be able to play some basic stuff in say 6 mos?
3.  Can it be learned by video trainers or do you really need to have a trained teacher?
4.  Any thoughts on the Seagull brand of acoustic guitars?
5.  Am I just too old to learn this skill....into my late 40's.

I used to play guitar and bass guitar in my church band back home 20 years ago.
To answer your questions :
1. It can be as hard as it looks :-)
2. It's very reasonable to be able to play basic stuff in 6 months as long as you're being consistent learning it every day for at least 30 minutes.
3. You can learn by video / YouTube, etc, but you'll learn it a lot faster through a trained teacher.
4. I can't answer this one, I only know a few brand such as Yamaha, Fender, etc. I like Yamaha, they're not the top but pretty decent to learn.
5. Absolutely not, I'm thinking of pursuing my masters degree next year, I'm in my late 30s.

A few advice, when you first learn try not to learn too many keys at once, find a very basic song with a very simple keys ( usually 3, e.g. C, F G or D, A, G ) and learn to master that song first, once you know how it feels to press the strings the right way and how to stroke, the basic song that you can play will motivate you to keep learning and that's how you can master it.

Thanks Dp, I will need all the help that I can get.

I figure that since I am not marathon training any more (I do feel those days are behind me), I need something to focus on at the end of the day to relax. Although I will still be running short distances, it will give me a few hours each day to try something else.....hence the guitar.

Being a very compulsive person (I once memorized 12 Shakespeare sonnets for a festival in 1 day), I think that if I can get a good start, I can pick it up....at least I hope that would be the case as my nose is too big to go back into boxing.

Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Don't know
No
I once made a comment in passing, "wish I had my own pop machine". Next thing I know, I get a soda stream for my birthday.
A few years ago I made a comment, "I wish I could play the guitar". Next thing I know, I get a guitar for Christmas.
The other day I said, " I wish my hair wasn't so grey and thin". Had to help my boys up off the floor; once they got the giggles out of them.

Can you do it??
Read the story of Colonel Sanders(KFC fame).

Matt; My carpet cleaner wrote:Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Don't know
No
I once made a comment in passing, "wish I had my own pop machine". Next thing I know, I get a soda stream for my birthday.
A few years ago I made a comment, "I wish I could play the guitar". Next thing I know, I get a guitar for Christmas.
The other day I said, " I wish my hair wasn't so grey and thin".  Had to help my boys up off the floor; once they got the giggles out of them.

Can you do it??
Read the story of Colonel Sanders(KFC fame).

You realize that you just wished to be bald?

No, no, no, no, no,: the proper English writing style is to imply: wasn't so grey AND wasn't so thin.
On the flip side, I'm getting to them point that the color and thin and shortness is OK and easy to manage.

I tried to play guitar many years ago but could not because of an injury to my wrist when I was a teen. I can not get my left hand around the frets to play. I did play the French Horn for many many years.

At least you have a musical skill, that is all that I am trying to achieve.

I thought about trying a horn or something that doesn't require so many moving parts, but when was the last time you saw someone see a horn and say, "Can you play some Johnny Cash"?

I remember bouncing around European bars in the Marines. You didn't find many bars with a bunch of tv monitors covering the game du'jour. What you did find were dart boards and a guitar hanging on the wall.

It was always a big thrill when someone walked in and knew how to play a few tunes. The place would really turn into a party atmosphere when a familiar song was played....even if it was played poorly. As long as it was recognizable, it was fun.

Sounds like a good time, but sorry I'm no help as I have no musical skills.

Well, it looks like I am starting out on a good foot.  I just purchased my first guitar!  I went with a Seagull Entourage Rustic CW GT Qi.

It is way more guitar than I will probably ever need, but it sure sounds good and is an electric-acoustic with built-in electronics.  Not that I will ever need to worry about plugging into an amp, but it would help re-sale if this adventure ends up like the piano. At least I can't blame the guitar if I suck at it.

Nice, let me know if it doesn't work out and you want to get rid of it, I'll pay shipping and handling

Actually, if it doesn't work out, it might get smashed.

That's a rocker does doesn't he?

Yep, a little rusty though.

My Gibson es-335td CIRCA 1960.

Fender Telecaster in background.

I think I am already in trouble with instrument envy. I haven't played a note yet and I am already scoping out other guitars on-line and in pawn shops.

I love the looks of the vintage guitars....yep, I'm in trouble, I better be able to play this thing.

Brings back memories of my father bringing home an organ, guitar, saxophone. Each time he was was all excited about learning to play the instruments but in the end that all just in the closet except the organ that became a permanent piece furniture

Sounds like most exercise equipment, Mo! lol

When I was a kid I thought playing the guitar sounded fun, so I signed up for lessons, but never made it past the second one.  Oh well, still wish I knew how to play, it still sounds like fun.

I think it's just cool to play an instrument. You can be the life of the party and chicks dig musicians.

I just picked it up at the FedEx center an hour ago.  I was really worried about having something like this shipped, especially when I found out that many companies will not ship during the winter to avoid damage from the cold.

Fortune was on my side.  The manager of the FedEx center was a guitar player (Fenders only) and when he saw the box, put it in his office to protect it.  He was really interested in the Seagull as they don't exist in this area...nearest distributor is in Colorado.

Once home, I pulled it out of the box......awesome!  Brand new and gorgeous.  Just wish there was someone here to play it to hear how it sounds.

Let the games begin...maybe I will post a video in a couple of months.

Sweet, looks great ! Where are you on the learning process ?

Day one.

Gave it a good hour, fingers a little sore already.

Just tuned it up and worked on playing notes on the first 2 strings.

Are you using the Kieth Urban's video lessons? Or whatever Nichole Kidmans husbands name is

nice guitar pics and awesome slection